本集內容

Dying seabirds mystery 英國東海岸鳥類大批死亡之謎

學習要點

有關 “survival（生存）” 的詞匯

邊看邊答

What is most likely to be causing the seabirds to die?

文字稿

Every new tide brings with it further evidence that our seabirds are suffering. Dead gannets, guillemots and razorbills are being found on beaches from northern Scotland down to The Wash [UK].

每一次潮起潮落都會讓更多證據浮出水面，證明海鳥正在掙扎求存。從蘇格蘭北部到英國沃什灣的海灘上，都發現了死掉的塘鵝、海鳩和刀嘴海雀。

The Yorkshire coastline is home to half a million birds, and in recent days, some of these have also started to die. 

約克郡海岸線是五十萬只鳥的家園，最近，這里的一些鳥也開始死亡。

Poppy Rummery, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
We’re monitoring seabird populations here at Bempton, and to have this kind of huge scale death of seabirds, we’re unsure how that’s going to affect them in the future. With already, sort of, declining populations, to see this mass death is really, really devastating.

波比·魯默里       英國皇家保護鳥類協會
“我們正在監視本普頓這里的海鳥數量，面對海鳥這樣大規模的死亡，我們不確定這將如何影響它們的未來。海鳥的數量本來就在日益減少，現在又看到它們大批死亡，真的很令人悲痛。”

Some birds are changing their behaviour, coming inland into rivers. Those that are found dead are emaciated – half the weight they should be.

一些鳥類正在改變它們的行為，進入內陸河流。那些被發現的死鳥都很瘦弱，它們的體重只有正常的一半。

Paul Murphy, BBC correspondent
The investigation into why this is happening is complex because these birds are already being impacted by climate change and industrial activity out at sea. But the strongest line of inquiry so far is that some sort of toxin is infecting the fish that they are eating.

保羅·墨菲       BBC通訊員
“對于為什么出現這種情況，調查起來很復雜，因為這些鳥已經受到氣候變化和海上工業活動的影響。但到目前為止，最有力的調查方向是某種毒素污染了鳥類捕食的魚。”

Francis Daunt, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
They’re dying of starvation, it seems. And now what we’re trying to find out is what’s causing them to starve. Toxins are produced by algae or plankton, and when those get at high concentrations, you can get sufficient quantities of toxins produced by these algae into the marine environment, and that can work its way up the food chain.

弗朗西斯·丹特       英國生態與水文研究中心
“看來海鳥是餓死的。現在我們想試著查明是什么導致它們挨餓。毒素是由藻類和浮游生物產生的，當達到高濃度時，這些藻類會將產生的大量毒素帶入海洋環境中，這會沿食物鏈向上傳遞。”

At least 2000 seabirds are thought to have died along the UK’s east coast in recent weeks. 

據信，最近幾周至少有2000只海鳥死在了英國東海岸。

Poppy Rummery, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Even today, we’ve had at least, sort of, four razorbills seen just off the coast here, certainly dead beneath the cliffs, and… ones that are acting strangely as well, so whether or not they make it and, well, to the rest of the day, who knows?

波比·魯默里       英國皇家保護鳥類協會
“僅在今天，我們在海岸附近就看到了至少四只刀嘴海雀，可以肯定它們死在懸崖下面了，我們還看到了一些行為反常的鳥，不知道它們能不能活下來，連能不能撐過今天也說不定。”

Birds are often a barometer of the health of our seas. The unprecedented scale of this ongoing incident will be seen as yet another warning that our climate is changing more quickly than wildlife can adapt.

鳥類常是海洋健康狀況的晴雨表。這起持續發展的事件規模前所未見，又一次警示人們氣候變化要快于野生動物所能適應的速度。

詞匯

mass death 大批死亡

emaciated 瘦弱的

toxin 毒素

starvation 挨餓，極度饑餓

make it 活下來

問題答案

The strongest line of inquiry so far is that some sort of toxin is infecting the fish that they are eating.