Eli the eel: A mysterious migration - James Prosek

Jegulja Ilaj: Misteriozna selidba - Džejms Prozek (James Prosek)

Transcriber: Jessica Ruby Reviewer: Caroline Cristal

Prevodilac: Anca Dimovska Lektor: Mile Živković

They're long and slithery,

Dugačke su i ljigave

and they're not very colorful.

i nisu baš raznobojne.

But they do have a strange beauty of their own.

Ali imaju svoju neobičnu lepotu.

Their sinuous, nocturnal movements

Njihovi vijugavi, noćni pokreti

through the water

are mesmerizing to watch.

kroz vodu

hipnotišu.

And though they may resemble underwater snakes,

I mada liče na podvodne zmije,

eels are, in fact, a very interesting type of fish.

jegulje su, u stvari, jako zanimljiva vrsta riba.

There are several things about eels

Ima nekoliko stvari o jeguljama

that make them unique

koje ih čine jedinstvenim

besides their elongated shape and limbless bodies.

osim izduženog oblika i tela bez udova.

For one thing,

Na primer,

eels have the ability to breathe through their skin.

jegulje mogu da dišu kroz kožu.

Some can even leave the water

Neke mogu da napuste vodu

and move over land for short periods.

i premeste se na kopno na kratak period.

And, unlike most migratory fish,

Za razliku od drugih riba selica,

such as salmon,

kao što je losos,

which spawn in fresh water

koje se mreste u slatkim vodama

but live their adult lives in salt water,

a odraslo doba provode u slanoj vodi,

eels of the genus Anguilla

jegulje iz roda Anguila

migrate in the opposite direction,

migriraju u suprotnom smeru,

spawning and breeding in oceans and seas,

mreste se i izležu jaja u okeanima i morima,

while spending most of their intervening time

a većinu vremena između toga provode

in fresh water.

u slatkoj vodi.

If we were to take one such fresh water eel

Ako bismo uzeli jednu slatkovodnu jegulju

and follow its life story,

i pratili njenu životnu priču,

it would be born in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean,

rodila bi se u sred Severnoatlanskog okeana,

about a thousand miles east of Bermuda.

oko 1600 kilometara istočno od Bermuda.

This area, called the Sargasso Sea,

Ova oblast, koja se zove Saragaso more,

forms the western part

formira zapadni deo

of a subtropical gyre,

subtropskog kruga,

a giant whirlpool in the middle of the ocean.

džinovskog vrtloga usred okeana.

Our eel, let's call it Eli,

Naša jegulja, nazvaćemo je Ilaj,

would begin as one of ten to twenty million tiny eggs,

počeće kao jedno od milion sitnih jajašaca,

carried by a female eel,

koje nosi ženka jegulje,

hatching into a transparent leaf-shaped thing

koje se izlegnu u providno stvorenje oblika lista

that looks nothing like an adult eel.

koje uopšte ne izgleda kao odrasla jegulja.

Eli starts to drift in ocean currents,

Ilaj plovi morskim strujama,

predominantly the Gulf Stream

najviše u Golfskoj struji

towards either Europe or North America,

ka Evropi ili Severnoj Americi,

depending on its particular species.

u zavisnosti od njegove vrste.

Upon reaching the coast,

Kad pristigne na obalu,

Eli is about two inches long,

Ilaj je dug oko 0.05 m,

looking more eely but still transparent,

Liči malo više na jegulju ali je i dalje providan,

known at this stage as a glass eel.

u ovom razdoblju poznat kao staklena jegulja.

But within a couple of days in fresh water,

Ali u toku nekoliko dana u slatkoj vodi,

Eli's skin becomes pigmented a brownish-black,

Ilajeva koža obojiće se u braonkasto crno,

now looking more like that of an adult eel.

i ličiće na odraslu jegulju

You might notice

Primetićete

that we haven't mentioned anything

da nismo još uvek pominjali

about Eli's gender yet.

ništa u vezi sa polom Ilaj.

That's because this is only determined

To je zato što je ovo određeno

once an eel enters fresh water,

kada jegulja pređe u slatke vode,

though nobody is sure exactly how that happens.

iako niko ne zna sigurno kako se to dešava.

Most of the eels that stay in the estuaries

Većina jegulja koje ostanu u mrestilištima

and brackish water become males,

i slankastim vodama postanu mužjaci

while those that go upstream become females,

dok one koje idu uzvodno postanu ženke,

growing up to two to three times bigger than

izrastu dva do tri puta veće

their future mates.

od budućih partnera.

