Mike deGruy: Hooked by an octopus

翻译人员: Jamie Cheng 校对人员: Zhu Jie

I first became fascinated with octopus at an early age.

我第一次着迷于章鱼是在我童年的时候。

I grew up in Mobile, Alabama --

我在阿拉巴马州的莫比尔县长大。

somebody's got to be from Mobile, right? --

我想在座的各位中也有人去过那里，是吗？

and Mobile sits at the confluence of five rivers,

莫比尔县位于五条河流的交汇处，

forming this beautiful delta.

这就形成了这个美丽的三角洲。

And the delta has alligators crawling

短吻鳄在这个三角洲里

in and out of rivers filled with fish

鱼儿丰富的河流中游荡

and cypress trees dripping with snakes,

蛇从柏树的枝头垂下，

birds of every flavor.

各种各样的鸟儿在枝头歌唱。

It's an absolute magical wonderland to live in --

这里绝对是一个充满魔力的仙境

if you're a kid interested in animals, to grow up in.

如果你是一个喜爱野生动物的孩子的话。

And this delta water flows to Mobile Bay, and finally into the Gulf of Mexico.

这个三角洲的水流进莫比尔湾，最终汇入墨西哥湾。

And I remember my first real contact with octopus

我记得当我第一次接触章鱼

was probably at age five or six.

大约是在我五，六岁的时候。

I was in the gulf, and I was swimming around and saw a little octopus on the bottom.

那时我正在海湾里游泳，看海底发现了一只小章鱼。

And I reached down and picked him up, and immediately

我于是潜到海底捉住了它，刹那间

became fascinated and impressed by its speed and its strength and agility.

我就被它的速度，力量以及敏捷性所迷住了。

It was prying my fingers apart and moving to the back of my hand.

它在我的指尖小心窥探，还爬到了我的手背上。

It was all I could do to hold onto this amazing creature.

当时我完全被这个神奇的生物所镇住了。

Then it sort of calmed down in the palms of my hands

接着，它在我的掌心稍稍放松了一些

and started flashing colors,

开始闪烁出不同的颜色，

just pulsing all of these colors.

就像是自身会发光一样，

And as I looked at it, it kind of tucked its arms under it,

当我注视着它的时候，它将触角收缩到身体下面，

raised into a spherical shape

整个身体形成一个球形，

and turned chocolate brown with two white stripes.

呈巧克力色，上面还有两条白色的花纹。

I'm going, "My gosh!" I had never seen anything like this in my life!

我在心里想：“天哪！”，我还从未见过如此有意思的东西！

So I marveled for a moment, and then decided it was time to release him,

惊叹之余，我决定是时候将其放生了，

so I put him down.

于是我将它放回水中。

The octopus left my hands and then did the damnedest thing:

这只章鱼离开了我的手掌，做出了一件最令人惊叹的事情。

It landed on the bottom in the rubble

它停在碎石之上

and -- fwoosh! -- vanished

然后--“呼”的一声--消失了！

right before my eyes.

就在我的眼前。

And I knew, right then, at age six,

在那一刻，六岁的我意识到

that is an animal that I want to learn more about. So I did.

那就是我想要了解更多的生物。我也确实那样做了。

And I went off to college and got a degree in marine zoology,

我后来进了大学，取得了一个海洋生物学的学位，

and then moved to Hawaii and entered graduate school

来到夏威夷继续攻读研究生学位

at the University of Hawaii.

在夏威夷大学。

And while a student at Hawaii, I worked at the Waikiki Aquarium.

作为一名学生，我同时在夏威夷的威基寄水族馆里兼职。

And the aquarium had a lot of big fish tanks

这个水族馆里面有许多巨大的水族箱，

but not a lot of invertebrate displays,

但是所展示的无脊椎动物并不多，

and being the spineless guy, I thought, well

所以作为一名无脊椎动物的粉丝，我想，

I'll just go out in the field and collect these wonderful animals

我应该自己出去收集这些神奇的生物

I had been learning about as a student

它们是我在学生时期长期研究的东西

and bring them in, and I built these elaborate sets and put them on display.

