In 2015, the whale researcher Valeria Vergara pitched(搭起（帐篷）) a small tent at the icy water’s edge on Somerset Island in the remote Canadian high Arctic, shrouded(笼罩，遮蔽) in a freezing fog so thick she struggled to see her own hands. She trailed a cord out to the coast and plopped(扑通一声放下) a hydrophone(水听器) into the water to record the calls of belugas.
2015年，鲸类研究员瓦莱里娅·维加拉在偏远的加拿大高北极地区萨默塞特岛的冰水边缘搭起了一个小帐篷，四周笼罩在浓密的冻雾中，她几乎看不清自己的双手。她将一根线缆拖到海岸边，把一个水听器扑通一声放入水中，记录白鲸的叫声。
As many as 1,000 of the whales, accompanied by their newborn calves(幼崽（鲸等）), frequented(经常出没于) the surrounding bay. Belugas’ ceaseless(不停的，不断的) chatter, made up of dozens of unique sounds, is crucial to keeping these creatures connected in the dim, turbid(浑浊的) waters of the Arctic.
多达1000头白鲸带着它们的新生幼崽经常出没于周围的海湾。白鲸由数十种独特声音组成的不断闲聊，对于这些生物在北极昏暗浑浊的水域中保持联系至关重要。
Sheltering back in her tent, Vergara pulled on her headphones at the other end of the hydrophone line and was suddenly immersed in(沉浸在，专注于) a boisterous(喧闹的，热闹的) chorus of clicks and squeals, whistles, mews and trills. “There I was in my tent, blind, surrounded by fog, with a cacophony of beluga sounds coming to me.(我就在帐篷里，眼前一片模糊，四周是浓雾，白鲸的嘈杂声向我涌来。) And I realised in that moment: they live in a similar kind of visual fog, and yet they are profoundly(深刻地，极度地) aware of each other’s presence,” she says.
维加拉躲回帐篷，在水听器线的另一端戴上耳机，突然沉浸在一片喧闹的合唱中——咔嗒声、尖叫声、哨声、喵叫声和颤音交织在一起。“我就在帐篷里，眼前一片模糊，四周是浓雾，白鲸的嘈杂声向我涌来。那一刻我意识到：它们生活在类似的视觉迷雾中，却深刻地感知着彼此的存在，”她说。