In this case,

U ovom slučaju,

it turns out that Eli was actually short for Elaine.

ispostavlja se da je Ilaj skraćeno od Ilejn.

As a female eel,

Kao ženka,

Elaine will be quite solitary

Ilejn će biti usamljena

for most of her life in the stream,

većinu svog života u slatkoj vodi,

eating whatever falls in the water:

ješće šta god padne u vodu:

grasshoppers, crickets, small fish,

skakavce, cvrčke, male ribe,

insect larvae, frogs, baby birds,

larve insekata, žabe, ptiće,

almost anything she can get her mouth around.

skoro sve što joj dođe do usta.

And she will grow quite big,

I izrašće prilično velika,

up to four feet long

duga do 120cm

and weighing as much as thirteen pounds.

težine i do 5,9 kg.

We don't know exactly how

Ne zna se tačno kako

fresh water eels know when it's time

slatkovodne jegulje znaju kad im je vreme

to return to the ocean,

da se vrate u okean,

but something calls to them.

ali nešto ih prizove.

And their fall migration

Njihova jesenja migracija

is one of the largest unseen migrations

je jedna od najvećih neviđenih migracija

on the planet.

na planeti.

As Elaine leaves fresh water for the ocean,

Kako Ilejn pređe iz slatke vode u okean,

she undergoes a shocking metamorphosis.

doživljava šokantnu metamorfozu.

Her eyes enlarge by about ten times,

Oći joj se uvećaju deset puta,

her skin gets thicker,

koža se zadeblja,

and her fins get larger.

a peraja se uvećaju.

These are most likely adaptations

Ovo je najverovatnije prilagođavanje

for their upcoming ocean travel,

za predstojeće putovanje okeanom,

and Elaine seamlessly makes the transition

i Ilejn neprimetno pravi prelaz

from fresh to salt water,

iz slatke u slanu vodu,

which would be toxic for most other fish.

što bi bilo toksično po većinu drugih riba.

Once Elaine leaves the mouth of the fresh water streams,

Kada Ilejn napusti ušće slatkovodnih potoka,

she will disappear completely from human view.

potpuno će da nestane sa ljudskog vidika.

No one has witnessed,

niko nije posvedočio,

or been able to follow,

ili bio u mogućnosti da prati

an adult eel on their migration,

odraslu jegulju u migraciji,

nor do we know how deep they spawn.

niti znamo na kojoj dubini se mreste.

But it's assumed that they can follow some signs

Ali može se zaključiti da se mogu pratiti neki znaci

that they can detect,

koje one otkriju,

such as a thermal barrier between ocean currents

kao što su toplotne granice okeanskih struja

or a salinity front,

ili front saliniteta,

in order to return to the same area of the ocean

da bi se vratile u istu oblast okeana

where they were born.

gde su rođene.

Because we don't even know exactly

Zato što ne znamo šta se tačno dešava

what happens during an eel's migration,

tokom migracije jegulja,

we can only imagine what the actual breeding looks like.

možemo samo da zamislimo kako izgleda razmnožavanje.

But the common hypothesis

Ali je ustaljena hipoteza

is that Elaine and thousands,

da se Ilejn i hiljade,

or hundreds of thousands,

stotine hiljada,

of other eels

drugih jegulja

gather in large, intertwined masses

okupe u velikoj ispreplitanoj masi

and release their eggs and sperm

i ispuste svoja jaja i spermu

in a giant orgy known as panmixia.

u ogromnoj orgiji poznatoj kao panmiksija.

A couple of days after the eggs are laid,

Nekoliko dana nakon što se polože jaja,

they hatch,

ona se izlegu,

and the cycle begins again.

i krug ponovo počinje.

And because we've never seen

I zato što nikad nismo videli

the adult eels returning up the fresh water rivers,

odrasle jegulje da se vraćaju u slatke vode,

we must assume that,

moramo da pretpostavimo

having completed their long and roundabout journey,

da nakon što završe svoj dug i kružni put,

these amazing and mysterious creatures

ova divna i misteriozna stvorenja

finally die there,

na kraju umru tamo,

in the same place where they were born.

na istom mestu gde su se rodile.

Goodbye, Elaine!

Doviđenja Ilejn!

It was a pleasure knowing you.

Bilo je zadovoljstvo poznavati te.