鯨魚(yú)生吞過(guò)活人嗎？

It's comforting to think that if you were somehow swallowed by a whale à la Jonah or Pinocchio, you'd simply hang out in his belly in one piece until he eventually spit you back out, unharmed and intact. Unfortunately, the conditions within a whale are slightly less than optimal for human survival, but take heart -- your odds of ending up in this type of situation are pretty low.

要是你被鯨魚(yú)完全吞入肚中，基本上你是可以被完好地吐出來(lái)的。雖然鯨魚(yú)肚子對(duì)人類來(lái)說(shuō)不是什么很友好的環(huán)境，但不用怕，你遇到這種狀況的概率還是很低的。

In a 2012 article for Salon, reporter Ben Shattuck pored over the records at the New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library. Despite his extensive research at one of the most comprehensive whaling archives on the planet, he failed to find a single report of anyone ever being swallowed alive by a whale. He found plenty of reports of whalers who were bitten or injured by the creatures, and several who died after tangling with a whale, but none related to swallowing .

2012年記者Ben Shattuck仔細(xì)研究了新貝德福德捕鯨博物館的記錄。盡管他在這個(gè)星球上最全面的捕鯨檔案之一中進(jìn)行了廣泛的研究，但他沒(méi)有找到任何人被鯨魚(yú)活吞的報(bào)告。他發(fā)現(xiàn)有大量關(guān)于被咬傷或受傷的捕鯨者的報(bào)告，還有一些人在與鯨魚(yú)糾纏后死亡，但沒(méi)有一例與被吞有關(guān)。

But what about James Bartley? According to legend, Bartley was part of a whaling crew in the Falkland Islands during the 19th century when he was swallowed alive by a whale. A few days later, his crew managed to capture the whale and cut it open, freeing Bartley. Not only was the sailor still alive, but he had a paler complexion thanks to exposure to stomach acid within the belly of the beast. It's a great story -- and the bleached out details make it seem more plausible -- but if you dig into the tale a bit you'll discover it's simply not true [source: Shattuck]. The story originated in a letter reportedly written by one of Bartley's fellow crew members, who supposedly sailed with Bartley on the Star of the East. Further research reveals that not only was there no one by the name of James Bartley aboard the ship, but the vessel wasn't actually a whaler. Even more telling, the wife of the ship's captain went on record saying that the entire whale story never actually happened and was likely just a hoax by a bored group of crew members.

但James Bartley怎么樣?根據(jù)傳說(shuō)，Bartley是19世紀(jì)?？颂m群島捕鯨船員之一，當(dāng)時(shí)據(jù)說(shuō)他被鯨魚(yú)活活吞食。幾天后，船員設(shè)法抓住了鯨魚(yú)并將其切開(kāi)，救出了他，這位水手還活著，而且由于暴露在鯨魚(yú)肚子里的胃酸中，他臉色更蒼白。這是一個(gè)偉大的故事 - 不清楚的細(xì)節(jié)使傳說(shuō)看起來(lái)更合理 - 但如果深入了解這個(gè)故事，會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)它根本不是真的。這個(gè)故事起源于一封由Bartley的其他船員撰寫(xiě)的信件，據(jù)稱，他們與Bartley乘“東方之星”號(hào)航行。進(jìn)一步的研究表明，不僅沒(méi)有叫James Bartley的人登上這艘船，而且這艘船實(shí)際上并不是捕鯨船。更有說(shuō)服力的是，這位船長(zhǎng)的妻子有記錄在案，說(shuō)整個(gè)故事從未真正發(fā)生過(guò)，很可能只是一群沒(méi)品船員的惡作劇。

With their massive mouths, it certainly seems possible that a whale could swallow someone whole, so why is it so unlikely? Consider the whale's anatomy; baleen whales, or whales without teeth, are some of the largest creatures on the planet. Despite their massive size, baleen whales -- which include blue and finback whales -- could never get you into their bellies thanks to their relatively small esophagus. These creatures are designed to eat small prey like sea plankton, and the opening in their throat is only about as large as a basketball, so you'd never make it that far .

由于嘴巴很大，鯨魚(yú)似乎有可能吞下整個(gè)人，所以為什么這是不可能的呢?考慮一下鯨魚(yú)的解剖結(jié)構(gòu)：須鯨或沒(méi)有牙齒的鯨魚(yú)是這個(gè)星球上最大的生物。盡管尺寸巨大，但須鯨 - 包括藍(lán)鯨和長(zhǎng)尾鯨 - 由于它們的食道相對(duì)較小，它們永遠(yuǎn)無(wú)法讓你進(jìn)入腹部。這些生物被設(shè)計(jì)成像海洋浮游生物一樣吃小型獵物，它們的喉嚨開(kāi)口只有籃球大小，所以你永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)進(jìn)去的。

But what about toothed whales? Sperm whales eat whole squid and seals, so you could easily fit down their throats and into their bellies. However, once you reached the first of the sperm whale's four stomachs, your journey would probably reach a quick end. Not only would the whale's stomach acid make quick work of you, but you'd experience a distinct lack of air on the inside.

但是有牙齒的鯨魚(yú)呢? 抹香鯨吃魷魚(yú)和海豹，所以可以輕松地將它們放入肚子里。然而，一旦你到達(dá)了抹香鯨的四個(gè)肚子中的第一個(gè)，你的鯨魚(yú)之旅可能很快就結(jié)束了。鯨魚(yú)的胃酸不僅可以讓你快速溶解，空氣也明顯缺乏。

Of course, you're much more likely to get eaten or maimed as you try to make it past the sperm whale's sharp teeth, which are roughly as long as a large steak knife. Plenty of whalers have tangled with sperm whales and lost their hands or lives thanks to these mean teeth .

當(dāng)然，當(dāng)你試圖通過(guò)抹香鯨的鋒利牙齒時(shí)，你更容易被吃掉或致殘，它們的牙齒大致和大牛排刀一樣長(zhǎng)。由于這些牙齒，大量的捕鯨者與抹香鯨纏斗時(shí)失去了雙手或生命。