Stephen Palumbi: Following the mercury trail

スティーブン・パランビ: 水銀の足跡を追って

翻訳: Yukari Katagiri 校正: Masaki Yanagishita

It can be a very complicated thing, the ocean.

海はとても複雑です

And it can be a very complicated thing, what human health is.

健康とは何かという問いもまた複雑です

And bringing those two together might seem a very daunting task,

同時に考えるなんて 目を背けたくなる

but what I'm going to try to say is that

しかし 私がこれから伝える事は

even in that complexity,

複雑に絡み合った中にも

there's some simple themes that I think,

理解すれば 私達を前進させる

if we understand, we can really move forward.

単純な事柄がある ということです

And those simple themes aren't really

それらの単純な事柄とは

themes about the complex science of what's going on,

複雑な科学などではなく

but things that we all pretty well know.

馴染みのある事柄です

And I'm going to start with this one:

まずはこんな言葉から

If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

ママが不幸だとみんなが不幸

We know that, right? We've experienced that.

経験から知っていると思います

And if we just take that

これを理解して

and we build from there,

まずはここから始めれば

then we can go to the next step,

次のステップに進めるはず

which is that if the ocean ain't happy,

海が不幸なら

ain't nobody happy.

誰も幸せになれない

That's the theme of my talk.

このスピーチのテーマです

And we're making the ocean pretty unhappy in a lot of different ways.

色々な方法で私達は海を不幸にしています

This is a shot of Cannery Row in 1932.

これは1932年の”缶詰横丁”

Cannery Row, at the time,

当時”缶詰横丁”には

had the biggest industrial

西海岸で最大の

canning operation on the west coast.

缶詰製造産業がありました

We piled enormous amounts of pollution

そして　膨大な汚染物質を

into the air and into the water.

大気と海に蓄積しました

Rolf Bolin, who was a professor

私の職場 ホプキン海洋研究所

at the Hopkin's Marine Station where I work,

その教授　ロルフ・ボリンが

wrote in the 1940s that

40年代 こう書いています

"The fumes from the scum floating on the inlets of the bay

入り江に浮かぶカスから立ち上るガスは

were so bad they turned

とても醜悪で

lead-based paints black."

鉛を含んだペンキを黒くしてしまいました

People working in these canneries

缶詰工場の従業員達は

could barely stay there all day because of the smell,

悪臭の中 一日を過ごすのがやっとでした

but you know what they came out saying?

しかし彼らはこう言いました

They say, "You know what you smell?

「何の匂いか分かるかい？」

You smell money."

「お金だよ」

That pollution was money to that community,

そこでは汚染はお金を意味し

and those people dealt with the pollution

人々は耐え忍びました

and absorbed it into their skin and into their bodies

皮ふや体に汚染を吸い込みながら

because they needed the money.

お金の為に

We made the ocean unhappy; we made people very unhappy,

私達は海を そして人々を不幸にし

and we made them unhealthy.

彼らの健康を奪いました

The connection between ocean health and human health

海と人間の健康との繋がりは

is actually based upon another couple simple adages,

また別の格言に基づいています

and I want to call that

その格言とは

"pinch a minnow, hurt a whale."

「小魚をつねれば鯨が泣く」

The pyramid of ocean life ...

海洋生物のピラミッド

Now, when an ecologist looks at the ocean -- I have to tell you --

生態学者が海を考える時

we look at the ocean in a very different way,

非常に異なる観点から

and we see different things than when a regular person looks at the ocean

一般の人とは違う物事を見ます

because when an ecologist looks at the ocean,

なぜなら 生態学者は

we see all those interconnections.

物事の相互関係を見るからです

We see the base of the food chain,

食物連鎖の底辺

the plankton, the small things,

小さなプランクトンが

and we see how those animals

どの様にして

are food to animals in the middle of the pyramid,

中層に位置する生物の餌になるのか

and on so up this diagram.

図の頂点に至るまで考えます

And that flow, that flow of life,

そして その命の流れ

from the very base up to the very top,

底辺から頂点までの流れこそ

is the flow that ecologists see.

