返回首页

AshadeVos_2014U-_为何我们应该关注鲸鱼粪便_
In the 1600s, there were so many right whales in Cape Cod Bay off the east coast of the U.S. 在17世纪,美国东海岸科德角湾生活着 大量的露脊鲸,
Cape:n.披肩;披风;短斗篷;地角;
that apparently you could walk across their backs from one end of the bay to the other. 数量之多,你几乎都能踩着鲸鱼背 从海湾的一端走向另一端。
apparently:adv.显然地;似乎,表面上;
Today, they number in the hundreds, and they're endangered . 如今,他们只剩数百只,属于濒危生物。
endangered:v.使遭危险;危及;危害;(endanger的过去分词和过去式)
Like them, many species of whales saw their numbers drastically reduced by 200 years of whaling, where they were hunted and killed for their whale meat, oil and whale bone. 同露脊鲸一样,许多其他鲸鱼种类的数量也急剧下降, 原因就是200年的捕鲸。 这期间鲸鱼被猎杀,被猎取鲸鱼肉,鲸鱼油,和鲸鱼骨。
species:n.[生物]物种;种类; drastically:adv.彻底地;激烈地;
We only have whales in our waters today because of the Save the Whales movement of the '70s. 今天我们的海域中之所以还有鲸鱼, 要归功于上世纪70年代的拯救鲸鱼运动。
It was instrumental in stopping commercial whaling, and was built on the idea that if we couldn't save whales, what could we save? 该运动对于阻止商业捕鲸起了重要作用, 其基本理念是,如果我们连鲸鱼都拯救不了, 我们还能拯救什么？
instrumental:n.工具格;器乐曲;工具词;adj.起重要作用;用乐器演奏的;为乐器谱写的; commercial:adj.贸易的;商业的;赢利的;以获利为目的的;n.(电台或电视播放的)广告;
It was ultimately a test of our political ability to halt environmental destruction . 这项运动实质上考验了我们政治能力, 阻止环境破坏的政治能力。
ultimately:adv.最终;最后;归根结底;终究; halt:v.停止;立定;踌躇,犹豫;n.停止;立定;休息; destruction:n.破坏,毁灭;摧毁;
So in the early '80s, there was a ban on commercial whaling that came into force as a result of this campaign. 80年代初,因为这项运动的努力, 商业捕鲸被禁止。
ban:v.下令禁止;查禁;n.禁令; as a result:结果;
Whales in our waters are still low in numbers, however, because they do face a range of other human-induced threats. 不过,我们的海域中鲸鱼数量仍旧稀少, 因为鲸鱼还面临一系列其他的人类威胁。
Unfortunately , many people still think that whale conservationists like myself do what we do only because these creatures are charismatic and beautiful. 很不幸,很多人仍觉得我这样的鲸鱼保护人士 是出于鲸鱼的魅力和美丽而保护鲸鱼。
Unfortunately:adv.不幸地; conservationists:n.自然资源保护论者; creatures:n.生物;动物;(具有某种特征的)人(creature的复数) charismatic:adj.超凡魅力的;神赐能力的;
This is actually a disservice , because whales are ecosystem engineers. 这种思维其实会起反作用, 因为鲸鱼是生态系统的工程师。
disservice:n.伤害;帮倒忙的行为;不亲切的行为;虐待; ecosystem:n.生态系统;
They help maintain the stability and health of the oceans, and even provide services to human society. 它们帮助维护海洋的稳定和健康, 甚至还能为人类社会做贡献。
maintain:v.维持;保持;维修;保养;坚持(意见); stability:n.稳定性;坚定,恒心;
So let's talk about why saving whales is critical to the resiliency of the oceans. 让我们来谈谈为什么拯救鲸鱼 对保证海洋的自我调节很重要。
critical:adj.鉴定的;[核]临界的;批评的,爱挑剔的;危险的;决定性的;评论的; resiliency:n.弹性;跳回;
It boils down to two main things: whale poop and rotting carcasses . 归根结底是两个主要的东西: 鲸鱼粪便和腐烂遗骸。
poop:n.船尾;傻子;内幕消息;v.使精疲力尽;使船尾受击; carcasses:n.尸体;兽体(carcass的复数形式);
