Brian Skerry reveals ocean's glory -- and horror

Translator: Kim Turk Križanec Reviewer: Dean Mavric

I would like to share with you this morning

To jutro bi z vami rad delil,

some stories about the ocean

nekaj zgodb o morju

through my work as a still photographer

skozi moje delo fotografa

for National Geographic magazine.

za revijo National Geographic.

I guess I became an underwater photographer

Domnevam, da sem postal podvodni fotograf

and a photojournalist

postal,

because I fell in love with the sea as a child.

ker sem se že kot otrok zaljubil v morje.

And I wanted to tell stories

In hotel sem pripovedovati zgodbe

about all the amazing things I was seeing underwater,

o vseh osupljivih stvareh, ki sem jih videl pod vodo,

incredible wildlife and interesting behaviors.

o neverjetnih življenjskih oblikah in njihovem zanimivem obnašanju.

And after even 30 years of doing this,

In po tridesetih letih tega početja,

after 30 years of exploring the ocean,

po tridesetih letih raziskovanja oceanov,

I never cease to be amazed

moje začudenje ob nenavadnih srečanjih, ki jih doživljam na morju,

at the extraordinary encounters that I have while I'm at sea.

nikoli ne pojenja.

But more and more frequently these days

Kljub temu pa v današnjem času vedno pogosteje

I'm seeing terrible things underwater as well,

pod vodo videvam tudi grozljive stvari,

things that I don't think most people realize.

stvari, ki se jih po mojem mnenju ljudje niti ne zavedajo.

And I've been compelled to turn my camera towards these issues

Čutim se obvezanega, da v svoj objektiv ujamem tudi to problematiko

to tell a more complete story.

in povem celotno zgodbo.

I want people to see what's happening underwater,

Želim, da ljudje vidijo, kaj se dogaja pod vodo,

both the horror and the magic.

tako tisto grozljivo, kot tisto magično.

The first story that I did for National Geographic,

Prva reportaža, ki sem jo naredil za National Geographic

where I recognized the ability to include

in skozi katero sem spoznal kakšne so možnosti obravnave

environmental issues within a natural history coverage,

okoljskih vprašanj pri naravoslovnem poročanju,

was a story I proposed on harp seals.

je bila zgodba o grendlandskih sedlastih tjulnjih.

The story I wanted to do initially

Zgodba, ki sem jo hotel povedati, je bila v začetku

was just a small focus to look at the few weeks each year

ozko fokusirana na nekaj tednov vsako leto,

where these animals migrate down from the Canadian arctic

ko se omenjene živali selijo iz kanadske Arktike

to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada

v zaliv Sv. Lovrenca v Kanadi.

to engage in courtship, mating and to have their pups.

Tam si dvorijo, se parijo in imajo svoje mladiče.

And all of this is played out against

Vse to se odvija z minljivimi

the backdrop of transient pack ice

ledenimi ploščami v ozadju,

that moves with wind and tide.

ki se gibljejo z vetrom in plimo.

And because I'm an underwater photographer,

In ker sem podovodni fotograf,

I wanted to do this story from both above and below,

sem hotel to zgodbo povedati tako od zgoraj kot od spodaj.

to make pictures like this that show one of these little pups

Želel sem prikazati enega izmed teh tjulnjih mladičev,

making its very first swim in the icy 29-degree water.

ki prvič zaplava v ledeno hladni vodi.

But as I got more involved in the story,

Ko pa sem se v zgodbo bolj poglobil,

I realized that there were two big environmental issues I couldn't ignore.

sem ugotovil, da moram opozoriti na dve veliki okoljski vprašanji.

The first was that these animals continue to be hunted,

Prvo je bilo vezano na dejstvo, da se omenjene živali še vedno lovi

killed with hakapiks at about eight, 15 days old.

in ubija s koničastimi cepini (hakapiki), ko so stare le okoli 8, 15 dni.

It actually is the largest marine mammal

Dejansko gre za največji pokol

slaughter on the planet,

morskih sesalcev na zemlji,

with hundreds of thousands of these seals being killed every year.

ki na leto zahteva več sto tisoč žrtev.

But as disturbing as that is,

Čeprav je to zelo skrb vzbujajoče,

I think the bigger problem for harp seals

pa menim, da se sedlasti tjulnji spopadajo še s hujšim problemom -

is the loss of sea ice due to global warming.

izgubo ledu na morju kot posledico globalnega segrevanja.

This is an aerial picture that I made that shows

To je fotografija iz zraka,ki prikazuje

the Gulf of St. Lawrence during harp seal season.

zaliv Sv. Lovrenca v času, ko tam bivajo sedlasti tjulnji.

