Is this the most valuable thing in the ocean? - David Biello

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Zoe Walmsley

In 1891, newspapers reported the story of James Bartley,

1891 年，報紙報導了 詹姆斯‧巴特利的故事，

a whaler who was swallowed whole by his prey.

他是捕鯨者，卻被他的獵物給吞掉。

Supposedly, Bartley spent as long as 36 hours in the belly of the beast

據推測，巴特利在牠的 腹中待了 36 個小時，

before his crew caught the whale and rescued their crewmate.

他的船員才抓到這隻鯨魚並將他救出。

And this tale is far from unique.

類似的故事其實不少，

Various novels, myths, and religious texts depict figures swallowed at sea—

許多小說、神話，和宗教文本

都曾描述過到在海上被吞食的人物，

with some even making a home for themselves

有些甚至還把生物 洞穴似的嘴巴當成家。

in the creatures’ cavernous mouths.

Unfortunately, if someone actually were swallowed by a whale,

不幸的是，如果有人 真的被鯨魚吞下去，

they would likely be crushed.

他們很可能會被壓碎。

But if they somehow survived,

但如果他們躲過這一劫，

they might have a chance to escape during their captor’s bathroom break.

他們可能有機會在鯨魚上廁所時逃脫。

Whales frequently surface to take in air

鯨魚經常浮出水面以攝入空氣

and let out massive plumes of waste.

並排出大量的廢物。

And while swimming in this slurry might seem more disgusting

雖然在便便泥漿中游泳 似乎比住在牠們體內更噁心，

than living in these creatures,

whale poop is much more desirable than it may seem.

但鯨魚便便其實 比表面上看起來的還棒。

In fact, it may be one of the most important substances in the ocean—

事實上，它可能是海洋中， 及世界上最重要的物質之一。

and the world.

To understand why,

要了解原因，

we need to look at some of the ocean’s most ubiquitous organisms: phytoplankton.

我們需要先來看一些 海洋中最無所不在的生物：

浮游植物。

These creatures survive off sunlight, carbon dioxide,

這些生物離不開陽光、二氧化碳，

and nutrients like phosphates, nitrogen, and iron.

以及磷酸鹽、氮，和鐵等養分。

And since the ocean’s surface waters generally have an abundance

而海洋表面的水富含這些資源，

of these resources,

phytoplankton are everywhere.

因此浮游植物無所不在。

A single drop of seawater can contain thousands of these creatures

一滴海水中就有數千個這類生物，

and phytoplankton blooms are large enough to be seen from space.

浮游植物的繁殖大到 從外太空都能看見。

These phytoplankton then become food for countless microscopic grazers,

這些浮游植物養活了 無數微小的草食動物，

including copepods and krill,

包括橈足類動物和磷蝦等 其他一大堆海洋生物的主食。

which in turn feed a huge swath of marine life.

In this way, these surface-dwellers are the base of a food chain

這些海洋表層的生物 就這樣成為食物鏈的基礎，

supporting countless marine life forms.

供養無數的海洋生物。

But when phytoplankton die, their bodies can sink far below the surface,

但，浮游植物死亡時，

它們的屍體會沉入海洋深處，

taking with them the carbon and iron their living peers need to survive.

同時把其他浮游植物 所需的碳和鐵一起帶走，

And this is where whales come in.

而這正是鯨魚登場時。

Hunting at these depths,

在海洋深處獵食時，

whales consume huge amounts of these phytoplankton predators.

鯨魚會吞入大量浮游植物的捕食者。

For example, species like the blue whale

比如，類似藍鯨等的生物

can consume up to 16 tons of krill every day,

每天可消耗多達十六公噸的磷蝦，

leading them to regularly surface and release a slick of feces red with iron.

導致必須定期浮出水面， 排出一抹抹帶鐵而呈紅色的糞便。

Through this cycle,

透過這個循環，

whales act as a living pump to bring iron from deeper waters back to the surface.

鯨魚的角色就像一個幫浦，

將鐵從較深的水域送回海水表層。

However, if we take whales out of the equation—

然而，如果我們把鯨魚 從這方程式中拿掉──

much as centuries of commercial whaling did—

就像幾世紀以來 商業捕鯨魚業在做的事──

this natural system starts to break down.

這個自然系統就會開始崩壞。

Over enough time,

一旦時間夠久，

this broken cycle could lead to surface waters completely devoid of life

被破壞的循環會導致 表面水域毫無生物，

and similarly major problems for us land dwellers.

類似重大的問題也威脅著 我們這些陸地上的生物。

Phytoplankton’s massive photosynthetic blooms

浮游植物的大規模光合作用

produce as much as half of Earth’s oxygen.

製造出約地球上的氧氣量的一半。

And in addition to taking in iron,

除了帶鐵，

phytoplankton helps sequester huge amounts of carbon—

浮游植物還幫助封存大量的碳──

an element we need to extract from the air to address climate change.

一個因應氣候變遷 需從空氣中提取出的元素。

According to one report, phytoplankton are estimated to capture four times

一份報告指出，

浮游植物捕捉的碳量 是亞馬遜雨林植物含碳量的四倍。

the amount of carbon contained in the plant life of the Amazon.

From these calculations,

根據這些計算，

every 1% increase in phytoplankton population

浮游植物數量每增加百分之一，

is the carbon capture equivalent of 2 billion fully grown trees

就相當於二十億棵成樹捕捉的碳量。

springing into existence.

While there’s still debate about exactly how much of this carbon

雖然關於碳能在海洋中 封存多久的爭論還在進行，

stays in the ocean long term,

researchers are working to increase phytoplankton populations

研究人員正在努力 增加植物浮游植物的數量，

and bury as much carbon as possible.

企圖埋掉更多碳。

Some groups are doing this simply by sprinkling iron in the ocean.

有些團體則是把鐵灑入海洋，

However, this approach is much less impactful

然而，這種方法的影響力遠不如

than supporting the ocean’s natural phytoplankton farmers.

支持海裡的自然浮游植物農民。

Whale poop’s complex matrix of nutrients is the result of millennia of co-evolution

鯨魚便便中的複雜營養物質

是數千年來這些生物共同演化的結果，

among these creatures,

making it vastly superior to cheap, man-made supplements.

因此遠遠優於便宜的人造添加物。

Right now, whale populations are still recovering from industrial whaling.

目前鯨魚的數量仍在 從工業捕鯨的折損中恢復，

But if we can help these species rebound through whaling moratoriums,

如果我們能透過一些方法 來幫忙這些物種恢復，

safer fishing and shipping practices, and cleaning up pollution,

例如實施捕鯨禁令、改進捕魚 和航運業、及清理污染，

it would do wonders for restoring this nutrient cycle.

將會對恢復這營養循環大有助益。

And even when these newly protected whales die natural deaths,

即使這些受到保護的鯨魚 最後自然死亡，

they'll still be fighting climate change.

牠們仍然繼續對抗氣候變遷。

Not only can a whale’s body sequester up to 33 tons of carbon

一隻鯨魚的屍體不僅可將高達 33 公噸的碳封存在海底，

at the bottom of the ocean,

but their remains can also become an entire ecosystem—

牠們的屍體也能成為 一個完整的生態系統，

continuing to support life both above and below the surface.

繼續供給養分給海面上及海中的生物。