生態学者の見る流れなのです

And that's what we're trying to preserve

「海を救おう 海の健康を取り戻そう」と訴える時

when we say, "Save the ocean. Heal the ocean."

私達が守ろうとしている物

It's that pyramid.

それがピラミッドなのです

Now why does that matter for human health?

さて なぜ人間の健康と関わってくるのか？

Because when we jam things in the bottom

なぜなら ピラミッドの底に

of that pyramid that shouldn't be there,

在るべきでない物を押し込むと

some very frightening things happen.

とても怖い事が起こるからです

Pollutants, some pollutants have been created by us:

私達が作り出した汚染物

molecules like PCBs

例えばPCBなどは

that can't be broken down by our bodies.

体内で分解できません

And they go in the base of that pyramid,

それらはピラミッドの底へ入り

and they drift up; they're passed up that way,

次々と捕食動物の間を漂い上がり

on to predators and on to the top predators,

頂点まで辿り着きます

and in so doing,

そうする間に

they accumulate.

蓄積されていくのです

Now, to bring that home, I thought I'd invent a little game.

理解する為にゲームをひとつ

We don't really have to play it; we can just think about it here.

想像するだけで大丈夫です

It's the Styrofoam and chocolate game.

発泡スチロールとチョコのゲーム

Imagine that when we got on this boat,

ボートに乗っているとします

we were all given

発泡スチロールのピーナッツを

two Styrofoam peanuts.

１人２粒渡されます

Can't do much with them: Put them in your pocket.

なにもできないのでとりあえずはポケットに

Suppose the rules are: every time you offer somebody a drink,

ルールは 毎回お酒を勧める度に

you give them the drink,

お酒と一緒に

and you give them your Styrofoam peanuts too.

ピーナッツも渡します

What'll happen is that the Styrofoam peanuts

すると ピーナッツは

will start moving through our society here,

廻りめぐって

and they will accumulate in

一番ケチで飲兵衛な人の元に

the drunkest, stingiest people.

集まっていきます

(Laughter)

（笑）

There's no mechanism in this game

消化できないピーナッツが

for them to go anywhere but into

一ヶ所に集まり

a bigger and bigger pile

どんどん積み上がる

of indigestible Styrofoam peanuts.

何のからくりもありません

And that's exactly what happens with PDBs

これこそまさに

in this food pyramid:

PCBに起こる事なのです

They accumulate into the top of it.

ピラミッドの頂点へ蓄積するのです

Now suppose, instead of Styrofoam peanuts,

さて ピーナッツの代わりに

we take these lovely little chocolates that we get

この美味しそうなチョコを

and we had those instead.

持っているとしましょう

Well, some of us would be eating those chocolates

何人かは 渡す代わりに

instead of passing them around,

食べてしまう

and instead of accumulating,

蓄積する代わりに

they will just pass into our group here

私達の間をめぐり

and not accumulate in any one group

消費されていくので

because they're absorbed by us.

一ヶ所には溜まりません

And that's the difference between a PCB

この違いこそ オメガ３の様な

and, say, something natural like an omega-3,

体に良い天然物と

something we want out of the marine food chain.

PCBとの違いです

PCBs accumulate.

PCBは蓄積されます

We have great examples of that, unfortunately.

残念な事に 実例があります

PCBs accumulate in dolphins

サラソタ湾やテキサス州やノースキャロライナ州の

in Sarasota Bay, in Texas, in North Carolina.

イルカにPCBは蓄積します

They get into the food chain.

食物連鎖のなかで

The dolphins eat the fish

プランクトンから魚へ

that have PCBs from the plankton,

魚からイルカへ

and those PCBs, being fat-soluble,

脂溶性のPCBは

accumulate in these dolphins.

イルカに蓄積されます

Now, a dolphin,

さて　そのイルカ達

mother dolphin, any dolphin --

全てのイルカにとって

there's only one way

PCBを体外に出す方法は

that a PCB can get out of a dolphin.

たった１つ

And what's that?

それは何か？

In mother's milk.

母乳です

Here's a diagram of the PCB load

これはサラソタ湾のイルカの

of dolphins in Sarasota Bay.