And even though we see a lot of ice in this picture,

In čeprav na fotografiji vidimo veliko ledu,

there's a lot of water as well, which wasn't there historically.

vidimo tudi veliko vode, ki je v preteklosti tu ni bilo.

And the ice that is there is quite thin.

In tudi led, ki ga vidimo, je precej tanek.

The problem is that these pups need a stable platform of solid ice

Problem je, da mladiči v času hranjena pri materi,

in order to nurse from their moms.

potrebujejo stabilnost, ki jo nudijo plošče iz trdnega ledu.

They only need 12 days from the moment they're born until they're on their own.

Od trenutka, ko se rodijo pa do trenutka, ko se osamosvojijo, mladiči potrebujejo le 12 dni.

But if they don't get 12 days,

A če si ne izborijo teh 12 dni,

they can fall into the ocean and die.

lahko padejo v morje in umrejo.

This is a photo that I made showing

To je ena izmed mojih fotografij, ki prikazuje

one of these pups that's only about five or seven days old --

enega izmed mladičev starega le okoli 5 do 7 dni -

still has a little bit of the umbilical cord on its belly --

še vedno ima ostanek popkovine na trebuščku -

that has fallen in because of the thin ice,

ki je padel, ker je bil led pretanek.

and the mother is frantically trying to push it up to breathe

Mama ga mrzlično poskuša potisniti na površje, da bi vdihnil

and to get it back to stable purchase.

in se ponovno oprijel stabilne podlage.

This problem has continued to grow each year since I was there.

Problem od mojega prihoda vsako leto le narašča.

I read that last year the pup mortality rate

Bral sem, da je bila lani smrtnost mladičev

was 100 percent in parts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

v nekaterih predelih zaliva Sv. Lovrenca 100 odstotna.

So, clearly, this species has a lot of problems going forward.

Tako je jasno, da se vrsta spopada s številnimi problemi.

This ended up becoming a cover story at National Geographic.

Moja zgodba je na koncu postala naslovna zgodba National Geographica

And it received quite a bit of attention.

in prejela veliko pozornosti.

And with that, I saw the potential to begin

Tako sem prepoznal potencial in začel

doing other stories about ocean problems.

delati druge reportaže o problemih oceanov.

So I proposed a story on the global fish crisis,

Tako sem predlagal zgodbo o svetovni krizi ribištva,

in part because I had personally witnessed

delno ker sem bil v preteklih tridesetih letih

a lot of degradation in the ocean over the last 30 years,

velikokrat sam priča propadanju oceanov,

but also because I read a scientific paper

pa tudi zato, ker sem prebral znanstven članek,

that stated that 90 percent of the big fish in the ocean

ki trdi, da je v zadnjih 50 ali 60 letih

have disappeared in the last 50 or 60 years.

iz naših oceanov izginilo že 90 odstotkov velikih rib,

These are the tuna, the billfish and the sharks.

To so tune, mečarice in morski psi.

When I read that, I was blown away by those numbers.

Ko sem to prebral, so me številke močno presenetile.

I thought this was going to be headline news in every media outlet,

Prepričan sem bil, da bo to glavna novica v vseh medijih.

but it really wasn't, so I wanted to do a story

A na koncu res ni bila, zato sem hotel narediti reportažo,

that was a very different kind of underwater story.

ki bo razkrila povsem drugačno podvodno zgodbo.

I wanted it to be more like war photography,

Želel sem, da bi bila bolj podobna vojni fotografiji,

where I was making harder-hitting pictures

zato sem snemal pretresljive fotografije z več teže,

that showed readers what was happening

ki so bralcem pokazale kaj se dogaja

to marine wildlife around the planet.

morskim bitjem po svetu.

The first component of the story that I thought was essential, however,

Prva in zame najbolj ključna komponenta zgodbe je

was to give readers a sense of appreciation

ciljati na bralce in prebuditi njihovo razumevanje

for the ocean animals that they were eating.

morskih živali, ki jih jedo.

You know, I think people go into a restaurant,

Veste, sam smatram, da gremo ljudje v restavracijo

and somebody orders a steak, and we all know where steak comes from,

in ko naročimo zrezek, vsi vemo od kod prihaja,

and somebody orders a chicken, and we know what a chicken is,

in ko naročimo piščanca, vsi vemo kaj je piščanec.

but when they're eating bluefin sushi,

Ko pa uživamo v sušiju iz modroplavute tune,

do they have any sense of the magnificent animal that they're consuming?

se sprašujem, koliko se nas zaveda kako veličastna je žival, ki jo jemo.

These are the lions and tigers of the sea.

Tune so namreč levi in tigri morja,

In reality, these animals have no terrestrial counterpart;

čeprav v realnosti te živali sploh nimajo zemeljskega ustreznika;

they're unique in the world.

dejansko so edinstvene.

