little more than只不过

Whales were being slaughtered by fleets of industrial whaling ships in the 1970s. The largest whales, the blues, numbered only a few thousand by then. They were virtually impossible to find. We found humpbacks off Hawaii only by listening out for their calls. A moment ago, we made this recording with an underwater microphone here in the Pacific near Hawaii. Just listen to this. Recordings like these revealed that the songs of the humpbacks are long and complex. Humpbacks living in the same area learn their songs from each other. And the songs have distinct themes and variations which evolve over time. Their mournful songs were the key to transforming people's opinions about them.

二十世纪七十年代，一支支工业化捕鲸船队正在大肆屠杀鲸鱼。 最大的鲸，蓝鲸，到那时只剩下几千头。 几乎找不到它们。 我们在夏威夷外海找到座头鲸，全靠留神听它们的叫声。 就在刚才，我们在夏威夷附近的这片太平洋里，用水下麦克风录下了这段声音。 听听这个。 这样的录音说明，座头鲸的歌声又长又复杂。 同一片海域的座头鲸，歌声是彼此学来的。 这些歌有鲜明的主题和变奏，还会随着时间慢慢演变。 它们哀伤的歌声，成了扭转人们对它们看法的关键。

We have pursued animals to extinction many times in our history, but now that it was visible, it was no longer acceptable. The killing of whales turned from a harvest to a crime. A powerful shared conscience had suddenly appeared. Nobody wanted animals to become extinct. People were coming to care for the natural world... as they were made aware of the natural world. And we now had the means to make people across the world aware.

历史上，我们曾一次次把动物捕杀到灭绝， 可一旦这事被人看见，就再也无法接受了。 捕杀鲸鱼不再被当成收获，而成了犯罪。 一种强烈的共同良知突然出现了。 没有人希望动物灭绝。 人们渐渐开始关心自然界…… 随着他们认识了自然界。 而我们当时已经有办法，让全世界的人都知道。