How do you save a shark you know nothing about? | Simon Berrow

譯者: Ariel Zheng 審譯者: Wang-Ju Tsai

Basking sharks are awesome creatures.

姥鯊是相當美妙的生物，真的非常不可思議

They are just magnificent.

牠們身長足足有10公尺

They grow 10 meters long; some say bigger.

也有人說比10公尺長

They might weigh up to two tons.

體重達2噸

Some say up to five tons.

也有人認為將近5噸

They're the second-largest fish in the world.

牠們是全世界第二大的魚類

They're also harmless plankton-feeding animals.

是以捕食浮游生物為主的無害動物

And they are thought to be able to filter a cubic kilometer of water every hour

據說每小時

可以過濾1立方公里的海水

and can feed on 30 kilos of zoo plankton a day to survive.

每天攝食高達30公斤的浮游動物

實在是太不可思議了

They're fantastic creatures.

愛爾蘭有許多姥鯊

We're very lucky in Ireland,

we have plenty of basking sharks and plenty of opportunities to study them.

讓我們有幸能研究牠們

姥鯊對海洋生態社區也是相當重要的

They were very important to coastal communities,

早在幾百年前

going back hundreds of years,

特別在克拉達、達夫和康尼瑪拉地區

especially around the Claddaghduff, Connemara region

獨立農夫會出海

where subsistence farmers used to sail out on their hookers and open boats,

乘著漁船

sometimes way offshore to a place called the Sunfish Bank,

出海到一個叫太陽魚淺灘的地方

大概離愛奇島48公里以西的位置

about 30 miles west of Achill Island,

去捕殺姥鯊

to kill the basking sharks.

This is a woodcut from about the 1800s.

這是來自17, 18世紀的木版畫

因為姥鯊肝臟含很多肝油，所以當時地位非凡

They were very important, for the oil out of their liver.

A third of the basking shark's size is their liver,

肝臟占身體的1/3，滿滿是油

從牠們的肝臟就能提鍊出好幾加侖的肝油

and it's full of oil, gallons of oil.

這些油當時主要供照明用途

That oil was used especially for lighting,

除此之外也可用來治療傷口等等

but also for dressing wounds and other things.

事實上，在1742年

In fact, the streetlights in 1742,

戈爾韋、都柏林和沃特福的路燈

of Galway, Dublin and Waterford,

were lit with sunfish oil.

多多少少都跟太陽魚肝油有關

"Sunfish" is one of the words for basking sharks.

姥鯊又叫「太陽魚」

So they were incredibly important animals.

所以牠們算是相當重要的動物

They've been around a long time, very important to coastal communities.

歷史久遠，對海洋生態社區也非常重要

擁有全世界最完整的姥鯊文獻紀錄的

Probably the best-documented basking shark fishery in the world

就是愛奇島

is that from Achill Island.

This is Keem Bay up in Achill Island.

這是愛奇島的欽灣

以前鯊魚會在這裡出沒

Sharks used to come into the bay,

and the fishermen would tie a net off the headland,

漁夫就會把魚網掛在岬角上

string it out, an old Manila net,

再展開和其他魚網連接

and as the shark came round, it would hit the net,

鯊魚來了一觸碰到魚網，網子就會掉下來

the net would collapse on it.

鯊魚就會因窒息而溺死

It would often drown and suffocate.

Or at times, they would row out in their small curraghs

有時候還會划小船出去

and kill it with a lance through the back of the neck.

用魚叉往牠們背後戳

最後在一路將屍體拖回波庭港口

And then they'd tow the sharks back to Purteen Harbour,

boil them up, use the oil.

煮沸，再提練肝油

They also used the flesh as well, for fertilizer

剩下來的肉也被用來當肥料

當然也會採割魚翅

and also would fin the sharks.

This is probably the biggest threat to sharks worldwide --

全球最大的鯊魚元兇

就是採割魚翅這個行為了

the finning of sharks.

看過「大白鯊」這部電影的人都對鯊魚懷有恐懼之心

We're often frightened of sharks, thanks to "Jaws."

每年大概有5-6人

Maybe five or six people get killed by sharks every year.

死於鯊魚攻擊

前陣子不是就有人遇害？才幾個禮拜前而已

There was someone recently, wasn't there? Just a couple weeks ago.

但我們每年捕殺1億條鯊魚

We kill about 100 million sharks a year.

So I don't know what the balance is,

真曉得天理何在

but I think sharks have more right to be fearful of us than we have of them.