并且把它们带到这里，透过这些精美的水族箱展现给大家。

Now, the fish in the tanks were gorgeous to look at,

虽然目前那些水族箱里面的鱼儿们看上去美极了，

but they didn't really interact with people.

但是它们与我们人类并没有真正的交流。

But the octopus did.

但是章鱼就有。

If you walked up to an octopus tank,

如果你走向一个养着章鱼的水族箱，

especially early in the morning before anyone arrived,

特别是在还没有人来的清晨，

the octopus would rise up and look at you

章鱼就会浮起来看着你

and you're thinking, "Is that guy really looking at me? He is looking at me!"

你会猜测，“它真的是在看我吗？原来它确实是在盯着我！”

And you walk up to the front of the tank. Then you realize

当你走到水族箱前面，你就会发现

that these animals all have different personalities:

这些章鱼们的性格各不相同。

Some of them would hold their ground,

其中的一些喜欢守着自己的地盘，

others would slink into the back of the tank and disappear in the rocks,

其他的一些会潜到水族箱的背面，隐藏在岩石之中。

and one in particular, this amazing animal ...

其中有一只最为特别，

I went up to the front of the tank, and he's just staring at me,

当我走到水族箱前面的时候，他正在凝视着我。

and he had little horns come up above his eyes.

章鱼的眼睛结构特殊，

So I went right up to the front of the tank --

所以当我出现在水族箱前面的时候，

I was three or four inches from the front glass --

在它看来我离它只有三到四英寸远。

and the octopus was sitting on a perch, a little rock,

这只章鱼当时正栖息在一块小岩石上，

and he came off the rock and he also came down right to the front of the glass.

它滑下岩石并且游到水族箱的玻璃前面

So I was staring at this animal about six or seven inches away,

所以我得以在离它六到七英寸的地方近距离观察这只动物，

and at that time I could actually focus that close;

那时我离它是如此的近，

now as I look at my fuzzy fingers I realize those days are long gone.

直到今天，当我注视自己手掌的时候，我还能够回忆起当时的情景。

Anyway, there we were, staring at each other,

当时我们相互凝视着对方，

and he reaches down and grabs an armful of gravel

它沉到池底捧起一捧碎石

and releases it in the jet of water entering the tank

把它们撒到水族箱的出水口处

from the filtration system,

这个出水口通向水族箱的过滤系统，

and -- chk chk chk chk chk! -- this gravel hits the front of the glass and falls down.

碎石被弹起，撞上前面的玻璃并滑落下来，发出“哧，哧，哧”的声音。

He reaches up, takes another armful of gravel, releases it --

接着它又抬起身，捧起另一捧碎石，把它们撒了下去...

chk chk chk chk chk! -- same thing.

同样又发出了“哧，哧，哧”的声音。

Then he lifts another arm and I lift an arm.

然后它抬起一只触须，于是我也抬起一只臂膀。

Then he lifts another arm and I lift another arm.

接着它又抬起另一只，我也抬起了另一只胳膊。

And then I realize the octopus won the arms race,

我忽然意识到在这样一场比赛中我永远不是章鱼的对手，

because I was out and he had six left. (Laughter)

因为我一共只有两只胳膊，而它还剩下六只呢。

But the only way I can describe what I was seeing that day

但是我想通过这件事告诉你们的就是

was that this octopus was playing,

这只章鱼当时正在玩耍，

which is a pretty sophisticated behavior for a mere invertebrate.

这对于无脊椎动物而言是一种相当复杂的行为。

So, about three years into my degree,

受此启发，在我攻读学位的三年期间，

a funny thing happened on the way to the office,

一件有趣的事情发生了，

which actually changed the course of my life.

