Meet the Mysterious “Monsters” of the Deep Sea | Alan Jamieson | TED

翻译人员: Jacky He 校对人员: Helen Chang

So if we think of the deep ocean as being this dark,

如果我们把深海看作是种

地底黑暗、幽深而恐怖的地方，

deep, horrifying place at the bottom of the Earth,

it's easy to dismiss it as something which is out of sight and out of mind.

很容易因其在视线外、无影响 而将其置之脑后。

But myself and colleagues have been there,

但我和我同事到过那里，

and I think if we take some time to think about the deep ocean

而如果我们花点时间从地球的角度

as part of our planet,

去考虑深海，

we all might want to protect it as much as any other marine environment.

我们也许会把它像其他 海洋水体那般保护起来。

Let your imagination tell you what a deep-sea animal looks like.

根据你的想象力， 深海生物会是什么模样？

The one that immediately flashes into your head when you think deep sea.

你想到深海时立马浮现的是什么？

You're probably thinking something like this.

你大概会想到这样的东西。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And that is a real fish.

那是一条真实存在的鱼。

That's a real animal from the deep sea.

确实是深海里来的动物。

Now, that's the kind of image you are quite often presented with

而这是媒体经常提供给你们

in the media when we talk about deep-water animals.

关于深海生物的照片。

But there's two things wrong with that photograph.

但是这张照片有两点不对。

First one, it's a little bit misleading in that

第一点，多少有些误导；

those types of animals are generally quite shallowish

这类生物从宏观角度看

in the grand scheme of things,

通常是浅水栖息的。

maybe a few hundred meters, certainly top thousand meters.

也许是几百米，顶多上千米。

The second thing that's a little bit misleading

第二产生误导的是......

is that they are normally about that big.

它们......

通常只有这么大。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Right? So they're hardly that scary.

所以他们并没有那么可怕。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

It's not going to come and get you, is it?

它不会前来追杀你的吧。

But we are forever being told that there are "monsters of the deep"

但总是有人压低声音告诉我们

in a low voice,

存在着“深海巨兽”

and aliens of the abyss.

和深渊异种。

But when you take a moment to think about the technicalities

但当你花时间考虑

作为深渊异种的客观条件，

of being an alien in the abyss,

the only alien in the deep sea are the occasional human.

偶尔的深海另类只可能是人类，

Because everything else belongs there.

因为其他一切都原先在那儿的。

So I am proud to say I am an alien of the abyss.

那么我骄傲地宣称， 我是深渊的另类。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And I've been studying the deepest parts of the ocean for 20 years,

我长达 20 年都在 研究海洋的最深处，

but more recently, we've been diving in a submarine.

但刚不久，我们随着潜水艇下潜。

One of the questions you quite often get asked

当你跟人说，“噢，我星期二 到了水下一万米。”

when you tell someone, "Oh, Tuesday, I went to 10,000 meters,"

经常会有这类回答，

they say, "Ooh, isn't that scary?"

“哇，那不挺吓人么？”

And that is the important point, it's fear.

这是重要的那一点，恐惧。

It's that thing that we have in our heads that doesn't like being underwater.

是我们身体里不愿下水的本能。

So if you think about what the deep sea represents,

如果你考虑深海代表着什么，

it's a physical,

它其实是从物理，

three-dimensional manifestation of two of the things we hate the most.

三维角度呈现了 我们最讨厌的两件事。

And we have a phrase for that.

我们有个对应的短语。

我们称之为最暗黑幽深的恐惧。

We call it the deepest, darkest fears.

Because we are air-breathing mammals.

因为我们是呼吸空气的哺乳动物，

So we don't really want to be underwater, especially not super deep.

所以我们确实不想待在水下， 更别说深处了。

And we're visually orientated animals, we like light.

而且我们是视觉导向的 动物，我们趋向光。

But 11 kilometers underwater is something that everyone goes,

但水下 11 公里 对所有人来说是，

"Ah, that's really deep and horrible.

“啊，那是非常幽深可怖了，

That's just frightening."

使人不寒而栗。”

Take that 11 kilometers and turn it on its side.

把那 11 公里 90 度翻转过来。

I reckon most people in the room have traveled 11 kilometers today.