照理講，鯊魚應該要比較怕我們才對

這個獵捕行為紀錄完整

It was a well-documented fishery.

As you can see here, it peaked in the '50s,

從這裡可以看到，在50年代達到高峰

每年獵殺高達1500條鯊魚

where they were killing 1,500 sharks a year.

接著急遽下降，這就是漁業大起大落的特性

And it declined very fast -- a classic boom-and-bust fishery,

這就顯示鯊魚的數量已所剩無幾

which suggests that a stock has been depleted

or there's low reproductive rates.

不然就是繁殖率非常低

They killed about 12,000 sharks within this period,

在這期間將近12,000隻鯊魚遭殺害

光是愛奇島的欽灣

literally just by stringing a Manila rope

用馬尼拉繩捕殺的數量

off the tip of Keem Bay up in Achill Island.

就這麼多了

Sharks were still killed up into the mid-80s,

一直到80年代中期，獵鯊行為仍盛行

especially out of places like Dunmore East in County Waterford.

尤其是在沃特福的鄧莫爾東郡地區

About two and a half, 3,000 sharks were killed up till '85,

到1985年還是有2500到3000條鯊魚遭捕殺

mainly by Norwegian vessels.

其中有很多是挪威的漁船

You can't really see,

圖中黑色的船，這裡有點看不清楚，是挪威獵捕姥鯊的船隻

but these are Norwegian basking shark hunting vessels.

瞭望臺上的黑線

The black line in the crow's nest signifies this is a shark vessel,

表明這是一艘獵捕鯊魚的船

rather than a whaling vessel.

而不是捕鯨船

The importance of basking sharks to the coast communities

姥鯊在海洋生態社區占有的重要地位

is recognized through the language.

體現在語言上

I don't pretend to [know many Irish words],

我不想假裝自己很懂愛爾蘭語

but in Kerry they were often known as "ainmhide Na seolta,"

不過在凱里郡，大家把姥鯊形容為「Ainmhide na seolta」

意指「帶帆的怪物」

"the monster with the sails."

還有另一個稱號是「Liop an da lapa」

Another title would be "liop an dá lapa,"

意思是「龐大笨重的兩鰭怪」

"the unwieldy beast with two fins."

還有「Liabhan mor」，形容巨大的動物

"Liabhán mór," suggesting a big animal.

還有我最愛的別名「Liabhan chor greine」

Or my favorite, "liabhán chor gréine," "the great fish of the sun."

也就是「偉大的太陽魚」

That's a lovely, evocative name.

還滿可愛又充滿聯想的名字

On Tory Island -- a strange place anyway -- they were known as "muldoons."

托裏島上，反正那裡也滿奇怪的，姥鯊又叫「馬爾登」

(Laughter)

沒有人知道為什麼

No one seems to know why.

希望在座沒有來自托裏島的朋友，那裡很迷人

Hope there's no one from Tory here. Lovely place.

不過最常用的別名

But more commonly all around the island, they were known as the sunfish.

是太陽魚

And this represents their habit of basking on the surface

這個名字最能代表牠們喜歡曬太陽的行為

when the sun is out.

姥鯊在全球各地瀕臨絕種的現象

There's great concern that basking sharks are depleted

all throughout the world.

非常令人擔憂

Some say it's not population decline,

有人認為這不是數量的減少

it might be a change in the distribution of plankton.

可能是浮游生物分布情況改變了

It's been suggested

也有人認為姥鯊數量的減少

that these sharks would make fantastic indicators of climate change,

是反映溫室效應的指標

因為牠們最能反映浮游生物的狀況

as they're basically continuous plankton recorders,

成天嘴巴開開游來游去的

swimming around with their mouth open.

國際自然保護聯盟已將姥鯊列為「瀕危」狀態

They're now listed as vulnerable under the IUCN.

歐洲各國也正嘗試採取行動停止獵捕活動

There's movements in Europe to try and stop catching them.

現在已立法禁止捕捉姥鯊，甚至禁止讓牠們上岸

There's now a ban on catching and even landing them,

even landing ones caught accidentally.

就連意外捕捉到的也不行

They're not protected in Ireland;

然而，愛爾蘭卻沒有保護姥鯊

in fact, they have no legislative status in Ireland whatsoever,

事實上，愛爾蘭完全沒有相關禁止的法律條文

儘管我們知道姥鯊有多重要

despite our importance for the species

以及牠們賴以生存的歷史意義

and also the historical context within which basking sharks reside.

