The Secret Life of Plankton

浮游生物的秘密生活 - 蒂爾尼泰思 (Tierney Thys)

譯者: Allen Li 審譯者: Jephian Lin

（音樂）

[Stories from the Sea]

海中傳奇

魚的自述： 我曾是浮游生物的秘密生活

[Fish Tale My Secret Life as Plankton]

（音樂）

How did I get here?

我是怎麼到這裡的？

Well, it's a stranger story than you might think.

嗯，這故事比你想像的更奇怪

I came from a world of drifters,

我來自充滿浮游流浪者的世界

a place few humans have ever seen.

一個少有人類見過的地方

The world of plankton.

浮游生物的世界

I came from a batch of a million eggs, and only a few of us survived.

我從數以百萬計的卵中孵出來

我們之中只有極少數存活下來

When I became a larva, I moved among other drifters.

當我孵化成幼體時

我和其他的浮游者一起活動

["Plankton" comes from the Greek "planktos" for wandering]

「浮游生物一詞來自希臘文 planktos 即漫遊之意」

My fellow plankton came in all sizes, from tiny algae and bacteria

我們浮游生物大小各不相同

從微小的藻類與細菌

to animals longer than a blue whale.

到比藍鯨更長的動物

I shared my nursery with other embryos and juveniles,

我在托兒所的同學

還有胚胎和幼年的

from clams and crabs to sea urchins and anemones.

蛤蜊和螃蟹，海膽和海葵

（浮游生物雜音）

(High pitch sound)

We drifting animals are called zooplankton.

我們浮游的動物被稱為 「浮游動物」 (zooplankton)

The most common animals here are copepods and krill.

這裡最常見的動物

是橈足類 (copepod) 和磷蝦 (krill)

(Buzzing)

您可以找遍世界各地

You could search the world over,

but you'd never find a place more diverse than my childhood home.

但你找不到比我童年家庭 更多樣化的地方了

A teaspoon of seawater

一茶匙的海水

can contain more than a million living creatures.

可能包含一百萬個以上小生物

It can be a pretty tough existence, though.

不過生活相當艱難

Trillions are born here, but only a few make it to adulthood.

雖然出生的數以兆計

但活到成年的只有少數

牠可能不比針頭大

He may be no larger than a pin head,

but this crab larva is an arrow worm's worst nightmare.

但這隻蟹苗是箭頭蟲 (arrow worm) 最可怕的噩夢

(Bumping noises)

（浮游生物雜音）

(Buzzing)

Epic battles between carnivores like these are just one way to get food.

肉食動物之間的永恆戰鬥 只是獲得食物的方式之一

But the real powers of this place come from phytoplankton.

這個地方的真正能量來源是 「浮游植物」(phytoplankton)：

它是單細胞生物

Single-celled life

that transforms sunlight and carbon dioxide

將陽光和二氧化碳轉換為

into edible gold.

可以吃的「金礦」

Phytoplankton are the base for the largest food web in the world.

浮游植物是世界上 最大食物網的基礎

During the night,

在夜間

many animals like me would rise up from the depths

許多像我這樣的動物，從深處上升

to feed on this sun-powered feast.

飽餐一頓太陽能的盛宴

（浮游生物雜音）

(Maraca sound)

I was part of the largest daily migration of life on Earth.

我是地球上最大規模 每日遷移生物的一部分

During the day,

到了白天

I'd return to the darkness, where I'd join my bizarre companions.

我回到黑暗，加入奇異的同伴中

（浮游生物雜音）

(High pitch buzz)

(Flapping noises)

Cannibals, like this sea butterfly mollusk,

有些會同類相殘，像這隻 軟體動物──海蝴蝶 (sea butterfly)

that eats its next of kin.

會吃掉牠的近親

And comb jellies,

櫛水母 (comb jelly)

that beat cilia like rainbowed eyelashes.

令人吃驚的纖毛 像是七彩的睫毛

Some of these snare their prey with sticky tentacles,

有的設下陷阱 用黏黏的觸手捕捉獵物

while others just take a bite out of their cousins.

有的則是一口咬掉堂兄弟

And siphonophores

管水母 (Siphonophorae) 是用

that catch prey with toxic fishing lures.

有毒的魚餌捕捉獵物

But my favorite would have to be the crustacean Phronima.

我的最愛則是甲殼動物「巧戎」 (虫戎) (Phronima)

Its monstrous looks inspired the movie "Aliens."

可怕的長相啟發了電影「異形」

It can catch tiny bits in its bristles,

牠可以用短毛捕捉小東西

but prefers larger prey like salps.

但更喜歡樽海鞘 (salps) 這類更大的獵物

With two sets of eyes, this female prowls the deeper water.

牠有兩對眼睛 這隻雌性在更深的水中覓食

Prey in hand,

獵物在手

she performs one of the strangest behaviors

她在執行整個動物王國中 最奇怪的行為之一

in the entire animal kingdom.

With body parts from her victims,

使用她受害者的肢體

she delicately assembles a barrel-like home

巧妙組裝成水桶狀的家

feeding her young until they can drift off and survive on their own.

餵養寶寶，直到牠們漂走獨立生存

Best of all, they make the perfect snack for a small fish like me.

最重要的是，對我這樣的小魚而言 牠們是完美的點心

Here among the plankton,

浮游生物之間的

the food web is so tangled and complex,

食物網太糾結複雜了

even scientists don't know who eats whom.

連科學家都不知道誰吃了誰

But I do.

但我知道

At least now you know a bit of my story.

至少你現在知道了一些我的故事

There's so much more to me than just a tasty meal.

我可不只是道美味的菜餚而已

撰稿： Tierney Thys & Christian Sardet

旁白： Kirk Lombard

動畫： Noe Sardet