105歲鯨魚現身 與泰坦尼克號同時代!

Whale watchers off the coast of Washington saw a welcome sight last week—a killer whale nicknamed "Granny" who is believed to be an astonishing 105 years old, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

據美國《舊金山紀事報》報道，鯨魚研究者們上週在華盛頓海邊有一個喜人的發現：他們看見了一頭被戲稱爲“奶奶”的虎鯨，這頭虎鯨據說已經是驚人的105歲高齡了。

Granny's more formal name among scientists who have studied her for decades is J2, and a post at the Orca Network uses both names in the original post about her sighting: "J2 Granny looking gorgeous. She and J27 spent more time out of the water than in it!"

研究虎鯨已有數十年的科學家們給了她一個更正式的名字——J2。虎鯨網在帖文中描述她時，使用了原帖的2個名字：“J2奶奶看起來美極了。她和J27更多的時間都呆在水面上，而非水中！”

Female orcas typically live about 50 years, notes a post at the NOAA, but a rare few have been been known to reach 100. Granny appears to be in this category, or at least close to it.

美國國家海洋和大氣管理局的一篇文章指出，雌虎鯨的壽命通常是50年，但有極少數壽命可以達到100歲。“奶奶”似乎就屬於這極少數，或至少很接近。

As the Chronicle explains, researchers who first spotted her in 1971 pegged her age at 60. The Orca Network tells KIRO-TV that the margin of error is 12 years, meaning she could be a youthful 90.

《舊金山紀事報》解釋稱，研究人員在1971年首次發現了她，當時判定她的年齡是60歲。虎鯨網接受KIRO電視臺採訪時表示，誤差介於12年之間，這意味着她最年輕可能也有90多歲了。

Given the playful new images, she's doing pretty well for a creature who, if the older figure is correct, entered the ocean around the same time as the Titanic and made it through two world wars, notes the Charlotte Observer.

《夏洛特觀察者報》指出，她被賦予調皮好動的新形象。如果105歲的判定是正確的，那麼作爲一個與泰坦尼克號“同齡”，並且成功經歷兩次世界大戰後得以生存的生物來說，她確實很了不起。