We know very little about them.

我們對姥鯊的了解甚少

And most of what we do know

所了解最多的

is based on their habit of coming to the surface --

也只能從牠們喜愛浮出水面的習慣下手

然後試著揣測她們的行為

we try and guess what they're doing from their behavior on the surface.

從牠們在水面上的行為來猜測

I only found out last year, at a conference on the Isle of Man,

我一直要到去年一場在曼島的會議中

just how unusual it is to live somewhere

才意識到，住在一個

where basking sharks regularly, frequently and predictably

姥鯊經常固定浮出水面來曬太陽的地方

是多麼難得

come to the surface to "bask."

這對科學研究來說，能親眼看到姥鯊

It's a fantastic opportunity for a scientist

實在是相當可貴

to see and experience basking sharks.

牠們真的是非常不可思議的生物

They are awesome creatures.

住在這裡，使我們可以實際研究、接近牠們

It gives us a fantastic opportunity to study them, to get access to them.

我們好幾年來在做的事--去年對我們來說滿重大的

What we've been doing for a couple years -- last year was a big year --

我們開始標幟鯊魚

is we started tagging sharks,

這樣才能追蹤

so we could try to get some idea of sight fidelity and movement

牠們的動態以及棲地忠實性

and things like that.

我們主要集中在

So we concentrated mainly in North Donegal and West Kerry

登內加爾北部和凱里郡西部

as the two areas where I was mainly active.

這兩個區塊我比較熟悉

And we tagged them very simply, not very high-tech,

我們標識的方法非常簡單又有點土法煉鋼

是用一個又大又長的竿子

with a big, long pole.

這是一個beachcaster牌的竿子

This is a beachcaster rod with a tag on the end.

在尾端有標幟

You go up in your boat and tag the shark.

就到船上標幟鯊魚

And we were very effective.

我們相當有效率

We tagged 105 sharks last summer.

去年夏天就標了105條鯊魚

三天內就在印尼豪恩半島

We got 50 in three days off Inishowen Peninsula.

標了50條鯊魚

Half the challenge to get access

主要是抓準時間，也要抓對地點

is to be in the right place at the right time.

不過這是一個非常簡單的技術

But it's a very simple, easy technique; I'll show you what it looks like.

來給大家看牠們的樣子

我們在船上使用竿子上的相機

We use a pole camera on the boat to actually film the shark.

來拍攝鯊魚

One, it's to try and work out the gender of the shark.

首先要分辨鯊魚的性別

We also deployed some satellite tags, so we did use high-tech stuff as well.

我們也用了一些衛星標，所以也有運用到高科技產品

這些是衛星檔案標幟

These are archival tags.

What they do is store the data.

可以儲存資料

A satellite tag only works when the air is clear of the water

衛星標只能在接觸空氣並沒有水的狀況下

才能使用並發送訊號給衛星

and can send a signal to the satellite.

當然，鯊魚和魚類大部份的時間都在水裡

And sharks and fish are underwater most of the time,

所以這個標幟會根據時間和太陽的升降

so this tag actually works out the locations of shark,

depending on the timing and the setting of the sun,

來推斷鯊魚的位置

其中也會考量海水的溫度和深淺

plus water temperature and depth.

我們必須根據收集的資料重建路線

And you have to kind of reconstruct the path.

What happens is,

要設定讓標幟在一定的時間後自動脫落

you set the tag to detach from the shark after a fixed period --

我們的設定是八個月

in this case, eight months --

時間到了，標幟會浮出水面，傳資料給衛星

and literally to the day, the tag popped off,

drifted up, said hello to the satellite

而且並不是全部的資料，而是讓我們足以使用的資料

and sent, not all the data, but enough data for us to use.

這是唯一可以摸透

This is the only way to really work out their behavior and movements

牠們在水裡行為的辦法

when they're underwater.

這邊是我們做的一些地圖

And here's a couple of maps that we've done.

In that one, you can see that we tagged both off Kerry.

可以看到兩個都在凱里郡標幟到鯊魚

Basically, it spent all its time, the last eight months, in Irish waters.

基本上牠在過去八個月都在愛爾蘭海域活動

聖誕節跑到棚緣

On Christmas, it was out on the shelf edge.

這個我們還沒實地勘察

Here's one we haven't ground-truthed yet

海面溫度及水深

with sea-surface temperature and water depth,

不過，第二隻鯊魚大部份時間

but again, the second shark spent most of its time

也在愛爾蘭海域活動

in and around the Irish Sea.