PCB含有量を示す図です

Adult males: a huge load.

オス：大量

Juveniles: a huge load.

子供：大量

Females after their first calf is already weaned:

授乳を終えたメス：

a lower load.

少量

Those females, they're not trying to.

意思とは関係なく

Those females are passing the PCBs

メス達は自分の子に

in the fat of their own mother's milk

授乳によって

into their offspring,

PCBを渡しているのです

and their offspring don't survive.

その子供達は長生き出来ません

The death rate in these dolphins,

初産による子供の

for the first calf born of every female dolphin,

死亡率は

is 60 to 80 percent.

60~80％です

These mothers pump their first offspring

母親達は 子供に

full of this pollutant,

大量の汚染物質を流し込み

and most of them die.

多くを殺してしまいます

Now, the mother then can go and reproduce,

母親は次の子を産めますが

but what a terrible price to pay

この汚染物質の蓄積に

for the accumulation of this pollutant

払う代償は

in these animals --

あまりに大き過ぎます

the death of the first-born calf.

第一子の死

There's another top predator in the ocean, it turns out.

海の食物連鎖におけるもう１つの頂点

That top predator, of course, is us.

それはもちろん 人間です

And we also are eating meat

私達は同じ場所からくる

that comes from some of these same places.

肉を食べています

This is whale meat

東京のスーパーで売られている

that I photographed in a grocery store in Tokyo --

鯨の肉

or is it?

それとも 本当は？

In fact, what we did a few years ago

数年前 私たちは

was learn how to smuggle

分子生物学研究室を

a molecular biology lab into Tokyo

こっそり東京に作り

and use it to genetically test the DNA

そこで鯨肉サンプルの

out of whale meat samples

DNAテストを行い

and identify what they really were.

正体を突き止めました

And some of those whale meat samples were whale meat.

いくつかは実際に鯨肉でしたが

Some of them were illegal whale meat, by the way.

「違法な鯨肉」ですが

That's another story.

それはまた 別の話です

But some of them were not whale meat at all.

いくつかは 全くの偽者でした

Even though they were labeled whale meat, they were dolphin meat.

ラベルは偽りで 実際はイルカの肉

Some of them were dolphin liver. Some of them were dolphin blubber.

イルカの肝臓や脂肪だったのです

And those dolphin parts

そしてそれらの各部位には

had a huge load of PCBs,

大量のPCBや

dioxins and heavy metals.

ダイオキシンや重金属が含まれていました

And that huge load was passing into the people

それら大量の汚染物は

that ate this meat.

人間の体に流れ込みます

It turns out that a lot of dolphins

事実 大量のイルカが

are being sold as meat

世界の鯨市場で

in the whale meat market around the world.

食肉として販売されています

That's a tragedy for those populations,

イルカだけでなく

but it's also a tragedy

汚染されているとは知らずに

for the people eating them

それを食べる人々にとっても

because they don't know that that's toxic meat.

この事実は悲劇なのです

We had these data a few years ago.

このデータを発見したのは数年前

I remember sitting at my desk

鯨肉として売られている肉が

being about the only person in the world

実際は汚染されたイルカである

who knew that whale meat being sold in these markets

私は その事実を知る

was really dolphin meat, and it was toxic.

おそらくただ一人の人間でした

It had two-to-three-to-400 times the toxic loads

EPA基準の200～400倍もの量が

ever allowed by the EPA.

含有されていたのです

And I remember there sitting at my desk thinking,

こう思ったのを 覚えています

"Well, I know this. This is a great scientific discovery,"

「これは偉大な科学的発見だ」

but it was so awful.

しかし 恐ろしい発見でした

And for the very first time in my scientific career,

科学雑誌でデータを公表してから

I broke scientific protocol,

それについて演説をするという

which is that you take the data and publish them in scientific journals

通常の手順を 科学者人生で初めて

and then begin to talk about them.