These are animals that can practically swim

Lahko plavajo

from the equator to the poles

od ekvatorja do tečajev

and can crisscross entire oceans in the course of a year.

in tekom leta prečkajo celotne oceane.

If we weren't so efficient at catching them, because they grow their entire life,

Če pri lovu nanje ne bi bili tako učinkoviti, bi, ker celo svoje življenje rastejo,

would have 30-year-old bluefin out there that weigh a ton.

v morju živele 30-letne tono težke modroplavute tune.

But the truth is we're way too efficient at catching them,

A resnica je, da smo pri lovu nanje več kot učinkoviti,

and their stocks have collapsed worldwide.

zato je njihovo število po svetu padlo pod vse meje.

This is the daily auction at the Tsukiji Fish Market

To je dnevna dražba na ribji tržnici Tsukiji,

that I photographed a couple years ago.

ki sem jo posnel nekaj let nazaj.

And every single day these tuna, bluefin like this,

Prav vsak dan tune, modroplavute kot ta,

are stacked up like cordwood,

zložijo kot sežnje drv

just warehouse after warehouse.

v številna skladišča.

As I wandered around and made these pictures,

In ko sem tako pohajkoval naokoli in fotografiral,

it sort of occurred to me that the ocean's not a grocery store, you know.

se mi je posvetilo, da naši oceani niso supermarketi.

We can't keep taking without expecting

Ne moremo kar jemati in pričakovati

serious consequences as a result.

da naše početje ne bo imelo posledic.

I also, with the story, wanted to show readers

S to zgodbo, sem bralcem želel pokazati tudi

how fish are caught, some of the methods that are used to catch fish,

kako ribe dejansko lovijo in nekatere metode, ki jih pri tem uporabljajo,

like a bottom trawler, which is one of the most common methods in the world.

npr. vlečne mreže, ki sodijo med najbolj pogosto uporabljene metode lova.

This was a small net that was being used in Mexico to catch shrimp,

To je majhna mreža, ki jo v Mehiki uporabljajo za lovljenje škampov,

but the way it works is essentially the same everywhere in the world.

njen način delovanja pa je v osnovi enak povsod po svetu.

You have a large net in the middle

V sredini je v velika mreža

with two steel doors on either end.

ki jo na vsakem koncu pokrivajo železna vratca.

And as this assembly is towed through the water,

Ko se naprava vleče skozi vodo

the doors meet resistance with the ocean,

se voda upre ob vratca,

and it opens the mouth of the net,

zaradi česar se ustje mreže odpre,

and they place floats at the top and a lead line on the bottom.

zgoraj so pritrjeni plovci, spodaj pa svinčena žica.

And this just drags over the bottom, in this case to catch shrimp.

Vse skupaj ladja vleče po morskem dnu z namenom, da se (v tem primeru) v mrežo ujamejo škampi.

But as you can imagine, it's catching everything else in its path as well.

Lahko pa si predstavljate, da se v mrežo ulovi prav vse, kar je na poti.

And it's destroying that precious benthic community on the bottom,

Tako se uničujejo dragocene združbe organizmov na morskem dnu (bentos),

things like sponges and corals,

kot so spužve in korale,

that critical habitat for other animals.

ki so ključen življenski prostor tudi za druge živali.

This photograph I made of the fisherman

Ta fotografija prikazuje ribiča,

holding the shrimp that he caught after towing his nets for one hour.

ki v rokah drži škampe ujete med uro dolgo vleko mrež.

So he had a handful of shrimp, maybe seven or eight shrimp,

Dejansko je poleg prgišča škampov, morda jih je ujel 7 ali 8,

and all those other animals on the deck of the boat are bycatch.

kot stranski ulov ujel še vse ostale živali na krovu.

These are animals that died in the process,

Gre za živali, ki so pri lovu poginile,

but have no commercial value.

čeprav nimajo tržne vrednosti.

So this is the true cost of a shrimp dinner,

To je torej resnična cena večerje s škampi,

maybe seven or eight shrimp

sedem, morda osem škampov

and 10 pounds of other animals that had to die in the process.

in 5 kg drugih živali, ki so pri tem morale umreti.

And to make that point even more visual, I swam under the shrimp boat

Da bi ta nesmisel še bolje vizualno prikazal, sem se potopil pod ribiško ladjo

and made this picture of the guy shoveling

in slikal moškega kako stranski ulov

this bycatch into the sea as trash

meče nazaj v morje kot smeti.

and photographed this cascade of death,

Fotografiral sem to kaskado smrti,

you know, animals like guitarfish, bat rays,

živali, kot so soslaši, skati, iverke,

flounder, pufferfish, that only an hour before,

ribe napihovalke, ki so še uro pred tem

were on the bottom of the ocean, alive,

živele na dnu morja,

but now being thrown back as trash.

zdaj pa jih mečejo nazaj kot smeti.

