The discoveries awaiting us in the ocean's twilight zone | Heidi M. Sosik

翻译人员: Yolanda Zhang 校对人员: Lipeng Chen

I bet all of you are familiar with this view of the ocean,

我相信你们都熟悉这样的海洋，

but the thing is,

但事实是，

most of the ocean looks nothing like this.

海洋的大部分地方 并不是这样的景象。

Below the sunlit surface waters,

在水面下阳光照射不到的地方，

there's an otherworldly realm

则是另一个非凡的世界，

known as the twilight zone.

即所谓的过渡带。

At 200 to 1,000 meters below the surface,

在水面下200米到1000米的深处，

sunlight is barely a glimmer.

阳光几乎无法到达。

Tiny particles swirl down through the darkness

微小的颗粒在黑暗中旋转，

while flashes of bioluminescence

而生物体发出的微光

give us a clue that these waters teem with life:

告诉我们这里充满着生命：

microbes, plankton, fish.

微生物，浮游生物，鱼类。

Everything that lives here has amazing adaptations

所有生活在这里的生命体 都对这极端环境下的

for the challenges of such an extreme environment.

挑战有着惊人的适应力。

These animals help support top predators such as whales, tuna,

这些生物支撑了食物链顶端的 猎食者，譬如鲸鱼，金枪鱼，

swordfish and sharks.

旗鱼以及鲨鱼的生存。

There could be 10 times more fish biomass here

这里的鱼类生物质含量是

than previously thought.

之前推算的十倍。

In fact, maybe more than all the rest of the ocean combined.

事实上，可能比海洋 其他部分的总和还要多。

There are countless undiscovered species in deep waters,

在深海，有无数尚未被发现的物种，

and life in the twilight zone is intertwined with earth's climate.

而过渡带中的生命 与地球气候息息相关。

Yet the twilight zone is virtually unexplored.

然而，过渡带几乎未被探索过。

There are so many things we still don't know about it.

我们对它仍然知之甚少。

I think we can change that.

我认为我们可以改变这一现状。

I was drawn to oceanography by just this kind of challenge.

这类的挑战让我 对海洋学产生了兴趣。

To me it represents the perfect intersection

对我来说，这代表了科学，

of science, technology and the unknown,

技术以及未知的完美交融，

the spark for so many breakthrough discoveries about life on our planet.

这导致了许多有关 地球生物的突破性发现。

As a college student,

当我还在读大学时，

I went on an expedition across the Atlantic

我和一群科学家

with a team of scientists using a high-powered laser

在大西洋上进行远洋考察， 利用高强度激光

to measure microscopic algae.

测量微型藻类。

The wild thing that happened on that trip

那次航行中有一个意外收获，

is that we discovered what everyone who looked before had completely missed:

我们发现了之前被所有人 忽略了的东西：

photosynthetic cells smaller than anyone thought possible.

光合细胞比任何人想象的都要小。

We now know those tiny cells are the most abundant

现在我们知道这些 微小的细胞，是地球上

photosynthetic organisms on earth.

最丰富的光合生物体。

This amazing discovery happened because we used new technology

正因为我们采用了新的技术， 用新的方式来观察海洋中的生命，

to see life in the ocean in a new way.

我们才得以有这一惊人的发现。

I am convinced that the discoveries awaiting us in the twilight zone

我深信，在那片过渡带中 等待我们发现的未知事物，

will be just as breathtaking.

会同样令人激动。

We know so little about the twilight zone because it's difficult to study.

我们对过渡带知道的太少了， 因为它很难研究。

It's exceedingly large,

它实在太大了，

spanning from the Arctic to the Southern Ocean

从北极到南大洋，

and around the globe.

覆盖全球。

It's different from place to place.

不同地点还有所不同。

It changes quickly as the water and animals move.

随着水流和动物的运动， 它也快速变化着。

And it's deep and dark and cold, and the pressures there are enormous.

它是那么的深邃，黑暗， 寒冷，那里的压力也很大。

What we do know is fascinating.

我们已经知道的就很不可思议了。

You may be imagining huge monsters lurking in the deep sea,

你可能想象着， 巨型怪物潜伏在深海，

but most of the animals are very small,

但那里的大部分动物都很小，

like this lantern fish.

就像这灯笼鱼一样。

And this fierce-looking fish is called a bristlemouth.

这种面目狰狞的鱼叫做圆罩鱼。

Believe it or not, these are the most abundant vertebrates on earth

信不信由你，这是 地球上最多的脊椎生物，

and many are so small that a dozen could fit in this one tube.