破りました

We sent a very polite letter

とても丁寧な手紙を

to the Minister of Health in Japan

日本の厚生労働大臣宛てに送り

and simply pointed out that

私達ではなく 日本の人々にとって

this is an intolerable situation, not for us,

許されざる状況なのだと

but for the people of Japan

指摘しました

because mothers who may be breastfeeding,

授乳中の母親が

who may have young children,

幼い子を持つ母親達が

would be buying something that they thought was healthy,

汚染された肉を 体に良いと信じ

but it was really toxic.

買っているかも知れないのだと

That led to a whole series of other campaigns in Japan,

これが日本で 様々な運動の引き金となりました

and I'm really proud to say that at this point,

誇りを持って言えますが

it's very difficult to buy anything in Japan

今日本に 偽装表示の商品は

that's labeled incorrectly,

ほとんどありません

even though they're still selling whale meat,

これが良いこととは思いませんが

which I believe they shouldn't.

日本で鯨肉の売買は続いています

But at least it's labeled correctly,

けれども少なくとも表示に偽りはなく

and you're no longer going to be buying

汚染されたイルカの肉を

toxic dolphin meat instead.

買ってしまう心配はありません

It isn't just there that this happens,

日本だけではありません

but in a natural diet of some communities

カナダ北極圏やアメリカ

in the Canadian arctic and in the United States

そして欧州北極圏

and in the European arctic,

それら地域の食生活と

a natural diet of seals and whales

アシカやクジラの食生活が

leads to an accumulation of PCBs

世界のあらゆる場所から

that have gathered up from all parts of the world

PCBを集積させ

and ended up in these women.

彼女達のもとへと運びます

These women have toxic breast milk.

この女性達の母乳は有毒です

They cannot feed their offspring, their children,

彼女達は 子供を母乳で育てることが

their breast milk

出来ません

because of the accumulation of these toxins

食物連鎖と

in their food chain,

彼女達が一部を担う

in their part of the world's

海のピラミッドが集めた

ocean pyramid.

毒のせいで

That means their immune systems are compromised.

彼女達の免疫システムは損なわれ

It means that their children's development

さらに 子供達の発達も

can be compromised.

危険にさらされます

And the world's attention on this over the last decade

ここ十年 世界はこの問題に注目し

has reduced the problem

この女性達の為に

for these women,

問題を軽減してきました

not by changing the pyramid,

ピラミッドではなく

but by changing what they particularly eat out of it.

食生活を変えることで

We've taken them out of their natural pyramid

問題を解決する為に

in order to solve this problem.

彼女らをピラミッドから外しました

That's a good thing for this particular acute problem,

しかしこの策は

but it does nothing to solve the pyramid problem.

根本的解決にはなりません

There's other ways of breaking the pyramid.

ピラミッドを壊す方法は 他にもあります

The pyramid, if we jam things in the bottom,

底に物を詰め込めば

can get backed up like a sewer line that's clogged.

詰った下水道の様に 逆流します

And if we jam nutrients, sewage, fertilizer

養分や汚水 化学肥料を

in the base of that food pyramid,

ピラミッドの底に詰め込むと

it can back up all through it.

頂点まで逆流します

We end up with things we've heard about before:

何が起るかはご存知の通り

red tides, for example,

例えば 赤潮

which are blooms of toxic algae

毒性の藻類の異常発生

floating through the oceans

海を漂い

causing neurological damage.

神経性の被害を与えます

We can also see blooms of bacteria,

バクテリアやウィルスの

blooms of viruses in the ocean.

異常発生も起り得ます

These are two shots of a red tide coming on shore here

この海岸では２度赤潮が起り

and a bacteria

コレラ菌を含む

in the genus vibrio,

ビブリオ属の

which includes the genus that has cholera in it.

バクテリアを含んでいます

How many people have seen a "beach closed" sign?

「海岸閉鎖」のサインを見たことある人？

Why does that happen?

どうして起るのか？

It happens because we have jammed so much

ピラミッドの底に

into the base of the natural ocean pyramid

沢山詰め込みすぎて

that these bacteria clog it up

詰ったバクテリアが

and overfill onto our beaches.

海辺まで溢れ出てくるのです

Often what jams us up is sewage.