我估计厅里的大多数人 今天已经行了 11 公里。

And the other thing that we don't like is the unknown.

还有我们不喜欢的一件事是未知。

And this is where we get into this whole relationship

而这就是为何有着现实

between reality and what we're told on the TV.

与电视呈现内容的差异。

So on the TV, we're quite regularly told

那么电视上经常告诉我们

that we know more about the surface of the Moon

我们知道关于月球表面

than we know about the deep sea.

比关于深海的要多。

For starters, that quote goes back before the Apollo missions

首先，这句话要追溯到 阿波罗任务以前，

and a time where we knew not very much about the Moon or the deep sea.

在我们对月球或深海 都所知甚少的时候。

So if you're on the surface and you're looking out

如果你在地面观察，

and you can see all these lovely whales and dolphins and squid and jellyfish,

你可以看到所有这些 可爱的鲸鱼、海豚、鱿鱼和水母，

all that stuff has to die.

这些终会死亡。

All that material, all that lovely organic matter sinks.

所有这些残骸， 这些很棒的有机物都会下沉。

And where does it sink?

它沉到哪儿？

It sinks down to deeper depths.

它沉入更深的地方。

It ends up in the place we call the abyss.

它最终来到我们称为深渊的地方。

And not "the abyss" like they say on TV.

而且不是他们在电视上讲的“深渊”。

The abyssal zone technically are depths between 3,000 and 6,000 meters.

深海地带严谨地说是 位于三千和六千米之间。

OK, relatively shallow in my game.

其实对我来说相对较浅。

All that lovely organic material comes down and settles there.

所有那些很棒的的有机物 落下并停留在那里。

And it gets eaten by deep-sea animals.

它们将被深海动物吃掉。

Those deep-sea animals are eating it, they're recycling it, they're burning it.

这些深海动物在消化它， 充分利用它，用它产生能量。

They’re incorporating into the food chain,

它们将这些纳入食物链，

and they incorporate it into the sediments.

整合进沉淀里。

So these animals are essentially gardening

所以这些动物本质上是在处置废物；

because if they didn't do that,

假设它们不这么做，

these big, vast abyssal plains of the planet

地球这些巨大辽阔的海底平原

would become big, stagnant, horrible cesspits.

会变成死寂骇人的臭水池。

So the deep-sea animals are basically irrigating a big chunk of the planet.

深海动物其实是在 灌溉地球的很大部分。

And I say a big chunk.

确实是绝大部分。

The abyssal zones account for about 70 percent of the planet.

深海地带大约占据地表的 70%。

Let's take a bit of a journey, a descent into the deep sea.

让我们踏上一段旅程，下潜到深海。

How do we know where to dive?

我们怎么知道去哪儿下潜？

How do we know where we are ever?

我们怎么知道自己所处的位置？

Because we're always being told ...

因为人们总是这样说......

(Laughter)

（笑声）

No, it's true, we're always being told that we haven't mapped the oceans.

是真的，总有人说 我们还没测绘海底。

A certain amount of seafloor has been seen with the naked eye.

但若干面积的海床 已经肉眼观察到了。

I took that with my phone.

这我用手机拍的。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So I was seeing it at the same time.

这是我同时肉眼所见。

So it still counts.

所以这也算数。

And there's a certain percentage which has been mapped

此外存在一定比例 已被远程操控设备

or surveyed by remote systems.

勘探或测量过的海床。

So this is about 2,000 meters deep.

这大概有两千米深。

And about 20 percent of the planet

而且大约 20% 的地球表层

has been mapped in pretty high resolution using acoustics.

被声纳系统较精确地测绘过。

This is a huge, big trench running off north of New Zealand.

这是一条从新西兰北部 延展的巨大海沟。

Well, basically they have been mapped.

那么这些其实都经测绘过了。

It all depends on what resolution.

只是分辨率有所不同。

OK so there's some places where we know

还存在着每个细节角落

我们都清楚的区域。

where absolutely every little nook and cranny might be.

There are no more Mariana Trenches to be found.

没有新的马里亚纳 海沟待被发现了。

Imagine we're in our submarine,

想象我们位于潜艇里，

this is us diving in the submarine, see, it's very spacious.

