Dolphins are social and intelligent animals. And, like the way humans maintain relationships by hugging or giving a handshake, dolphins breathe together at the same time when they come up from the water for air. This shared act is important for creating social connections. But sharing the same air and area is also spreading an infectious and deadly disease among the dolphins.
Janet Mann and other scientists are trying to understand the virus. They discovered it in the water off the American states of Virginia and Maryland. It is now spreading to other Atlantic coast dolphins.
Mann explains that the dolphin virus is in the lungs. “When dolphins breathe together at the surface, they’re sharing tiny droplets just like we do when we’re talking with each other,” she said.
During her 35 years of studying dolphins, Janet Mann has noticed that even though dolphins have close friends, they visit other dolphins and leave the groups often. Following the social lives of dolphins in the Chesapeake Bay has permitted researchers to identify over 2,000 dolphin individuals. They can remember them by their special shapes and markings on their back fins.
Two researchers, Melissa Collier and Ann-Marie Jacoby, saw two dolphins. A third dolphin joined his friends. All three dolphins came to the surface of the water and breathed together. “This is typical, male behavior. The males stay pretty coordinated (协调) with each other. The females sync (同步), but not as regularly. They syne mostly with their offspring (幼崽).” Mann says. This behavior pattern might explain why more male dolphins have died in the most recent outbreak of the virus.
Viruses are naturally occurring in the wild, but human activities in the ocean can make the virus worse by wakening environments and populations even more. Pollution from carbon and plastics, limited food sources, along with ocean warming from climate change, harm the animals. These factors weaken the dolphins’ immune systems. “So, they are extremely vulnerable (脆弱的,易受伤的) to virus outbreaks.” Mann says.
【小题1】What are Mann and other scientists trying to do?| A．Record the dolphins’ social habits. | B．Increase the population of dolphins. |
| C．Compare the viruses among dolphins. | D．Study the spread of the virus among dolphins. |
| A．Researchers. | B．Close friends. |
| C．The social lives of dolphins | D．Over 2,000 dolphin individuals. |
| A．They absorbed more air than females. | B．They did more social activities together. |
| C．They came to the surface of the water more | D．They were more vulnerable to viruses. |
| A．Ocean warming. | B．Dolphins breathing together. |
| C．Researchers studying dolphins. | D．The growing population of dolphins. |