大抵は汚水が原因です

Now how many of you have ever gone to a state park or a national park

国立公園や州立公園の入り口で こんな看板を

where you had a big sign at the front saying,

見たことがありますか？

"Closed because human sewage

「生活排水が

is so far over this park

公園中に溢れているため

that you can't use it"?

立ち入り禁止」

Not very often. We wouldn't tolerate that.

滅多にありませんよね？

We wouldn't tolerate our parks

公園だと

being swamped by human sewage,

耐えられないのに

but beaches are closed a lot in our country.

海岸は頻繁に閉鎖されます

They're closed more and more and more all around the world for the same reason,

同じ事が世界中で起っている

and I believe we shouldn't tolerate that either.

これは容認すべきではありません

It's not just a question of cleanliness;

問題は清潔さだけでなく

it's also a question of

それらの生物がどのように

how those organisms

病気の原因になるのか

then turn into human disease.

それも問題です

These vibrios, these bacteria, can actually infect people.

それらは実際人に影響を及ぼします

They can go into your skin and create skin infections.

皮ふに入り込み 感染症を引き起こします

This is a graph from NOAA's ocean and human health initiative,

NOAAによるグラフです

showing the rise of the infections

過去２年間における

by vibrio in people

ビブリオ菌による人への感染

over the last few years.

その増加を示しています

Surfers, for example, know this incredibly.

サーファーはこれを熟知しています

And if you can see on some surfing sites,

サーフサイトで見れるのは

in fact, not only do you see

実際のところ

what the waves are like or what the weather's like,

天気や波の状況だけでなく

but on some surf rider sites,

いくつかの海岸では

you see a little flashing poo alert.

糞尿警報を見ることができます

That means that the beach might have great waves,

最高の波が来ていたとしても

but it's a dangerous place for surfers to be

危険だということです

because they can carry with them,

サーフィンを楽しんだ後

even after a great day of surfing,

直すのが難しい病原菌を

this legacy of an infection that might take a very long time to solve.

持ち帰るかも知れないからです

Some of these infections are actually carrying

そのうち幾つかが持つ

antibiotic resistance genes now,

抗生物質抵抗性遺伝子が

and that makes them even more difficult.

事態を悪化させます

These same infections

それと同じ病原体が

create harmful algal blooms.

有害な藻類を発生させます

Those blooms are generating other kinds of chemicals.

それがまた別の化学物質を生み出します

This is just a simple list of some of the types of poisons

藻類異常発生から派生した毒物の

that come out of these harmful algal blooms:

簡単なリストです

shellfish poisoning,fish ciguatera,

貝中毒 シガテラ毒魚

diarrheic shellfish poisoning -- you don't want to know about that --

下痢性貝毒…これは知らぬが仏

neurotoxic shellfish poisoning, paralytic shellfish poisoning.

神経性貝毒 麻痺性貝毒

These are things that are getting into our food chain

全て食物連鎖の一部です

because of these blooms.

藻類異常発生が原因で

Rita Calwell very famously

リタ・コーウェルが

traced a very interesting story

興味深い話を追っています

of cholera into human communities,

人間ではなく

brought there, not by

媒介生物コペポーダによって

a normal human vector,

人間社会に持ち込まれる

but by a marine vector, this copepod.

コレラについて

Copepods are small crustaceans.

コペポーダは甲殻類です

They're a tiny fraction of an inch long,

数分の１センチの大きさで

and they can carry on their little legs

病気の原因となる

some of the cholera bacteria

コレラ菌を

that then leads to human disease.

足に抱えて運びます

That has sparked cholera epidemics

それは世界中の港で

in ports along the world

コレラの蔓延に火をつけ

and has led to increased concentration

人々は貨物船が

on trying to make sure shipping

それらの媒介生物を

doesn't move these

運んでしまわないよう

vectors of cholera around the world.

注意する様になりました

So what do you do?

では どうするのか？

We have major problems in disrupted ecosystem flow

問題は混乱した生態系の流れです

that the pyramid may not be working so well,

ピラミッドはうまく作動せず

that the flow from the base up into it

底からの流れは

is being blocked and clogged.