I also wanted to focus on the shark fishing industry

Želel sem se osredotočiti tudi na lovljenje morskih psov,

because, currently on planet Earth,

ker danes na Zemlji ubijemo

we're killing over 100 million sharks

več kot 100 milijonov morskih psov

every single year.

vsako leto.

But before I went out to photograph this component,

A preden sem slikal to,

I sort of wrestled with the notion of how do you make a picture of a dead shark

sem se nekako spoprijel z idejo, kako fotografirati mrtvega morskega psa,

that will resonate with readers

da bo fotografija pri bralcih vzbudila čustva.

You know, I think there's still a lot of people out there who think

Verjamem namreč, da je na svetu še veliko ljudi, ki so mnenja,

the only good shark is a dead shark.

da je edini dober morski pes, mrtev morski pes.

But this one morning I jumped in and found this thresher

A nekega jutra sem skočil v vodo in našel morsko lisico,

that had just recently died in the gill net.

ki je nedolgo tega poginila v zabodni mreži.

And with its huge pectoral fins and eyes still very visible,

S svojimi velikimi prsnimi plavutmi in še vedno vidnimi očmi,

it struck me as sort of a crucifixion, if you will.

me je nekako spominjala na križanje.

This ended up being the lead picture

Na koncu je bila to naslovna fotografija

in the global fishery story in National Geographic.

reportaže o svetovni ribiški industriji za National Geographic.

And I hope that it helped readers to take notice

In upam, da je pomagala bralcem uvideti

of this problem of 100 million sharks.

problem 100 milijonov morskih psov.

And because I love sharks -- I'm somewhat obsessed with sharks --

Ker imam morske pse rad - v bistvu sem kar malo obseden z njimi -

I wanted to do another, more celebratory, story about sharks,

sem želel posneti še eno, bolj slavnostno reportažo o morskih psih,

as a way of talking about the need for shark conservation.

s katero sem želel prikazati kako nujna je njihova zaščita.

So I went to the Bahamas

Tako sem potoval na Bahame,

because there're very few places in the world

saj je na svetu le malo področij

where sharks are doing well these days,

kjer morski psi niso ogroženi.

but the Bahamas seem to be a place where stocks were reasonably healthy,

Na Bahamih pa se zdi, da je njihovo število še vedno precejšnje,

largely due to the fact that the government there

predvsem zato ker je tamkajšnja vlada

had outlawed longlining several years ago.

že leta nazaj prepovedala parangale.

And I wanted to show several species

Delal sem na večih lokacijah,

that we hadn't shown much in the magazine and worked in a number of locations.

saj sem želel prokazati številne vrste, ki jih v reviji nismo pogosto objavljali.

One of the locations was this place called Tiger Beach,

Ena izmed lokacij se imenuje Tiger Beach (Plaža tigrov),

in the northern Bahamas where tiger sharks

in se nahaja v severnih Bahamih. Tam se

aggregate in shallow water.

v plitvih vodah zadržujejo tigrasti morski psi.

This is a low-altitude photograph that I made

To fotografijo sem posnel iz zraka in

showing our dive boat with about a dozen of these big old tiger sharks

prikazuje naš potapljaški čoln in okoli ducat velikih tigrastih morskih psov,

sort of just swimming around behind.

ki mirno plavajo naokoli.

But the one thing I definitely didn't want to do with this coverage

Ena izmed stvari, ki je prav gotovo nisem želel doseči pri tej reportaži,

was to continue to portray sharks as something like monsters.

je prikaz morskih psov kot nekakšnih pošasti.

I didn't want them to be overly threatening or scary.

Nisem želel, da bi izpadli preveč grozeči ali strašljivi.

And with this photograph of a beautiful

S to fotografijo lepe

15-feet, probably 14-feet, I guess,

verjetno dobre 4 metre dolge

female tiger shark,

samice tigrastega morskega psa,

I sort of think I got to that goal,

sem nekako ta cilj tudi dosegel.

where she was swimming with these little barjacks off her nose,

Plavala je s temi majhnimi ribicami, ki so se držale njenega nosa,

and my strobe created a shadow on her face.

moja luč pa je metala senco na njen obraz.

And I think it's a gentler picture, a little less threatening,

Menim, da je slika nežnejša in nekoliko manj grozeča,

a little more respectful of the species.

morda nekoliko bolj spoštljiva do vrste.

I also searched on this story

Za to reportažo sem iskal tudi

for the elusive great hammerhead,

čudovito in težko ulovljivo kladvenico,

an animal that really hadn't been photographed much

žival, ki do sedem, deset let nazaj

until maybe about seven or 10 years ago.

skoraj ni bila fotografirana.