这里我们在随着潜艇下潜。

It has all the latest mod cons,

它具备所有的先进装置。

the sunlight diminishes very, very quickly in the top,

光线在浅水区消失得很快，

可能两分钟就没了。

maybe in the first two minutes.

It goes that fast and you see that it does get dark very quickly.

是如此的快，你很快 会发现周围暗下来。

And as we descend down through the water column,

随着我们垂直下潜，

we're always being told that the water is very, very cold.

人们总是说水温会非常地冷，

Very, very icy cold water.

冰冷刺骨。

And yeah, it's cold.

确实，那儿是挺冷。

It's not anywhere near as cold as most,

但它比我自从搬到澳大利亚后

if not all of the winters I've ever endured until moving to Australia.

经历的大部分，甚至是 所有的冬天都差远了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

It's about between one and two degrees at deepest point.

在最深处是一到两摄氏度之间。

It's not overly cold.

并不是特别冷。

反正那些深处的海水仍然在流动。

But those water masses deep down are still moving,

they're still ventilating, they're still full of oxygen

它们还在换气， 依然充满着氧气，

而且还在转移热量。

and they're moving heat.

它们吸收大气层和浅水区的热量，

They're pulling heat down from the atmosphere and the surface waters

并把它匀布于整个地球。

and dissipating it around the planet.

随着我们降到马里亚纳海沟底部，

And as we go down the bottom of the Mariana Trench,

每平方厘米一吨重的压力

we now have one ton per square centimeter of pressure

squeezing down on that titanium ball we’re sat in.

正作用于我们在其内部的 那个钛金属球上。

Again, it takes a certain person of a certain disposition to do this stuff,

那么，需要具有相应 特质的人来做这种工作。

but you can’t feel it on the inside, it’s fine, it’s cold outside.

但在其内部是感觉不到的。 没啥问题。外面挺冷，

我们在四处移动，

And we’re moving around,

如果你看向窗外， 你主要会看到泥沙。

and if you look out the window, we're looking mostly at mud.

想想从浅层落下来的所有那些，

Imagine all that stuff that has come down from the surface.

那些很棒的有机物。

All that lovely organic matter.

是碳；海洋从大气里获得碳，

It's carbon, it's taking carbon from the atmosphere,

并将其吸收。

it's being absorbed into the ocean.

海洋表面的物质下沉到泥沙里。

The surface of oceans basically comes down and sinks into the mud.

碳去哪里了？

What happens to the carbon?

The bottom of the trenches, the reason why the trenches are so deep,

海沟底部...... 海沟之所以这么深，

the reason why they're 11 kilometers in some places

之所以有的位置深达 11 公里，

is because two tectonic plates hit each other.

是因为两个地质板块互相碰撞。

Sometimes they get pulled apart, sometimes they slide side by side.

有些时候它们分离， 有些时候互相滑动，

But the trenches are formed when one tectonic plate hits another one

而海沟是在一个板块撞向另一个

and drives it down into the Earth’s mantle.

而将其弯进地幔时形成的。

Hence you end up with something like Mariana Trench.

于是最终结果是 马里亚纳海沟之类。

Now all that carbon trapped in the sediment

那些包含于沉淀里的碳

is now being pushed back into the Earth’s mantle.

便被推入地幔。

The deepest points on the planet are one of the few places

地球上的最深处

是我们能彻底处理掉碳的 少数地方之一。

where we're actually disposing of carbon.

So they're again, performing a service to the planet.

所以，它们还是在为地球服务。

So when looking out the window, what's it look like?

那么看向窗外， 那是怎样一幅景象？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

If you switch your lights on,

如果你点亮灯具，

right, it looks like mud.

对，看到的就是泥沙。

You have a lot of places that are very flat.

有许多位置是非常平坦的。

Lovely, luscious, golden-brown.

美妙的，喜人的，金棕色的。

That's a good, healthy sea floor, OK.

这是片纯净的海床，嗯。

Sometimes you see some rocks and some rocky outcrops.

有时你会看到两三块 零散的石头、露岩。

You see cobbles and rocks and boulders.

还有鹅卵石、石块和大石头。

Sometimes it's a bit crazy.

这是极端情况。

But none of these images look that weird.

但这些照片没有看起来很奇怪的。

They look like something you would expect to see

它们看起来像是

你在夜晚潜水会看到的景象。

if you were scuba diving at night.