去年有一位曼島的同事

Colleagues from the Isle of Man last year actually tagged one shark

標到一隻鯊魚

that went from the Isle of Man to Nova Scotia in about 90 days.

在90天以內從曼島跑到加拿大的新斯科舍省去

Nine and a half thousand kilometers -- we never thought that happened.

距離有9500公里，相當驚人

還有另一個美國的同事

Another colleague in the States tagged about 20 sharks off Massachusetts.

在麻省標了大概20隻鯊魚，他的標幟有點故障

His tags didn't really work.

只知道標幟的地點

All he knows is where he tagged them,

和最後浮出來的位置

and where they popped off.

His tags popped off in the Caribbean,

結果他的標幟竟出現在加勒比海

甚至在巴西

and even in Brazil.

We thought basking sharks were temperate animals

我們以為姥鯊是溫帶動物

and lived in our latitudes,

只能在我們這裡的緯度生存

but in actual fact, they're obviously crossing the equator as well.

不過事實上，牠們很明顯也會到赤道地區

So very simple things like that,

所以我們就是企圖瞭解姥鯊的

we're trying to learn about basking sharks.

這些簡單的事情

我發現

One thing that I think is a very surprising and strange thing

有一件非常奇特的現象

is just how low the genetic diversity of sharks is.

就是鯊魚的基因多樣性很低

I'm not a geneticist, so I won't pretend to understand the genetics.

我不是基因學家，也沒有要假裝自己很懂基因學

這時候跟別人合作就很棒

And that's why it's great to have collaboration.

Whereas I'm a field person,

我擅長田野調查

I get panic attacks

如果要我在實驗室待好幾小時

if I have to spend too many hours in a lab with a white coat on.

我就會瘋掉

Take me away.

這時候就可以和擅長這塊的基因學家合作

So we can work with geneticists who understand that.

So when they looked at the genetics of basking sharks,

當他們觀察姥鯊的基因

就發現基因多樣性極低

they found that the diversity was incredibly low.

你看看第一條線

If you look at the first line, really,

就可以看到這些不同種類的鯊魚長得滿相近的

you can see that all these different shark species are all quite similar.

這大概就表示牠們都是鯊魚

I think this means they're all sharks

且來自相同的祖先

and they've come from a common ancestry.

如果觀察核苷酸多樣性

But if you look at nucleotide diversity,

which is more genetics that are passed on through the parents,

也就是由父母傳下來的基因

you see that basking sharks, if you look at the first study,

會發現姥鯊，看第一份報告

was order of magnitude less diverse even than other shark species.

多樣性

比其他鯊魚種類還低

You can see this work was only done in 2006.

這份研究在2006年完成

Before 2006, we had no idea of the genetic variability of basking sharks.

在2006年之前，我們對姥鯊的基因多樣性毫無概念

我們不知道牠們是否分散為不同的族群？

We had no idea: Did they distinguish into different populations?

那麼次族群又在哪裡？

Were there subpopulations?

And that's very important if you want to know

這是很重要的資訊

也就是動物的族群及現況

what the population size is, and the status of the animals.

So, Les Noble in Aberdeen kind of found this a bit unbelievable, really.

英國阿伯丁大學的諾柏

覺得這相當不可思議

So he did another study using microsatellites,

於是他做了另一項研究

並使用微衛星

微衛星更貴又更費時間

which is much more expensive, much more time-consuming,

and to his surprise, came up with almost identical results.

最後結果卻幾乎一模一樣

So it does seem to be that basking sharks, for some reason,

所以看起來

姥鯊的基因多樣性確實極低

have incredibly low diversity.

And it's thought maybe it was a genetic bottleneck,

也許這是一個瓶頸，一個基因上的瓶頸

可能在12,000年前

thought to have been 12,000 years ago,

造成了非常低的多樣性

and this has caused a very low diversity.

And yet, if you look at the whale shark,

不過你看豆腐鯊

which is the other plankton-eating large shark,

另一個以浮游生物為食的大型鯊魚

its diversity is much greater.

多樣性就高很多

So it doesn't really make sense at all.

這實在是沒道理

They found that there was no genetic differentiation

他們發現在世界上的姥鯊

沒有基因上的差別

between any of the world's oceans of basking sharks:

even though they're found throughout the world,

即使姥鯊分布在世界各地

you couldn't tell the difference, genetically,

在基因上卻沒有差別

from one from the Pacific, Atlantic, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa.