It's a very solitary creature.

Je zelo samotarsko bitje.

But this is an animal that's considered data deficient by science

Če vprašamo znanstvenike, pa je to žival, o kateri,

in both Florida and in the Bahamas.

tako na Floridi kot na Bahamih, praktično ni podatkov.

You know, we know almost nothing about them.

Veste, o njej vemo zelo malo.

We don't know where they migrate to or from,

Ne vemo od kod in kam potuje,

where they mate, where they have their pups,

ne vemo kje se pari in kje koti mladiče.

and yet, hammerhead populations in the Atlantic

Kljub temu pa je populacija kladvenic v Atlantiku

have declined about 80 percent in the last 20 to 30 years.

v zadnjih 20 do 30 letih padla za okoli 80 odstotkov.

You know, we're losing them faster than we can possibly find them.

Izgubljamo jih hitreje kot jih lahko sploh najdemo.

This is the oceanic whitetip shark,

To je oceanski beloplavuti morski pes,

an animal that is considered the fourth most dangerous species,

žival, ki jo smatramo za četrto najnevarnejšo vrsto,

if you pay attention to such lists.

če vas že zanimajo takšni seznami.

But it's an animal that's about 98 percent in decline

Gre za žival, katere populacija je upadla za 98 odstotkov

throughout most of its range.

na večjem delu svojega življenskega prostora.

Because this is a pelagic animal and it lives out in the deeper water,

Ker gre za pelagično žival, ki živi v globljih vodah,

and because we weren't working on the bottom,

in ker nismo delali na morskem dnu,

I brought along a shark cage here,

sem imel s seboj kletko,

and my friend, shark biologist Wes Pratt is inside the cage.

v kateri je moj prijatelj, poznavalec morskih psov biolog Wes Pratt.

You'll see that the photographer, of course, was not inside the cage here,

Kot boste videli, fotograf seveda ni bil v kletki,

so clearly the biologist is a little smarter than the photographer I guess.

tako da je biolog verjetno pametnejši od fotografa.

And lastly with this story,

S to reportažo sem se želel

I also wanted to focus on baby sharks, shark nurseries.

osredotočiti še na jasli za mlade morske pse.

And I went to the island of Bimini, in the Bahamas,

Tako sem potoval na Bimini, otok v Bahamskem otočju,

to work with lemon shark pups.

da bi delal z mladiči citronastega morskega psa.

This is a photo of a lemon shark pup,

To je fotografija mladiča citronastega morskega psa,

and it shows these animals where they live for the first two to three years of their lives

ki prikazuje žival v njenem naravnem okolju prve 2 do 3 leta njenega življenja

in these protective mangroves.

- v objemu zaščitniških mangrov.

This is a very sort of un-shark-like photograph.

To je zelo netipična fotografija morskega psa.

It's not what you typically might think of as a shark picture.

Ni, kar bi si ponavadi predstavljali kot fotografijo morskega psa.

But, you know, here we see a shark that's maybe 10 or 11 inches long

Vidimo namreč morskega psa, ki v dolžino meri 25 - 27,5 cm,

swimming in about a foot of water.

in plava v cca 30 cm globoki vodi.

But this is crucial habitat and it's where they spend the first two, three years of their lives,

A gre za ključni življenjski prostor, kjer žival preživi prve 2, 3 leta svojega življenja,

until they're big enough to go out on the rest of the reef.

dokler ni dovolj velik, da odplava ven na koralni greben.

After I left Bimini, I actually learned

Ob mojem odhodu iz Biminija, sem izvedel,

that this habitat was being bulldozed

da bodo ta predel zravnali z zemljo

to create a new golf course and resort.

in tam zgradili letovišče z golf igriščem.

And other recent stories have looked at

Veliko reportaž se danes dotika

single, flagship species, if you will,

posameznih in predvsem zelo pomembnih vrst,

that are at risk in the ocean

ki so v morju ogrožene,

as a way of talking about other threats.

z namenom ozaveščanja o grožnjah, ki jim pretijo.

One such story I did documented the leatherback sea turtle.

Eno izmed njih sem pripravil tudi sam, govori pa o usnjači.

This is the largest, widest-ranging,

To je največja, najbolj razširjena,

deepest-diving and oldest of all turtle species.

najstarejša in najbolj globoko živeča vrsta želve.

Here we see a female crawling

Tukaj vidimo samico na otoku Trinidad,

out of the ocean under moonlight

ki se v soju mesečine

on the island of Trinidad.

plazi na kopno.

These are animals whose lineage dates back about 100 million years.

Gre za žival, katere rod sega 100 milijonov let v preteklost.