塞がれ詰まっている

What do you do when you have this sort of disrupted flow?

こんな時どう対処するか？

Well, there's a bunch of things you could do.

できる事はいくつかあります

You could call Joe the Plumber, for example.

配管工のジョーを呼ぶとか

And he could come in

彼がやってきて

and fix the flow.

直してくれるかもしれない

But in fact, if you look around the world,

しかし実際 見回してみれば

not only are there hope spots

解決の希望を持てる

for where we may be able to fix problems,

場所だけでなく

there have been places where problems have been fixed,

既に問題を解決した所

where people have come to grips with these issues

把握し改善に向かう

and begun to turn them around.

場所もあります

Monterey is one of those.

モントレーはその１つです

I started out showing how much

初めに示したとおり

we had distressed the Monterey Bay ecosystem

私達はモントレー湾の生態系を

with pollution and the canning industry

汚染や缶詰産業などによって

and all of the attendant problems.

苦しめました

In 1932, that's the picture.

この写真が1932年

In 2009, the picture is dramatically different.

2009年 劇的に変化しています

The canneries are gone. The pollution has abated.

缶詰工場はなくなり 汚染は減少しています

But there's a greater sense here

しかし 重要なのは

that what the individual communities need

個々の社会が必要なのは

is working ecosystems.

正常な生態系だという事です

They need a functioning pyramid from the base all the way to the top.

正常に機能するピラミッドが必要です

And that pyramid

モントレーの

in Monterey, right now,

ピラミッドは今

because of the efforts of a lot of different people,

人々の努力によって

is functioning better than it's ever functioned

過去150年で

for the last 150 years.

最もよくに機能しています

It didn't happen accidentally.

偶然起ったのではありません

It happened because many people put their time and effort

多くの人々の時間と労力そして

and their pioneering spirit into this.

開拓者精神の賜物です

On the left there, Julia Platt,

左の写真 ジュリア・プラット

the mayor of my little hometown in Pacific Grove.

私の出身地パシフィック・グローブの市長

At 74 years old, became mayor

海を守る為には

because something had to be done

何かをしなければと

to protect the ocean.

74才で市長となりました

In 1931, she produced California's first

1931年 カリフォルニア初の

community-based marine protected area,

地域密着型の海洋保護地域を

right next to the biggest polluting cannery,

汚染源缶詰工場のすぐ横に設定しました

because Julia knew

彼女は知っていたのです

that when the canneries eventually were gone,

いつか缶詰工場がなくなった時

the ocean needed a place to grow from,

海は育つ場所を

that the ocean needed a place to spark a seed,

芽を出す場所を必要とする事を

and she wanted to provide that seed.

その種を用意したかったのです

Other people, like David Packard and Julie Packard,

デビットとジュリー・パッカードは

who were instrumental in producing the Monterey Bay aquarium

モントレー水族館を作るのに貢献し

to lock into people's notion

人々に

that the ocean

海と海洋生態系の健康は

and the health of the ocean ecosystem

その生態系を食する事と同じくらい

were just as important to the economy of this area

地域経済にとっても重要なのだと

as eating the ecosystem would be.

認識させました

That change in thinking has led to a dramatic shift,

その認識の転換は

not only in the fortunes of Monterey Bay,

モントレー湾の富にだけでなく世界中に

but other places around the world.

劇的な変化をもたらしました

Well, I want to leave you with the thought that

最後に

what we're really trying to do here

私達の真の目的は

is protect this ocean pyramid,

海のピラミッドの保護です

and that ocean pyramid

海と私達のピラミッドは

connects to our own pyramid of life.

つながっています

It's an ocean planet,

ここは海の惑星です

and we think of ourselves as a terrestrial species,

私達は陸上動物ですが

but the pyramid of life in the ocean

海のピラミッドと

and our own lives on land

私達の陸上での生活は

are intricately connected.

複雑につながっています

And it's only through having the ocean being healthy

海を健康に保つ事でのみ

that we can remain healthy ourselves.

私達は健康でいられます

Thank you very much.

ありがとう

(Applause)

拍手