The otherworldly creatures in the ocean's deepest depths - Lidia Lins

翻译人员: Bingjie Yu 校对人员: William Lee

It's easy to forget how vast and deep the ocean really is.

我们很容易忘记海洋到底有多广阔，有多深

About 60% of it is actually a cold and dark region

海洋的大约60%是冰冷黑暗的

known as the deep ocean.

也被称为深海

And it reaches down to 11,000 meters.

它深达11,000 米

Yet, this remote zone is also one of the greatest habitats on Earth,

然而，这一偏远的地带却是地球上最大的栖息地之一

harboring a huge diversity of life,

容纳了丰富的生命多样性

from giant squids and goblin sharks

从巨型鱿鱼和妖精鲨鱼

to minuscule animals smaller than a millimeter.

到小于一毫米的微型动物

How do so many species thrive in this underwater world?

这么多种生物是如何在这个水下世界繁盛起来的呢？

Over the decades, intrepid scientists have ventured there to find out.

在过去几十年里

勇敢的科学家们曾冒险进入这片区域去寻找答案

Traveling down through the water column,

穿越过整个水层

pressure increases and light begins to wane.

随着深度增加水压逐渐增大，光线开始变得微弱

At 200 meters, photosynthesis stops

到达200米时，光合作用停止

and temperature decreases from surface temperatures

温度比起水面温度

by up to 20 degrees Celsius.

可以降低20摄氏度

By 1000 meters, normal sunlight has disappeared altogether.

到1000米时，日光完全消失

Without light, life as we know it seems impossible.

没有了光线，我们所知的生命似乎无法存在

That's why in 1844, the naturalist Edward Forbes

这也是为什么在1844年，自然学家爱德华－福布斯

wrote his Azoic Theory,

在他的著作无生学说中写道

Azoic, meaning without animals.

无生，意味着没有动物

Forbes was sure that nothing could survive below 600 meters

福布斯认定没有生物可以在600米以下的海洋存活

on account of the lack of light.

由于没有光的缘故

Of course, the discovery of deep-sea species proved him wrong.

当然，深海生物的发现证实了他是错的

What Forbes failed to take into account is something called marine snow,

福布斯没有考虑到的是一种叫海雪的东西

which sounds much nicer than it is.

这种东西的名字听起来比它实质要美妙很多

Marine snow is basically organic matter,

海雪是一种有机物质

things like particles of dead algae, plants, and animals,

像死去的海藻或动植物的粒子

drifting down into the depths

沉入到深海中

and acting as food for deep-sea animals.

并称为深海动物的食物

Largely thanks to that, abundant life forms exist in the darkness,

得益于此，丰富的生命形式得以在黑暗中存在

adapting to a harsh reality where only the weird and wonderful can survive.

在如此严酷的环境中，只有最怪异的和最美妙的生命形式得以留存

Fish with cavernous mouths,

有着洞穴一般巨嘴的鱼类

spiky teeth jutting from their jaws,

尖刺状的牙齿从下巴中突出来

and lamp-like structures protruding from their heads,

还有头顶上突出的台灯状结构

like the anglerfish which entices prey with its misleading glow.

还有如通过令人迷惑的亮光吸引猎物的琵琶鱼

Several sea creatures have perfected this lightning technique

有些海洋生物完善了这项发光的技能

known as bioluminescence,

我们称之为生物光

using it to lure prey,

来诱捕猎物

distract predators,

分散捕食者注意

or attract mates.

或吸引伴侣

Some creatures use it for camoflauge.

有些生物通过它来伪装自己

In parts of the water column where only faint blue light filters through,

有些水域只有蓝光能被过滤通过

animals bioluminesce to match the glow.

动物们用生物光来配合光线

Predators or prey looking up from below

捕食者或猎物从下往上看

are deceived by this camoflauge,

会被这种伪装欺骗

unable to see the creatures silhouette.

无法看到它们的轮廓

Such otherworldly adaptations also arise from the need to locate

这种适应性的形成也来自于定位的需求

and snatch up food before it drifts away.

在猎物遁走前抓住它

Some sea animals, like jellyfish, comb jellies and salps

有些海洋动物，比如水母，栉水母，还有樽海鞘

can migrate between depths

可以在不同深度水域中移动

partially because their 90% water consistency

部分原因是它们身体有90%的组成是水

allows them to withstand immense pressure.

使它们能够忍受巨大的压力

But they're the exception.

但它们属于特例

Most deep-sea creatures are confined to a narrow range in the water column

大部分深海生物被限制于一个狭窄的水层区域

where nutrients are scarce

那里营养稀缺

since the food drifting downwards from the surface

因为食物从水面下沉

rapidly sinks to the sea floor.

很快沉入海底

Plunging all the way down, we find more exotic creatures.

越是往下，我们发现越多奇异的生物

Some take on dwarfism,

它们有些是侏儒状态

a trait that transforms them into miniature versions of animals

一种将它们转化成迷你版本生物的特征

we see closer to the surface.

当我们更近的观察表面

It's thought that reduced food availability causes the shrinkage.

减少的食物来源被认为是造成这种体积缩减的原因

Only a tiny fraction of the food produced at the surface reaches the sea floor,

仅有一小部分水面的食物最终到达海底

so being small gives animals a low energy requirement

所以动物的小型体积能够降低能量消耗

and an adaptive advantage.

和更好的适应性的优势

And yet, the sea is also the land of giants.

然而，海洋也是巨人的家园

Here, gargantuan squids can reach 18 meters long.

在这里，巨型鱿鱼体长可达18米

Isopods scuttle around the sea floor like enormous wood lice.

等足目生物在海床表面像木虱一样遁走

There are long-limbed Japanese spider crabs,

也有长足日本蜘蛛蟹

and oarfish, whose bodies stretch to 15 meters.

还有身子可以拉长至15米的桨鱼

This trait is known as gigantism, and it's something of a mystery.

这一特性被称为巨人症，并仍然是个谜

It's thought that high oxygen levels may drive extreme growth in some species,

高氧浓度被认为也许促进了一些物种的极端生长

while the colder temperatures promote longer life spans,

而冰冷的水温延缓了寿命

giving animals the opportunity to grow massive.

使得动物们能够长至巨型的身材

Many of these exotic sea beasts will never experience sunlight.

这些异国海兽中的许多将终生不见光亮

Some will venture up through the water column to feed,

有些会冒险去到其他水层觅食

and a few will actually break the waves,

还有极少的一部分能够真正的突破海浪

reminding us at the surface

到达海面，提醒着我们

about the incredible survival skills of the ocean's deepest inhabitants.

这些深海居民惊人的生存能力

Humans still have an astounding 95% of the ocean left to explore.

人类仍然还有难以置信的95%的海洋不曾探索过

So those depths remain a great mystery.

因此这些深水区域仍然充满谜团

What other untold wonders lie far below, and which ones will we discover next?

在这下面还有什么未知的奇迹？而我们发现的下一个奇迹又会是什么？