And there was a time in their lifespan

Tekom svojega obstoja je bil čas,

where they were coming out of the water to nest

ko so želve prihajale iz vode gnezdit,

and saw Tyrannosaurus rex running by.

in videle tiranozaver reksa kako teče mimo njih.

And today, they crawl out and see condominiums.

Danes pa prilezejo iz morja in vidijo blokovska naselja.

But despite this amazing longevity,

In tako, kljub njihovi izjemno dolgi zgodovini,

they're now considered critically endangered.

danes smatramo, da so kritično ogrožena vrsta.

In the Pacific, where I made this photograph,

V Tihem oceanu, kjer sem posnel to fotografijo,

their stocks have declined about 90 percent

je njihovo število upadlo za okoli 90 odstotkov

in the last 15 years.

v zadnjih 15 letih.

This is a photograph that shows a hatchling

Ta fotografija prikazuje pravkar izvaljenega mladiča,

about to taste saltwater for the very first time

ki bo prvič v življenju okusil morsko vodo in

beginning this long and perilous journey.

s tem začel svojo dolgo in nevarno pot.

Only one in a thousand

Le ena izmed tisočih mladih usnjač

leatherback hatchlings will reach maturity.

bo dosegla zrelost.

But that's due to natural predators

Ampak to je zaradi naravnih sovražnikov

like vultures that pick them off on a beach

kot so mrhovinarji, ki jih ujamejo na plaži,

or predatory fish that are waiting offshore.

ali rib roparic, ki jih čakajo blizu obale.

Nature has learned to compensate with that,

Narava se je naučila nadomestiti izgube,

and females have multiple clutches of eggs

zato samice izvalijo več sklopov jajčec

to overcome those odds.

in tako premagajo omenjene ovire.

But what they can't deal with is anthropogenic stresses,

Ne morejo pa se želve spopadati z antropogenimi pritiski

human things, like this picture that shows

in človeškimi proizvodi, kot prikazuje slika

a leatherback caught at night in a gill net.

usnjače, ki se je ponoči ujela v zabodno mrežo.

I actually jumped in and photographed this,

Dejansko sem skočil notri in jo fotografiral,

and with the fisherman's permission,

z ribičevim dovoljenjem

I cut the turtle out, and it was able to swim free.

pa sem želvo tudi izrezal iz mreže, da je ponovno lahko prosto zaplavala.

But, you know, thousands of other leatherbacks each year

Ampak veste, na tisoče usnjač vsako leto pa

are not so fortunate,

nima takšne sreče,

and the species' future is in great danger.

zato je prihodnost njihove vrste v veliki nevarnosti.

Another charismatic megafauna species that I worked with

Še en karizmatični predstavnik megafavne s katerim sem delal

is the story I did on the right whale.

in on njem napisal reportažo, je gladki kit.

And essentially, the story is this with right whales,

V osnovi gre zgodba o gladkih kitih takole.

that about a million years ago, there was

Milijon let nazaj, je na svetu obstajala

one species of right whale on the planet,

ena vrsta gladkega kita.

but as land masses moved around and oceans became isolated,

S premiki zemeljskih plošč pa so oceani postali izolirani,

the species sort of separated,

vrste so se ločile

and today we have essentially two distinct stocks.

in tako imamo danes v bistvu dve različni populaciji.

We have the Southern right whale that we see here

Tukaj vidimo južnomorskega ali kapskega kita

and the North Atlantic right whale that we see here

tukaj pa lednega ali biskajskega -

with a mom and calf off the coast of Florida.

mamo in mladiča ob obali Floride.

Now, both species were hunted to the brink of extinction

Obe vrsti sta bili zaradi lova prvih kitolovcev,

by the early whalers,

na robu izumrtja.

but the Southern right whales have rebounded a lot better

Število južnomorskih kitov je bistveno bolj porastlo,

because they're located in places

saj živijo na bolj odročnih območjih,

farther away from human activity.

daleč stran od človeške aktivnosti.

The North Atlantic right whale is listed as

Ledni kit pa je danes na seznamu

the most endangered species on the planet today

najbolj ogroženih vrst,

because they are urban whales; they live along the east coast

saj gre za urbanega kita, ki živi na vzhodni obali

of North America, United States and Canada,

Severne Amerike, Združenih držav in Kanade,

and they have to deal with all these urban ills.

in se mora soočati z vsemi nadlogami poseljenih območij.

This photo shows an animal popping its head out at sunset off the coast of Florida.

Fotografija prikazuje žival v obalnih vodah Floride , ki je ob sončnem zahodu prišla na površje.

You can see the coal burning plant in the background.

V ozadju lahko vidite termoelektrarno.

They have to deal with things like toxins and pharmaceuticals

Živali se morajo spopadati z različnimi strupi in farmacevtskimi izdelki,

that are flushed out into the ocean,

ki se izlivajo v morje,

and maybe even affecting their reproduction.

in lahko vplivajo tudi na njihovo razmnoževanje.