So the actual visual landscape of the deepest places

所以最深处所见的地形

isn't that strange either,

也不怎么怪诞，

it's certainly not something you should fear.

也肯定不会使你害怕。

So let's get back to the monsters of the deep.

那么让我们回到深渊之怪兽。

What do you reckon the deepest tentacled animal is in the world?

你觉得世界最深处的 触手怪是什么？

Bear in mind, it's the tentacles

要知道，是这些触手

that have been putting the fear of God into sailors since I don't know when.

在很久以前让水手们 畏惧上帝的法力。

Imagine “The Thing” coming up from the deep sea.

假设“那个生物”自深海而出。

So you're probably thinking something a little bit like that.

你也许在这样想。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

That's also a picture I took on my phone recently.

这也是我最近用手机拍的照片。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

It's been a funny old week.

这一周有点儿特别。

That's ...

这是......

That’s the kind of image your imagination puts into your head

这是当你想到深海， 触手和其余那些

when you think deep sea, tentacles and the rest of it.

脑海里浮现的那种画面。

The reality of the matter is --

事实是——

而我能自豪地宣称我发现了 世界最深处的章鱼——

and I can proudly say that I discovered the deepest octopus in the world --

Audience: Aw.

听众：噢。

AJ: It’s the size of a puppy, too.

AJ：仅有一只小狗那么大。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

It gets better.

好的还在后面；

Its real name is Grimpoteuthis, which is a bit “rurr.”

它的学名是烟灰蛸 （Grimpoteuthis），

这有些绕口；

But its common name is Dumbo Octopus

但它的俗名是小飞象章鱼，

because it has big Dumbo-like ears.

因为它有像小飞象一样的大耳朵。

And this lives at close to 7,000 metres in the Indian Ocean.

而它生活在印度洋中 近 7000 米的位置。

That is your big, scary octopus that's coming to get you.

这就是要来索你性命的 可怕巨型章鱼。

So then we think about what's the deepest fish look like.

于是我们继而想到 最深的鱼的模样，

Because they've got big, horrible fangs, right?

因为它们有着唬人的 大尖牙，不是吗？

And they're lurking in the darkness, coming to get you.

它们潜伏在黑暗中， 即将过来消灭你。

Deepest fish in the world is actually what we call a snailfish.

世界上最深的鱼 其实我们称为是狮子鱼。

If anything, it's a bit goofy-looking.

它看起来挺憨。

It's not really that threatening.

像是不怎么具有威胁性。

It's not something you should fear.

没必要去害怕它。

They're snuffling around,

它们嗅来嗅去，

they're looking for stuff and they've got little eyes,

它们在寻觅东西， 它们也有小眼睛，

they're actually gelatinous,

它们身体其实是胶质的，

that's its liver you can see on the side of its body.

你可以看到它躯体一侧的肝脏。

它们躯壳非常柔软。

They're very soft-bodied.

而且世界最深的鱼最令我喜欢的

And what I really love about the deepest fish in the world

是它们根本不属于深海鱼。

is they’re not really deep-sea fish.

它们其实是源于浅水鱼的一科。

They're actually a shallow water family that has just radiated.

大多数狮子鱼都在浅水区，

Most snailfish are actually really shallow,

甚至有些存在于河湾内。

you even get some in estuaries.

这只是一条不在乎的鱼， 你无法把狮子鱼归到单独一类。

It's just a fish that doesn't care, you can't pigeonhole the snailfish.

So ...

那么......

Another animal ... that we like are prawns, right?

我们喜爱的另一种 动物是大虾，不是吗？

Everyone loves to eat a prawn.

每个人都喜欢吃大虾。

它是最后的，最深的 大型甲壳类动物。

That there is the last, the deepest of the big crustaceans.

That's a prawn, and those are down to nearly 8,000 metres.

那是只大虾，在水下 接近 8,000 米处。

And that wouldn't look that out of place in a fish market.

它在海鲜市场也不会那么显眼。

There's nothing weird about it either.

也没什么奇异的。

And one of my personal favorites from the very, very, deepest points,

我在极深处的个人最爱之一——

我们在好几个海沟的 最深处都神奇地遇上它们，

and we see these bizarrely at the very deepest points in multiple trenches,

we very rarely see them anywhere else except for the most extreme places.