它大大的改变了我的人生轨迹。

A man came into the aquarium. It's a long story, but essentially

水族馆里来了一位客人。

he sent me and a couple of friends of mine to the South Pacific

他让我和我的几个朋友们去南太平洋，

to collect animals for him,

为他收集一些动物，

and as we left, he gave us two 16-millimeter movie cameras.

当我们准备动身的时候，他交给我们两台16毫米镜头的摄像机。

He said, "Make a movie about this expedition."

他说：“把这次的探险拍摄成电影吧。”

"OK, a couple of biologists making a movie --

那好吧，几个生物学家来拍摄一部电影--

this'll be interesting,"

这一定会非常有趣的。

and off we went. And we did, we made a movie,

之后我们也确实这样做了，我们拍摄了一部电影，

which had to be the worst movie ever made

虽然它也许算得上是一部最差的电影了

in the history of movie making,

在电影史上。

but it was a blast. I had so much fun.

但是对我而言却非常的震撼，我觉得这太有趣了。

And I remember that proverbial light going off in my head,

我记得当时脑海中灵光一闪，

thinking, "Wait a minute.

我想：“等一下，

Maybe I can do this all the time.

也许我可以永远从事这个职业。

Yeah, I'll be a filmmaker."

对，我想要成为一名摄影师。”

So I literally came back from that job,

所以我在完成这次的探险之后，

quit school, hung my filmmaking shingle

就离开了学校，干起了摄影师这一行

and just never told anyone that I didn't know what I was doing.

我从来没有告诉过别人其实当时连我自己都不知道我在做什么。

It's been a good ride.

这是一段美好的经历。

And what I learned in school though was really beneficial.

当然，我在学校里所学习的东西真的让我受益匪浅。

If you're a wildlife filmmaker

作为一名野生动物摄影师

and you're going out into the field to film animals,

你需要去野外拍摄野生动物，

especially behavior,

特别是它们的生活习性，

it helps to have a fundamental background

学校里学习的知识给我打下了基础

on who these animals are,

涉及到如何辨别动物的种类，

how they work and, you know, a bit about their behaviors.

以及它们的一些生活习性。

But where I really learned about octopus

但是我开始真正了解章鱼

was in the field, as a filmmaker

是在成为一名摄影师之后，

making films with them,

当你拍摄它们的时候，

where you're allowed to spend large periods of time

你需要花费大量的时间

with the animals, seeing octopus being octopus

与它们呆在一起，仔细的观察它们

in their ocean homes.

在它们的世界里。

I remember I took a trip to Australia,

我记得我有一次去澳大利亚，

went to an island called One Tree Island.

到了一个被称为一树岛的岛屿。

And apparently, evolution had occurred

其实，

at a pretty rapid rate on One Tree,

这个岛屿上生物的进化速度还是相当快的，

between the time they named it and the time I arrived,

如果按照它的名字来推断的话，

because I'm sure there were at least three trees

因为我可以肯定岛上至少有三棵树

on that island when we were there.

当我们到达那里的时候。

Anyway, one tree is situated right next to

一树岛坐落于

a beautiful coral reef.

一块美丽的珊瑚礁附近。

In fact, there's a surge channel

事实上那里有一条汹涌的海峡

where the tide is moving back and forth, twice a day, pretty rapidly.

一天涨潮两次，相当的频繁，

And there's a beautiful reef,

那里有美丽的珊瑚礁

very complex reef, with lots of animals,

结构复杂，是许多动物的栖息之地，

including a lot of octopus.

包括许多的章鱼。

And not uniquely

并且，

but certainly, the octopus in Australia

澳大利亚的章鱼种类虽然不独特，

are masters at camouflage.

但是它们无疑是伪装高手。

As a matter of fact,

事实上，

there's one right there.

那里就有一只。

So our first challenge was to find these things,

所以我们的第一个任务就是去找到它们，

and that was a challenge, indeed.

这确实是一个挑战。

But the idea is, we were there for a month

我们的想法是：我们才刚刚到这里一个月的时间，

and I wanted to acclimate the animals to us

我希望让这些动物适应我们的存在。

so that we could see behaviors without disturbing them.