They also get entangled in fishing gear.

Poleg tega se zapletajo v ribiško opremo.

This is a picture that shows the tail of a right whale.

Slika prikazuje rep gladkega kita.

And those white markings are not natural markings.

Vidne bele lise niso naravnega izvora,

These are entanglement scars.

ampak gre za brazgotine zapleta v mrežo.

72 percent of the population has such scars,

72 odstotkov populacije ima takšne brazgotine,

but most don't shed the gear, things like lobster traps and crab pots.

večina pa se opreme, kot so pasti za jastoge in rakovice, sploh ne znebi.

They hold on to them, and it eventually kills them.

Ta se jih drži in jih prej ali slej ubije.

And the other problem is they get hit by ships.

Drug problem pa je, da jih povozijo ladje.

And this was an animal that was struck by a ship

To je ena izmed živali, ki jo je zadela ladja,

in Nova Scotia, Canada

na Novi Škotski v Kanadi.

being towed in, where they did a necropsy

Vlečejo jo v zaliv, kjer so kasneje naredili nekropsijo

to confirm the cause of death,

in potrdili razlog smrti,

which was indeed a ship strike.

ki je dejansko bil udarec ladje.

So all of these ills are stacking up against these animals

Vse tegobe se torej kopičijo na plečih teh živali,

and keeping their numbers very low.

zaradi česar je njihovo število še vedno nizko.

And to draw a contrast with that beleaguered North Atlantic population,

Da bi pokazal kontrast z oblegano severnoatlantsko populacijo,

I went to a new pristine population of Southern right whales

sem obiskal novo nedotaknjeno populacijo južnomorskih kitov,

that had only been discovered about 10 years ago

ki so jo odkrili šele pred kakšnim desetletjem

in the sub-Antarctic of New Zealand, a place called the Auckland Islands.

v subantarktičnem delu Nove Zelandije na Auklandskem otočju

I went down there in the winter time.

Tja sem šel pozimi.

And these are animals that had never seen humans before,

Gre za živali, ki še nikoli niso videle človeka.

and I was one of the first people they probably had ever seen.

In verjetno sem bil med prvimi ljudmi, ki so jih kdajkoli videle.

And I got in the water with them,

Skočil sem v vodo k njim

and I was amazed at how curious they were.

in bil presenečen nad njihovo radovednostjo.

This photograph shows my assistant standing on the bottom at about 70 feet

Na tej fotografiji vidite mojega asistenta, kako stoji na morskem dnu nekje na globini 21 m

and one of these amazingly beautiful, 45-foot,

in eno izmed teh neverjetno lepih 14-metrskih,

70-ton whales,

70-tonskih kitov,

like a city bus just swimming up, you know.

ki kot avtobus priplavajo do tebe.

They were in perfect condition,

Bili so v odlični formi,

very fat and healthy, robust, no entanglement scars,

zelo debeli in zdravi, krepki in brez brazgotin -

the way they're supposed to look.

takšni kot morajo biti.

You know, I read that the pilgrims, when they landed at Plymouth Rock

Bral sem, da so angleški puritanci (Pilgrimi) ob pristanku pri Plymouth Rocku

in Massachusetts in 1620,

v Massachusettsu leta 1620,

wrote that you could walk across Cape Cod Bay

pisali, da lahko čez zaliv Cape Coda hodijo

on the backs of right whales.

na hrbtih gladkih kitov.

And we can't go back and see that today,

Sicer ne moremo potovati v času, da bi to videli,

but maybe we can preserve what we have left.

lahko pa ohranimo tisto, kar je še ostalo.

And I wanted to close this program with a story of hope,

Ta prispevek želim zaključiti z zgodbo o upanju,

a story I did on marine reserves

reportažo, ki sem jo delal o morskih rezervatih,

as sort of a solution

kot rešitvi

to the problem of overfishing, the global fish crisis story.

za problem čezmernega ribolova in svetovne krize ribištva.

I settled on working in the country of New Zealand

Nastanil sem se na Novi Zelandiji,

because New Zealand was rather progressive,

ker je to dokaj napredna država,

and is rather progressive in terms of protecting their ocean.

tudi v smislu varovanja svojega morja.

And I really wanted this story to be about three things:

In res sem želel povedati zgodbo o treh stvareh.

I wanted it to be about abundance,

Želel sem, da govori o izobilju,

about diversity and about resilience.

raznolikosti in vzdržljivosti.

And one of the first places I worked

Ena izmed lokacij, kjer sem delal,

was a reserve called Goat Island

je bil rezervat Goat Island

in Leigh of New Zealand.

v Leighu na Novi Zelandiji.

