It's got to be the loneliest whale in the world.

估计这是是世界上最孤独的一头鲸鱼了。

A solitary grey whale has been spotted in the Mediterranean thousands of miles from its home waters in the Pacific, stunning marine biologists.

人们在地中海发现了一头灰鲸，而这里离它在太平洋的栖息地有数千里远，海洋生物学家对此惊叹不已。

The 33ft mammal was first sighted off Herzliya in central Israel and scientists can only guess as to how it got there.

人们第一次目击这头身长约10米的哺乳动物是在以色列中部的荷兹利亚，至于他是如何到达这里的，科学家也不得而知。

Grey whales became extinct in the North Atlantic in the 18th centuries and have not been seen there since.

自从18世纪北大西洋的灰鲸灭绝以来，在该地区就再没发现过灰鲸的身影。

The appearance of the whale has stunned marine biologists. It is believed it made its way from the Pacific, through the North-West Passage and then down into the Atlantic before turning up in the Mediterranean.

这头灰鲸的出现让海洋生物学家大为吃惊。从它的栖息地出发，要经过西北通道，然后进入大西洋，最后才能到达地中海。

The only groups left in the world now live in the Pacific with an estimated 20,000 migrating between the freezing waters of the Alaska and the balmy ones off Baja California where they give birth.

世界上目前仅存的灰鲸种群生活在太平洋，约有2万头，迁徙于阿拉斯加冰冷的海域和它们的繁衍地--较温暖的加利福尼亚巴哈之间。

The other group live in the Western Pacific in the Siberian sea of Okhotsk and South Korea.

还有一支种群生活在西太平洋霍兹次克和韩国附近的西伯利亚海。

Dr Aviad Scheinin, chairman of the Israel Marine Mammal Research and Assistance Centre which identified the creature, told AFP: 'It's an unbelievable event which has been described as one of the most important whale sightings ever.'

以色列海洋哺乳动物研究和保护中心的主席哈那谢宁博士对这只生物做了鉴定，他告诉记者：“真难以置信，这可以被认定为鲸发现史上最重要的一次。”

Dr Scheinin said the mature whale measuring some 39ft and weighing around 20 tonnes, probably reached the Atlantic through the North-West Passage, an Arctic sea route that connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and is normally covered with ice.

谢宁说成年的鲸鱼体长可达12米左右，重量可达20吨，通过西北通道进入大西洋是有可能的。（西北通道是北冰洋中连接太平洋和大西洋的一条通道，常年覆盖着冰雪。）

'Here you have an animal that is supposed to live in the Pacific and because the ice in the Arctic is melting, it managed to get through this corridor near the Bering Strait,' he said.

“这头栖息地在太平洋的生物有可能是在北冰洋中的冰雪融化时，通过白令海峡的，”他说。

Phillip Clapham of the US government’s National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle told CBS News: "The most plausible explanation is that it came across an ice-free North-West Passage from the Pacific Ocean, and is now wondering where the hell it is."

美国国家海洋哺乳动物实验室的菲利普克拉珀姆告诉记者：“唯一可能的解释是它通过西北通道离开了太平洋，然后就稀里糊涂地迷了路。”

The theory is that it was part of a group heading north toward Alaska as they migrated from Baja California. Then as a result of the decreasing ice cover which means the North-West Passage is opening up it kept on going before heading south into the Atlantic.

从理论上来讲，可能是有一群灰鲸从加利福尼亚巴哈返回阿拉斯加的途中，正好遇到冰层解冻，西北通道打开，然后这只灰鲸就顺着路到达了大西洋。

Then, seeking warmer waters, it discovered them in the Mediterranean.

之后，为了寻找温暖的海域，它又来到了地中海。

Dr Scheinin said the whale seemed thin but he believed the creature could survive in the Mediterranean.

谢宁博士说，这头鲸看起来很消瘦但它应该能在地中海存活。

"Grey whales are very generalist in what they feed on," said Dr Scheinin.

“灰鲸的食物来源非常多样化，”谢宁博士说。

Researchers are considering tracking the whale by satellite which last seen heading south past Jaffa.

研究者考虑使用卫星追踪这头灰鲸的动向，它最后一次被看到是在雅法，向南行进。

"It will be interesting to see where it goes and to follow it,"said Dr Scheinin.

“跟着它，看它会到哪儿去，应该会很有趣，”谢宁博士说。