这样我们就可以在不打扰它们的前提下观察到它们的行为。

So the first week was pretty much spent

所以我们第一个星期花费了比较多的时间

just getting as close as we could,

去尽可能的接近它们，

every day a little closer, a little closer, a little closer.

每天一点点，一点点，一点点，

And you knew what the limit was: they would start getting twitchy

这样你就可以知道它们会觉得紧张的边界在哪里，

and you'd back up, come back in a few hours.

这时你就得退回来，呆上几个小时，

And after the first week, they ignored us.

第一个星期之后，它们就已经无视我们的存在了。

It was like, "I don't know what that thing is, but he's no threat to me."

它们可能会想：“我虽然搞不清那些是什么东西，但是它们不会伤害到我。”

So they went on about their business

所以章鱼们就开始做自己的事情了。

and from a foot away, we're watching mating

我们得以近距离的观察它们交配

and courting and fighting

求偶和搏斗

and it is just an unbelievable experience.

这是一次令人难以置信的经历。

And one of the most fantastic displays

我记得其中一个最神奇的景象

that I remember, or at least visually,

至少是可见的景象，

was a foraging behavior.

是它们的觅食行为。

And they had a lot of different techniques

它们利用各种不同的技巧

that they would use for foraging,

来帮助它们觅食。

but this particular one used vision.

特别是它们敏锐的视力。

And they would see a coral head,

它们注意到一块珊瑚礁

maybe 10 feet away,

差不多有十英尺远

and start moving over toward that coral head.

并且开始向那里移动。

And I don't know whether they actually saw crab in it, or imagined that one might be,

我不知道它们是否看到了一只藏匿其中的螃蟹，或者是猜测到其中可能有一只，

but whatever the case, they would leap off the bottom

但是无论如何，它们会浮起来

and go through the water and land right on top of this coral head,

顺着水流稳稳地停在那块珊瑚礁上面，

and then the web between the arms

接着触须之间的网状物

would completely engulf the coral head,

会完全包裹住这块珊瑚礁，

and they would fish out, swim for crabs.

然后摸索出里面的螃蟹。

And as soon as the crabs touched the arm, it was lights out.

只要螃蟹一旦碰到这些触须，它就难逃一死了。

And I always wondered what happened under that web.

我一直想知道在那张网的里面究竟发生了什么。

So we created a way to find out, (Laughter)

所以我们想出了一种方法来查明真相。

and I got my first look at that famous beak in action.

这是我第一次观察到它们利用那著名的钩型嘴捕食的样子。

It was fantastic.

实在是太神奇了。

If you're going to make a lot of films about a particular group of animals,

如果你想要拍摄一系列关于不同动物的纪录片，

you might as well pick one that's fairly common.

你可能也需要首先选择一种相当常见的动物。

And octopus are, they live in all the oceans.

章鱼就是一种：它们的分布面积广，

They also live deep.

并且居住在深水区。

And I can't say octopus are responsible

我虽然不想承认

for my really strong interest

观察章鱼是我渴望

in getting in subs and going deep,

潜入大海的原因，

but whatever the case, I like that.

但是无论如何，我喜欢潜水。

It's like nothing you've ever done.

这就像开始了一段全新的旅程。

If you ever really want to get away from it all

如果你愿意抛开一切

and see something that you have never seen,

去见识一些你从未见识过的东西，

and have an excellent chance of seeing something

得到一次绝好的机会去认识

no one has ever seen, get in a sub.

一些从未被人认识过的东西，那就去潜水吧。

You climb in, seal the hatch, turn on a little oxygen,

你穿上潜水服，把自己密封起来，打开一点点氧气，

turn on the scrubber,

打开过滤器，

which removes the CO2 in the air you breathe, and they chuck you overboard.

它可以清除掉你呼出的二氧化碳，为你带来保护。

Down you go. There's no connection to the surface

潜下去吧，那是一个和地面没有关联的世界

apart from a pretty funky radio.