What the scientists there told me was that

Tam so mi znanstveniki povedali, da so

when protected this first marine reserve in 1975,

z zaščito tega prvega morskega rezervata leta 1975

they hoped and expected that certain things might happen.

upali in pričakovali, da se morda zgodijo določene stvari.

For example, they hoped that certain species of fish

Upali so, na primer, da se bodo določene vrste rib,

like the New Zealand snapper would return

kot je novozelnadski hlastač, potem, ko so jih s pretiranim ulovom

because they had been fished to the brink of commercial extinction.

pripeljali na rob izumrtja, vrnile.

And they did come back. What they couldn't predict was that other things would happen.

In res so se. Niso pa mogli predvideti drugih dogodkov, do katerih je prišlo.

For example, these fish

Te ribe

predate on sea urchins,

se namreč hranijo z morskimi ježki.

and when the fish were all gone,

In ko rib ni bilo,

all anyone ever saw underwater

si pod vodo videl

was just acres and acres of sea urchins.

le na tisoče morskih ježkov.

But when the fish came back

Ko pa so se ribe vrnile,

and began predating and controlling the urchin population,

in se začele hraniti z ježki, s tem pa tudi omejevati njihovo število,

low and behold, kelp forests emerged in shallow water.

so se v nizkih vodah začeli širiti gozdovi halug.

And that's because the urchins eat kelp.

Ježki se namreč prehranjujejo s halugami.

So when the fish control the urchin population,

Ko so ribe uravnale populacijo ježkov,

the ocean was restored to its natural equilibrium.

se je v ocean vrnilo naravno ravnovesje.

You know, this is probably how the ocean looked here

Tak je bil verjetno namreč izgled morja na tej lokaciji

one or 200 years ago, but nobody was around to tell us.

pred sto ali dvesto leti, a nihče se tega več ni mogel spomniti.

I worked in other parts of New Zealand as well,

Delal sem tudi v drugih delih Nove Zelandije,

in beautiful, fragile, protected areas

na lepih, krhkih in zaščitenih območjih,

like in Fiordland, where this sea pen colony was found.

kot je Fiordland, kjer so našli kolonijo morskih peres.

Little blue cod swimming in for a dash of color.

Majhen peščeni ostriž, ki s svojim prihodom doda kanček barve.

In the northern part of New Zealand,

Na severnem delu Nove Zelandije,

I dove in the blue water, where the water's a little warmer,

sem skočil v modro vodo, ki je na tem koncu nekoliko toplejša,

and photographed animals like this giant sting ray

in fotografiral živali, kot je ogromni morski bič,

swimming through an underwater canyon.

ki plava skozi podvodni kanjon.

Every part of the ecosystem in this place

Vsak delček ekosistema na tem območju

seems very healthy,

je očitno zelo zdrav,

from tiny, little animals like a nudibrank

od majcenih živalic, kot so morski goli polži

crawling over encrusting sponge

ki se plazi čez morsko gobo,

or a leatherjacket

do gofov,

that is a very important animal in this ecosystem

ki so za ekosistem izjemnega pomena,

because it grazes on the bottom and allows new life to take hold.

saj se pasejo na morskem dnu in tako omogočajo razvoj novega življenja.

And I wanted to finish with this photograph,

Želel bi zaključiti s to fotografijo,

a picture I made on a very stormy day in New Zealand

ki sem jo na Novi Zelandiji posnel na zelo nevihten dan,

when I just laid on the bottom

ko sem tako ležal na dnu morja

amidst a school of fish swirling around me.

med jato rib, ki so se podile okoli mene.

And I was in a place that had only been protected

Bil sem na območju, ki je zaščiteno

about 20 years ago.

le okoli 20 let.

And I talked to divers that had been diving there for many years,

Govoril sem s potapljači, ki so se tam potapljali leta.

and they said that the marine life was better here today

Zagotovili so mi, da je življenja v morju danes več

than it was in the 1960s.

kot ga je bilo v šestdesetih letih prejšnjega stoletja.

And that's because it's been protected,

In ker je območje zaščiteno

that it has come back.

se je obnovilo.

So I think the message is clear.

Tako menim, da je sporočilo jasno.

The ocean is, indeed, resilient and tolerant to a point,

Morje je prav gotovo odporno in strpno, a le do določene mere,

but we must be good custodians.

zato moramo zanj dobro skrbeti.

I became an underwater photographer

Podvodni fotograf sem postal,

because I fell in love with the sea,

ker sem se zaljubil v morje.

and I make pictures of it today because I want to protect it,

Danes morje fotografiram, ker ga želim zaščititi,

and I don't think it's too late.

in menim, da ni prepozno.

Thank you very much.

Najlepša hvala.