它们大都很小， 这一管可以装下许多条。

It gets even more interesting,

更有趣的是，

because small size does not stop them from being powerful through sheer number.

因为小的体型并没有阻止 它们通过数量变得强大。

Deep, penetrating sonar shows us that the animals form dense layers.

水下的穿透声呐向我们展示， 这些动物组成了厚厚的一层。

You can see what I mean by the red and yellow colors

你可以从这组数据中 大约四百米处的红色和黄色

around 400 meters in these data.

得到一个直观的概念。

So much sound bounces off this layer,

大部分声波从这层反弹，

it's been mistaken for the ocean bottom.

它曾被误认为是海洋底部。

But if we look, it can't be, because the layer is deep during the day,

但是如果我们仔细观察，这不可能， 因为这层物质在白天位于深处，

it rises up at night

而在夜晚它上升了，

and the pattern repeats day after day.

而且这个模式每天都在重复。

This is actually the largest animal migration on earth.

这事实上是地球上最大的动物迁徙。

It happens around the globe every day,

每天它都在全球范围内发生着，

sweeping through the world's oceans in a massive living wave

以巨大的生物波浪 席卷全球的海洋。

as twilight zone inhabitants travel hundreds of meters

那时，过渡带中的生物会在夜晚

to surface waters to feed at night

迁移数百米到水面觅食，

and return to the relative safety of deeper, darker waters during the day.

然后在白天回到更深、更暗， 相对安全的水体中。

These animals and their movements help connect the surface and deep ocean

这些动物以及它们的运动 以重要的方式

in important ways.

连接着表层海面和深层海体。

The animals feed near the surface,

它们在海面觅食，

they bring carbon in their food into the deep waters,

将它们食物中的碳带到深海，

where some of that carbon can stay behind

有些碳可以留在那儿，

and remain isolated from the atmosphere for hundreds or even thousands of years.

和大气圈隔绝几百，甚至几千年。

In this way, the migration may help keep carbon dioxide

这么一来，迁移可以帮助吸收

out of our atmosphere

大气圈中的二氧化碳，

and limit the effects of global warming on our climate.

限制全球变暖对气候的影响。

But we still have many questions.

但我们仍有许多问题。

We don't know which species are migrating,

我们不知道何种生物在迁移，

what they're finding to eat,

它们吃些什么，

又被谁吃掉，

who is trying to eat them

or how much carbon they are able to transport.

或是它们可以转移多少的碳。

So I'm a scientist who studies life in the ocean.

我是一名研究 海洋生物的科学家。

For me, curiosity about these things is a powerful driver,

对我而言，对这些生物的 好奇心是很强的驱动力，

but there's more to the motivation here.

但动机却远不止如此。

We need to answer these questions and answer them quickly,

我们需要回答这些问题， 并要尽快回答，

because the twilight zone is under threat.

因为过渡带面临着威胁。

Factory ships in the open ocean

公海中的捕鱼船

have been vacuuming up

正在灭绝性地捕捉着

hundreds of thousands of tons of small, shrimp-like animals called krill.

成百上千吨叫做 磷虾的小型虾类生物。

The animals are ground into fish meal

这些磷虾被碾碎制成鱼食，

to support increasing demands for aquaculture

以支撑水产业，以及对 譬如虾油的保健品

and for nutraceuticals such as krill oil.

不断增长的需求。

Industry is on the brink of deepening fisheries such as these

捕鱼业就要触及到更深的海域，

into the mid-water

进入中层水体，

in what could start a kind of twilight zone gold rush

这可能会开启一场 在国家渔业管理范围之外的

operating outside the reach of national fishing regulations.

过渡带的“淘金潮”。

This could have irreversible global-scale impacts

这可能会对全球范围的 海洋生物和食物网

on marine life and food webs.

造成不可逆的影响。

We need to get out ahead of fishing impacts

我们需要领先捕鱼的影响一步，

and work to understand this critical part of the ocean.

努力理解海洋中 这一重要组成部分。

At Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,

在伍兹霍尔海洋研究所，

I'm really fortunate to be surrounded by colleagues who share this passion.

我十分有幸加入有着 同样热情的同行队伍中。

Together, we are ready to launch a large-scale exploration

我们已经一起为 大规模的过渡带探索

of the twilight zone.

做好准备。

We have a plan to begin right away

我们计划从北大西洋的

with expeditions in the North Atlantic,

科考开始，

where we'll tackle the big challenges

在那里我们会着手解决

of observing and studying the twilight zone's remarkable diversity.

过渡带的复杂多样性 为观测和研究带来的巨大挑战。

This kind of multiscale, multidimensional exploration

这一多规格，多层次的考察

means we need to integrate new technologies.