除了相当特别的无线电信号。

And as you go down, the washing machine

当你潜入大海的时候，

at the surface calms down.

水面上的清洗装置安静下来了。

And it gets quiet.

四周非常的宁静。

And it starts getting really nice.

你会感觉非常的棒。

And as you go deeper, that lovely, blue water you were launched in

随着你越潜越深，

gives way to darker and darker blue.

海水的蓝色也变得越来越深。

And finally, it's a rich lavender,

最终变成一种饱满的淡紫色，

and after a couple of thousand feet, it's ink black.

几千英尺深之后，已经变成墨黑色了。

And now you've entered the realm

此时你已经潜入了

of the mid-water community.

大海的中部。

You could give an entire talk

你可以举出很多例子

about the creatures that live in the mid-water.

关于那些栖息在海洋中部的生物。

Suffice to say though, as far as I'm concerned,

足够可以说明

without question, the most bizarre designs

虽然毫无疑问，世界上最怪诞的

and outrageous behaviors

以及最骇人的动物

are in the animals that live in the mid-water community.

大都生活在这里，

But we're just going to zip right past this area,

但是我们所认识到的远远不止这些，

this area that includes about 95 percent

这里包含了我们地球上

of the living space on our planet

大约百分之九十五的生存空间

and go to the mid-ocean ridge, which I think is even more extraordinary.

那里我认为更为特别的海脊。

The mid-ocean ridge is a huge mountain range,

海洋中部的海脊是一条巨大的山脉，

40,000 miles long, snaking around the entire globe.

有4000英里长，蜿蜒环绕整个地球。

And they're big mountains, thousands of feet tall,

它们是庞大的山峦，有几千英尺高，

some of which are tens of thousands of feet

其中的一些甚至高达成千上万英尺

and bust through the surface,

穿出了水面，

creating islands like Hawaii.

夏威夷岛就是这样形成的。

And the top of this mountain range

这个山脉的顶端

is splitting apart, creating a rift valley.

炸裂开来，形成了一个地堑。

And when you dive into that rift valley, that's where the action is

当你潜入那个地堑中，你将来到一个非常刺激的地方

because literally thousands of active volcanoes

因为理论上讲，数以千计的活火山

are going off at any point in time

在任何时候都有可能爆发，

all along this 40,000 mile range.

所有这4000英尺的范围。

And as these tectonic plates are spreading apart,

当这些构造板块分裂开来的时候，

magma, lava is coming up and filling those gaps,

岩浆，熔岩会涌上来填满这些裂缝。

and you're looking land -- new land --

所以你就可以亲眼目睹

being created right before your eyes.

新大陆在你眼前生成。

And over the tops of them is 3,000 to 4,000 meters of water

在它们的顶端是三到四千米深的水，

creating enormous pressure,

这形成的巨大的压力

forcing water down through the cracks toward the center of the earth,

会使水流沿着裂缝流向地球的中心，

until it hits a magma chamber

直到遇到岩浆储源，

where it becomes superheated

在那里它会被加热

and supersaturated with minerals,

充分的被矿物质所浸透，

reverses its flow and starts shooting back to the surface

开始逆流并且向地面喷射，

and is ejected out of the earth like a geyser at Yellowstone.

被喷出地表，就像是黄石公园的地热喷泉。

In fact, this whole area

事实上，这整块地区

is like a Yellowstone National Park with all of the trimmings.

就像是整个的黄石国家森林公园。

And this vent fluid is about 600 or 700 degrees F.

喷出的水流大约有600到700华氏温度。

The surrounding water is just a couple of degrees above freezing.

而周围的水温只有零上几度。

So it immediately cools,

所以它立刻就被冷却了，

and it can no longer hold in suspension

不再蒸发

all of the material that it's dissolved,

其中所溶解的所有物质，

and it precipitates out, forming black smoke.