而我们除了最极端的 地方很少碰见它们——

And it's a type of anemone.

是一种海葵。

And they just kind of look like white flowers floating in the wind.

它们仿佛是随风飘荡的白花朵儿。

They’re actually really beautiful animals,

它们实际上是非常美丽的动物，

and they’re living in, unbelievably,

而且难以置信的是，它们栖息在

what we would class as being extreme environments.

我们所认为的极端环境。

They have an unpronounceable Latin name,

它们有个读不出来的拉丁名字，

which I maybe shouldn't try, but it's Galatheanthemum.

我也许不应该去试； 它叫加兰泰葵（Galatheanthemum）。

I've done it.

我读出来了。

(Laughter and applause)

（笑声和掌声）

Thank you.

谢谢你。

(Applause)

（掌声）

I'm not doing it again, though, I got away with it once.

我不会再读一遍， 我已经完成任务了。

So if you start to rethink the visual imagery

如果你开始重新接受

and the way in which the deep sea is in reality

深海现实中的状况与模样，

and not the way we're told,

而不是人们传言的；

it's time that we started thinking about the oceans generally

那也是时候开始把广义的海洋作为

as just one big ocean, from its surface to the bottom.

一个整体来考虑，从表层到底部。

The ocean doesn't recognize imaginary lines that we've drawn

海洋不承认我们画的分隔线，

and said that's sea, that's deep sea.

规定这是海，那是深海。

So we care, don't care.

我们关心这边，无视那边。

Care, don't care, right?

这里有关，那儿无关，对吧？

And that's actually what we do.

而我们现实里就是如此。

You wouldn't turn up in the Amazon, and say, "Right, everyone,

你不会去到亚马逊， 然后说，“对，所有人，

We're going to catalog every known species for the first 200 meters,

我们将记录两百米内的 全部已知物种，

everything after that are monsters of the trees."

其余的视为丛林怪兽。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

"Because it's just dark and horrible in there, so let's not do that."

“因为那里面阴森恐怖， 我们还是不要深入了。”

But that is exactly what we do right now

但我们目前正在对

to 70 percent of the planet.

70% 的地球这样做。

And that's what I find quite frustrating.

这是让我感到受挫的一点。

Another question I get asked sometimes as well is --

还有一类向我提出的问题，

other than the fear stuff,

除了恐惧感，

and the claustrophobia

和幽闭恐惧症，

and the toilet question and stuff like that --

以及如何方便， 诸如此类的，

is, you know, what’s it like being in the bottom of the sea,

是身处海底，看到窗外那种景色

looking out the window and seeing stuff?

是什么感觉？

And I actually find it a genuinely

而我认为这其实是个

difficult question to answer.

难以回答的问题。

Because it’s quite exciting.

因为这挺令人振奋。

Afterwards, you’re like, “Ooh, that was really exciting.”

在那之后，你回想着， “哦，这真是让人兴奋。”

But at the time, it’s quite humbling.

但在当时，这使你自觉弱小。

Because I think you’re kind of aware of the fact

因为你清晰地意识到

you’re seven miles underwater and one ton per square centimeter

你在水下七英里处， 每平方米压力是一吨，

and all that kind of, you do feel quite remote.

这些全让你觉得挺孤静。

But I just think it looks kind of majestic.

但我也觉得那看起来是雄伟的。

I think it's certainly the exact polar opposite

我想这肯定与你所了解的

of what you're told it should be like.

恰恰相反。

It’s not scary, it’s peaceful, and it’s nice, and there’s beauty there.

这不恐怖，是挺平静， 也挺宜人，还有美景。

And I think we need to challenge the narratives that we are given

我觉得我们需要挑战既定的认知，

and change the story

并改变整个故事，

and start to think of the deep sea as a place which is fascinating,

把深海看作是一片有趣的，

it's wonderful, it's interesting,

美妙的，吸引人的地带，

and it's really, really important.

而这无比重要。

And only at that point,

只有到那时，

if we take all that on board will we ever truly,

在我们涉及到所有这些之后，

truly protect and live alongside our oceans.

才能保护海洋并与之共存。

Thank you.

谢谢大家。

(Applause)

（掌声）