As whales dive to the depths to feed and come up to the surface to breathe, they actually release these enormous fecal plumes . 当鲸鱼潜入深海捕食然后浮上海面呼吸时, 它们排放出巨量的排泄流。
dive:n.潜水;跳水;俯冲;猛冲;v.猛冲;(头朝下)跳入水中;[体]跳水(运动); come up to:v.达到;等于; release:v.释放;发射;让与;允许发表;n.释放;发布;让与; enormous:adj.庞大的,巨大的;凶暴的,极恶的; fecal:adj.排泄物的;残渣的;糟粕的; plumes:羽状物;
This whale pump , as it's called, actually brings essential limiting nutrients from the depths to the surface waters where they stimulate the growth of phytoplankton , which forms the base of all marine food chains. 这种所谓的鲸鱼泵 能将深海中的稀缺关键养分 带到水表,促进浮游生物的生长, 而浮游生物是一切海洋食物链的基础。
pump:n.抽水机;泵;打气筒;v.用泵输送;涌出;奔流;快速摇动; essential:n.要点;要素;实质;必需品;adj.完全必要的;必不可少的;极其重要的;本质的; nutrients:营养盐;[食品]营养素; stimulate:v.刺激;激发;促进;激励; phytoplankton:n.[植]浮游植物(群落); marine:adj.海的;海产的;海生的;海船的;n.(尤指美国或英国皇家)海军陆战队士兵;
So really, having more whales in the oceans pooping is really beneficial to the entire ecosystem. 所以,让更多的鲸鱼在海洋中排泄 会对整个生态系统都有好处。
pooping:v.浪冲打船尾(poop的现在分词); beneficial:adj.有益的,有利的;可享利益的;
Whales are also known to undertake some of the longest migrations of all mammals . 鲸鱼还是哺乳动物中迁徙距离最远的之一。
undertake:v.承担;从事;负责;承诺; migrations:[动][地质]迁移; mammals:n.哺乳动物;(mammal的复数)
Gray whales off America migrate 16,000 kilometers between productive feeding areas and less productive calving , or birthing, areas and back every year. 美国沿岸的灰鲸每年要迁徙16000公里, 来回在营养丰富的捕食水域和 营养欠缺的繁殖水域之间。
migrate:vi.移动;随季节而移居;移往;vt.使移居;使移植; productive:adj.能生产的;生产的,生产性的;多产的;富有成效的; calving:n.产犊;裂冰作用;v.产犊;崩解(calve的ing形式);
As they do so, they transport fertilizer in the form of their feces from places that have it to places that need it. 在此过程中,它们的粪便作为肥料被从 养分富饶的地方运送到养分稀缺的地方。
transport:n.运输;输送;运送;运输机;v.输送;传播;使产生身临其境的感觉;(旧时)流放; fertilizer:n.[肥料]肥料;受精媒介物;促进发展者; feces:n.排泄物;渣滓;
So clearly, whales are really important in nutrient cycling, both horizontally and vertically , through the oceans. 很显然,鲸鱼在海洋的营养循环中起重要作用, 无论是纵向还是横向的营养循环。（译注:纵向是海底到海面,横向是指鲸鱼迁徙）
horizontally:adv.水平地;地平地; vertically:adv.垂直地;
But what's really cool is that they're also really important after they're dead. 但非常有意思的是,它们死后也在起重要作用。
Whale carcasses are some of the largest form of detritus to fall from the ocean's surface, and they're called whale fall. 鲸鱼遗骸是海平面下沉的腐质中最大的之一, 它们被称作鲸鱼下沉物。
detritus:n.碎石,[地质]岩屑;
As these carcasses sink, they provide a feast to some 400-odd species, including the eel-shaped, slime-producing hagfish . 当遗骸下沉时, 超过400种生物会迎来它们的大餐, 这些生物中包括鳗鱼状的、产生粘液的蒲氏粘盲鳗。
feast:n.盛宴;宴会;(宗教的)节日;v.尽情享用(美味佳肴); hagfish:n.八目鳗类鱼;盲鳗;丑鱼;
So over the 200 years of whaling, when we were busy killing and removing these carcasses from the oceans, we likely altered the rate and geographic distribution of these whale falls that would descend into deep oceans, 所以在200年的捕鲸活动里, 我们在匆忙杀戮,从海洋中移除这些遗骸的同时, 我们也很可能改变了这些鲸鱼下沉物的 产生率和地理分布,