以及所沉淀的东西，都形成了黑烟。

And it forms these towers, these chimneys

这就形成了一些塔型和烟囱型的东西

that are 10, 20, 30 feet tall.

它们有10，20甚至30英尺高。

And all along the sides of these chimneys

并且沿着这些烟柱的边缘

is shimmering with heat and loaded with life.

微微发出热量，孕育着生命。

You've got black smokers going all over the place

你已经了解所有地方的海底黑烟柱附近

and chimneys that have tube worms

都生活着管状蠕虫

that might be eight to 10 feet long.

它们可能有八到十英尺长。

And out of the tops of these tube worms

在这些管状蠕虫的上面

are these beautiful red plumes.

是美丽的红色烟缕。

And living amongst the tangle of tube worms

生活在管状蠕虫周围的

is an entire community of animals:

是一个完整的动物群落，

shrimp, fish, lobsters, crab,

例如虾，鱼，龙虾，螃蟹，

clams and swarms of arthropods

蛤蜊以及大群的浮游生物

that are playing that dangerous game

它们在进行十分危险的游戏

between over here is scalding hot and freezing cold.

在沸水和冷水之间徘徊。

And this whole ecosystem

整个这个生态系统

wasn't even known about

尚未被人所知

until 33 years ago.

直到33年之前。

And it completely threw science on its head.

它的存在完全推翻了之前的科学依据。

It made scientists rethink

促使科学家们反思

where life on Earth might have actually begun.

地球上生命的起源究竟是在哪里。

And before the discovery of these vents,

在发现这些深海热泉以前，

all life on Earth, the key to life on Earth,

地球上所有生命的核心，

was believed to be the sun and photosynthesis.

都被认为依赖于太阳，依赖于光合作用，

But down there, there is no sun,

但是在大海深处，那里没有阳光，

there is no photosynthesis;

所以也不存在着光合作用。

it's chemosynthetic environment down there driving it,

那里是一个化学合成的环境，

and it's all so ephemeral.

生命是如此的短暂。

You might film this

当你拍摄下这个

unbelievable hydrothermal vent,

令人难以置信的深海热液喷口的时候，

which you think at the time has to be on another planet.

你会觉得仿佛置身于另一个星球之上。

It's amazing to think that this is actually on earth;

但是它却存在于地球，这真是太神奇了。

it looks like aliens in an alien environment.

就像是在一个陌生的环境中看到了外星生物。

But you go back to the same vent eight years later

但是如果你八年后再次回到这个热液喷口，

and it can be completely dead.

它可能已经彻底死亡了。

There's no hot water.

不再有热水涌出。

All of the animals are gone, they're dead,

所有的生物都消失了。

and the chimneys are still there

但是烟囱型的喷口还留在那里

creating a really nice ghost town,

形成了一个非常神奇的鬼镇，

an eerie, spooky ghost town,

一个怪诞的，幽灵般的鬼镇，

but essentially devoid of animals, of course.

没有任何生命的存在。

But 10 miles down the ridge...

但是在这条海脊10英里以下的地方...

pshhh! There's another volcano going.

天哪！那有有另一个火山在喷发。

And there's a whole new hydrothermal vent community that has been formed.

并且已经形成了一整个新的热液喷口生命群落。

And this kind of life and death of hydrothermal vent communities

这种生命群落的生命周期

is going on every 30 or 40 years

约为30到40年

all along the ridge.

在所有这些海脊中。

And that ephemeral nature

在那个朝生暮死的自然环境里

of the hydrothermal vent community

那些热液喷口生命群落

isn't really different from some of the

与我之前看到的

areas that I've seen

并没有真正的区别

in 35 years of traveling around, making films.

在我35年周游世界的拍摄生涯之中。

Where you go and film a really nice sequence at a bay.

当你出去拍摄一个非常棒的海湾

And you go back, and I'm at home,

结束之后，回到家里，

and I'm thinking, "Okay, what can I shoot ...