意味着我们需要引入新的技术。

Let me show you a recent example that has changed our thinking.

让我说一个最近的例子， 这改变了我们的思考。

Satellite tracking devices on animals such as sharks

在譬如鲨鱼等动物 身上的卫星追踪器

are now showing us that many top predators

告诉我们，许多顶层捕食者

regularly dive deep into the twilight zone to feed.

会经常潜入深海觅食。

And when we map their swimming patterns and compare them to satellite data,

当我们绘制它们的游动路径， 并将其与卫星数据比较时，

we find that their feeding hot spots

我们发现它们经常觅食的地点，

are linked to ocean currents and other features.

与洋流和其他特质有着联系。

We used to think these animals found all of their food in surface waters.

我们曾经认为这些动物 在水体表层就能获得所有的食物。

We now believe they depend on the twilight zone.

现在我们相信它们依赖着过渡带。

But we still need to figure out how they find the best areas to feed,

但是我们仍需要搞清楚， 它们是如何找到最佳地点觅食的，

what they're eating there

它们在那里吃些什么，

以及它们的饮食中有多少 是依赖过渡带生存的物种。

and how much their diets depend on twilight zone species.

We will also need new technologies to explore the links with climate.

我们也需要新的技术 来探索（它们）与气候之间的联系。

Remember these particles?

还记得这些微粒吗？

Some of them are produced by gelatinous animals called salps.

它们中的有些是由一种 叫做樽海鞘的胶装动物产生的。

Salps are like superefficient vacuum cleaners,

樽海鞘就像强力吸尘器一样，

slurping up plankton and producing fast-sinking pellets of poop --

吸食着浮游生物，并产生着 会快速下沉的排泄物颗粒——

try saying that 10 times fast --

想象把我的语速加快十倍——

pellets of poop that carry carbon deep into the ocean.

携带着碳的排泄物，沉入深海。

We sometimes find salps in enormous swarms.

有时，我们发现樽海鞘成群出现。

We need to know where and when and why and whether

我们需要了解哪里， 何时，为何，以及是否

this kind of carbon sink has a big impact on earth's climate.

这种“碳缸”会对地球气候 产生巨大的影响。

To meet these challenges, we will need to push the limits of technology.

为了面对这些挑战， 我们需要推进技术的极限。

We will deploy cameras and samplers on smart robots

我们会使用智能机器人身上的 摄像头和样本采集器

to patrol the depths and help us track the secret lives of animals like salps.

在深处考察，帮助我们追踪 像樽海鞘这样生物的隐秘生活。

We will use advanced sonar

我们会使用先进的声呐，

to figure out how many fish and other animals are down there.

来搞清那里生活着 多少鱼类和其他动物。

We will sequence DNA from the environment in a kind of forensic analysis

我们会用类似法医分析的方法， 对环境中的DNA进行测序，

to figure out which species are there

来搞清哪些生物生活在哪里，

and what they are eating.

以及它们吃些什么。

With so much that's still unknown about the twilight zone,

过渡带中充满着未知，

there's an almost unlimited opportunity for new discovery.

也就意味着那里蕴藏着 新发现的无限可能。

Just look at these beautiful, fascinating creatures.

看看这些美丽的， 令人着迷的生物吧。

We barely know them.

我们对它们几乎一无所知。

And imagine how many more are just down there waiting

想象一下，在深海中 有多少东西正等待着我们

for our new technologies to see them.

用新的技术去发现。

The excitement level about this could not be higher on our team

我们全队的科学家，工程师和通讯员

of ocean scientists, engineers and communicators.

都对这一发现兴奋至极。

There is also a deep sense of urgency.

大家也都有了一种深深的急迫感。

We can't turn back the clock on decades of overfishing

我们不可能将时光 倒转到过渡捕鱼之前，

in countless regions of the ocean

那时，捕鱼在曾经 看上去永不枯竭的

that once seemed inexhaustible.

无数海域进行着。

How amazing would it be to take a different path this time?

如果这次我们换条航线， 该有多好呀？

The twilight zone is truly a global commons.

过渡带确实是一种全球公共资源。

We need to first know and understand it

我们首先需要知道并了解它，

before we can be responsible stewards

然后我们才能负责任的管理，

and hope to fish it sustainably.

并进行可持续性的开采捕捞。

This is not just a journey for scientists,

这不是一场事关科学家的旅程，

it is for all of us,

这与我们所有人息息相关，

because the decisions we collectively make

因为我们在接下来十年

over the next decade

共同做出的决定，

will affect what the ocean looks like

会影响数世纪之内，

for centuries to come.

海洋的形态。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）