altered:adj.改变了的:v.(使)改变,更改,改动:(alter的过去分词和过去式) geographic:adj.地理的;地理学的; distribution:n.分布;分配;分发;分销; descend:vi.下降;下去;下来;遗传;屈尊;vt.下去;沿…向下;
and as a result, probably led to a number of extinctions of species that were most specialized and dependent on these carcasses for their survival . 而这可能会导致一些 专门食用和非常依靠这种遗骸生存的 生物的灭绝。
extinctions:n.[生物]灭绝(extinction的复数);消失;废除; specialized:adj.专业的; v.专门研究(或从事); (specialize的过去式和过去分词) dependent on:依赖于;依靠; survival:n.幸存,残存;幸存者,残存物;
Whale carcasses are also known to transport about 190,000 tons of carbon , which is the equivalent of that produced by 80,000 cars per year from the atmosphere to the deep oceans, and the deep oceans are what we call "carbon sinks," 鲸鱼遗骸还能从大气层向深海运送大约190000吨的碳, 这相当于 80000量汽车 一年排放的总和。 深海被我们称为“碳池”,
carbon:n.[化学]碳;碳棒;复写纸;adj.碳的;碳处理的; equivalent:adj.等价的,相等的;同意义的;n.等价物,相等物; atmosphere:n.大气;气氛;气压;风格;
because they trap and hold excess carbon from the atmosphere, and therefore help to delay global warming . 因为那里能锁住和存储大气中多余的碳, 从而帮助减缓全球变暖。
trap:v.使陷入困境;卡住;夹住;收集;吸收;n.陷阱;圈套;捕捉器;诡计; excess:n.超过,超额;过度,过量;无节制;adj.额外的,过量的;附加的; global warming:n.全球(气候)变暖;地球大气层变暖;
Sometimes these carcasses also wash up on beaches and provide a meal to a number of predatory species on land. 有时这些遗骸还被冲刷上海岸, 为陆地上一些捕猎生物提供午餐。
predatory:adj.掠夺的,掠夺成性的;食肉的;捕食生物的;
The 200 years of whaling was clearly detrimental and caused a reduction in the populations of whales between 60 to 90 percent. 200年的捕鲸活动明显是有害的, 鲸鱼数量减少了 60%到90%。
detrimental:adj.不利的;有害的;n.有害的人(或物);不受欢迎的求婚者; reduction:n.减少;缩小;降低;减价;折扣;缩图;
Clearly, the Save the Whales movement was instrumental in preventing commercial whaling from going on, but we need to revise this. 拯救鲸鱼运动 在阻止商业捕鲸中起了关键作用, 但我们需要做一些改进。
revise:v.修改;复习;改变;温习;n.校订;[印]再校样;
We need to address the more modern, pressing problems that these whales face in our waters today. 我们需要面对如今鲸鱼所面临的 更当代,更紧迫的问题。
Amongst other things, we need to stop them from getting plowed down by container ships when they're in their feeding areas, and stop them from getting entangled in fishing nets as they float around in the ocean. 其中,我们要防止鲸鱼 在繁殖水域中被运输船撞死, 还要防止鲸鱼在海洋上游荡时 被渔网缠住。
Amongst:prep.在…之中;在…当中(等于among); plowed:v.耕地;开路;破浪前进;(plow的过去分词和过去式) entangled:adj.卷入的;被缠住的;v.卷入;使…混乱;使…纠缠;
We also need to learn to contextualize our conservation messages, so people really understand the true ecosystem value of these creatures. 我们还需学会将我们的动物保护信息放入合适的语境, 以便人们能够真正了解这些生物的真正生态价值。
contextualize:vt.将置于上下文中研究;使…溶入背景;
So, let's save the whales again, but this time, let's not just do it for their sake . 让我们再次拯救鲸鱼, 这次,我们这样做不仅是为了鲸鱼,
sake:n.目的;利益;理由;日本米酒;
Let's also do it for ours. 我们也是在为我们自己。
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）