你就会想：“很好，我看到它们了。

Ah! I know where I can shoot that.

啊，我知道在哪儿我可以拍摄到它们。

There's this beautiful bay, lots of soft corals and stomatopods."

这真是一个美丽的海湾，有着许多软体珊瑚和甲壳类生物。”

And you show up, and it's dead.

而当你再次出现的时候，它们已经死了

There's no coral, algae growing on it, and the water's pea soup.

没有珊瑚，没有藻类，海水变得浑浊。

You think, "Well, what happened?"

你会思考：“到底发生了什么？”

And you turn around,

当你转过身，

and there's a hillside behind you with a neighborhood going in,

看见身后有一个山坡，上面是住宅区，

and bulldozers are pushing piles of soil back and forth.

推土机正在来回的推土。

And over here

在那里

there's a golf course going in.

即将兴建一座高尔夫球场。

And this is the tropics.

这里是热带

It's raining like crazy here.

经常会有暴雨降临。

So this rainwater is flooding down the hillside,

所以雨水淹没了山坡，

carrying with it sediments from the construction site,

夹带着建筑工地里的沉积物，

smothering the coral and killing it.

让让珊瑚礁窒息，置它们于死地。

And fertilizers and pesticides

化肥和农药

are flowing into the bay from the golf course --

从高尔夫球场流入这个海湾。

the pesticides killing all the larvae and little animals,

杀虫剂杀死了所有的幼虫和小动物，

fertilizer creating this beautiful plankton bloom --

化肥造成了浮游生物的大量繁殖。

and there's your pea soup.

使得海水呈现出浓豌豆汤似的浑浊状态。

But, encouragingly, I've seen just the opposite.

但是，令人鼓舞的是，我也注意到了一些好的现象。

I've been to a place that was a pretty trashed bay.

我曾经去过一个被人为破坏了的海湾。

And I looked at it, just said, "Yuck,"

我当时看着它，叹了一口气“太糟糕了”

and go and work on the other side of the island.

就去了岛屿的另一边进行工作。

Five years later, come back,

五年之后，我又回到了这个地方，

and that same bay is now gorgeous. It's beautiful.

就是当初那一个海滩，她变得棒极了，非常漂亮。

It's got living coral, fish all over the place,

到处都是活着的珊瑚礁和鱼儿，

crystal clear water, and you go, "How did that happen?"

和清澈的海水，你不禁会问：“究竟发生过什么？”

Well, how it happened is

这一切都要归功于

the local community galvanized.

当地社区所付出的努力。

They recognized what was happening on the hillside and put a stop to it;

他们意识到了发生在山坡上的一切，并且进行了阻止，

enacted laws and made permits required

颁布了法令并且进行执照许可

to do responsible construction

进行负责任的重建工作

and golf course maintenance

以及高尔夫球场的维修保养

and stopped the sediments flowing into the bay,

同时阻止了沉淀物不断流入海湾，

and stopped the chemicals flowing into the bay,

还堵住了流入海湾的化学品，

and the bay recovered.

所以这个海湾获得了重生。

The ocean has an amazing ability

海洋拥有神奇的能力

to recover, if we'll just leave it alone.

进行自我修复，如果我们给它这样的机会。

I think Margaret Mead

我认为Margaret Mead的话

said it best.

让我感触很深。

She said that a small group of thoughtful people

她说一小部分有思想的人们

could change the world.

能够有能力改变这个世界。

Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

的确，这是一个真理。

And a small group of thoughtful people

正是有了那一小部分有思想的民众

changed that bay.

改变了那个海湾。

I'm a big fan of grassroots organizations.

我十分坚信普通民众们的力量。

I've been to a lot of lectures

我参加过许多的演讲

where, at the end of it, inevitably,

在每次演讲结束时

one of the first questions that comes up is,

人们首先提出的几个问题之一就是

"But, but what can I do?

“但是，我可以做些什么呢？

I'm an individual. I'm one person.

我只是一个个体，我只有一个人。

And these problems are so large and global, and it's just overwhelming."

而这些问题是如此的大和全球性，并且看上去势不可挡。”

Fair enough question.

这是一个非常好的问题。

My answer to that is don't look

我的回答就是

at the big, overwhelming issues of the world.

不要把它们看做是巨大而难以解决的全球性问题。

Look in your own backyard.

可以站在你自己的立场来看待它们。

Look in your heart, actually.

认真的审视你的内心。

What do you really care about that isn't right where you live?

你所真正关心的事情并不仅仅局限于你所居住的地方。

And fix it.

开始去实践他。

Create a healing zone in your neighborhood

在你生活的周围创造出一个可以循环利用的环境

and encourage others to do the same.

并且鼓励别人也这样做。

And maybe these healing zones can sprinkle a map,

也许这些得以循环的小环境

little dots on a map.

能够在地图上形成一些小的点。

And in fact, the way that we can communicate today --

事实上，当今世界的通讯技术如此发达，

where Alaska is instantly knowing what's going on in China,

身在阿拉斯加，就能立刻知道发生在中国的事情，

and the Kiwis did this, and then over in England they tried to ...

新西兰人正在做什么以及在英国人们正在打算干什么...

and everybody is talking to everyone else --

每一个人都可以与身在别处的人们交谈。

it's not isolated points on a map anymore,

我们不再是地图上面孤立的点，

it's a network we've created.

我们已经建立起来了一个网络。

And maybe these healing zones can start growing,

这样这些可循环的系统就能够开始成长，

and possibly even overlap, and good things can happen.

甚至可能重叠起来，成就一番事业。

So that's how I answer that question.

这就是我对这个问题的回答。

Look in your own backyard, in fact, look in the mirror.

站在你自己的立场上面想一想，换句话说，审视你自己。

What can you do that is more responsible

你究竟能够负起什么样的责任

than what you're doing now?

对于你正在从事的事情？

And do that, and spread the word.

就这样做下去，并且把它传播开来。

The vent community animals

那些在热液喷口生活着的动物们

can't really do much

无能为力

about the life and death

对于自己的生死

that's going on where they live, but up here we can.

所以它们别无选择，但是我们可以。

In theory, we're thinking, rational human beings.

从理论上说，我们能够思考，我们是理性的人类。

And we can make changes to our behavior

我们可以改变我们自身的行为方式

that will influence and affect the environment,

最终影响周围的环境，

like those people changed the health of that bay.

正如那些让海湾重获新生的人们。

Now, Sylvia's TED Prize wish

Sylvia的TED演讲获奖感言

was to beseech us to do anything we could,

是恳请我们尽自己所能，

everything we could,

做任何可以做的事情，

to set aside not pin pricks,

去阻止，而非加剧，

but significant expanses

并且大力传播

of the ocean for preservation,

保护海洋的意识，

"hope spots," she calls them.

她称他们为“希望之点”，

And I applaud that. I loudly applaud that.

我为这个提议鼓掌，大声的鼓掌。

And it's my hope that some of these "hope spots"

我希望这些“希望之点”

can be in the deep ocean,

能够注意到大海的深处，

an area that has historically

那一个在历史上，

been seriously neglected, if not abused.

被我们长时间所忽视的地方--

The term "deep six" comes to mind:

我想到一个俚语，抛入大海。

"If it's too big or too toxic for a landfill,

如果有一堆巨大并且有毒的垃圾，

deep six it!"

那就把它们扔进大海吧。

So, I hope that we can also keep

但是如今，我希望我们也可以

some of these "hope spots" in the deep sea.

真正的关心一下我们的深海。

Now, I don't get a wish,

我并不是在发表感言，

but I certainly can say

但是我许诺

that I will do anything I can

我会尽我所能

to support Sylvia Earle's wish.

去支持Sylvia Earle的愿望。

And that I do.

我会这样做的。

Thank you very much. (Applause)

谢谢大家。（掌声）