不管是大西洋、太平洋、紐西蘭、愛爾蘭或南非

牠們基本上都一樣

They all basically seem the same.

這也是相當驚人的發現，很令人感到意外

Which, again, is kind of surprising; you wouldn't expect that.

I don't understand or pretend to understand this;

我不懂，也不假裝懂

我想大部份的基因學家也感到不解

I suspect most geneticists don't either,

不過他們會產生數據

but they produce the numbers.

So you can actually estimate the population size

所以你可以根據基因多樣性

推算族群的數量

based on the diversity of the genetics.

羅斯荷澤計算出相當準確的數字

And Rus Hoelzel came up with an effective population size:

一共有8200隻

8,200 animals.

就這樣

That's it -- 8,000 animals in the world.

世界上就只有八千隻

You're thinking, "That's ridiculous. No way."

你一定會覺得「這太扯了，不可能」

So Les did a finer study,

不過諾柏做了更精確的研究

and he found out it came out about 9,000.

結果數字大概落在9000

使用不同的微衛星得到不同結果

Using different microsatellites gave the different results,

不過所有的研究平均出來--

but the mean of all these studies is about 5,000,

平均數為5000

我個人不相信這份報告結果

which I personally don't believe.

But then, I am a skeptic.

不過我這個人一向就會抱持懷疑的態度

But even if you toss a few numbers around,

但就算你把數字換一換

you're probably talking an effective population of about 20,000 animals.

有效的族群數字也大概在20,000隻

記不記得70年代和50年代

Do you remember how many they killed off Achill in the 70s and the 50s?

我們在阿基爾島殺了多少隻鯊魚？

So what it tells us, actually,

所以這個數據其實是要告訴我們

is that there's actually a risk of extinction of this species

這個種類面臨絕種的危機

because its population is so small.

因為牠們的族群很小

In fact, of those 20,000,

事實上，在那20,000當中，其中只有8000隻是母的

8,000 were thought to be females.

全世界就只有8000隻母姥鯊？

There's only 8,000 basking shark females in the world?

我不知道，我不相信

I don't know. I don't believe it.

問題在於

The problem with this is they were constrained with samples.

基因學家受困於樣本

他們沒有足夠的樣本

They didn't get enough samples

to really explore the genetics in enough detail.

來仔細

去研究這些基因

So, where do you get samples from for your genetic analysis?

那到底要從哪裡

去蒐集到需要的基因樣本呢？

Well, one obvious source is dead sharks --

一個滿明顯的來源就是死掉的鯊魚

沖上岸的死鯊魚

dead sharks, washed up.

愛爾蘭每年大概會有2-3隻死鯊魚被沖上岸

We might get two or three dead sharks washed up in Ireland a year,

假如我們幸運的話

if we're kind of lucky.

Another source would be fisheries' bycatch.

另一個來源就是漁業混獲

我們在海洋漂網中捕獲過蠻多條姥鯊的

We were getting quite a few caught in surface drift nets.

此活動現在已立法禁止，這對鯊魚是個好消息

That's banned now, and that'll be good news for the sharks.

還有一些是由魚網、拖網捕捉到的

And some are caught in nets, in trawls.

This is a shark that was actually landed in Howth just before Christmas --

這一條是在聖誕節都柏林的后斯地區非法捕到的

因為歐盟法律已禁止這種行為

illegally, because you're not allowed to do that under EU law --

在這之前，鯊魚肉事實上是以一公斤8歐元的價錢賣出

and was actually sold for eight euros a kilo as shark steak.

在牆上還會有食譜教你怎麼烹煮鯊魚煙

They even put a recipe up on the wall,

until they were told it was illegal.

這些人後來有被罰錢

They actually did get a fine for that.

那麼如果看這些研究報告

So if you look at all those studies I showed you,

全世界的樣本總數

the total number of samples worldwide

為86條

is 86, at present.

可見這是非常重要的工作

So it's very important work,

也可以從中發現很重要的問題

and they can ask some really good questions,

這些報告能顯示族群大小

and tell us about population size and subpopulations and structure,

亞群數量及其結構

but they're constrained by lack of samples.

不過因樣本數的不足而導致研究受限制

我們出海標鯊魚時

When we were out tagging our sharks --

this is how we tagged them on the front of a RIB, get in there fast --

這是我們標鯊魚肋骨的方法-動作迅速-

有時候鯊魚也會反抗

occasionally, the sharks do react.

有一次我們在多尼戈爾的馬林角地區

On one occasion, when we were up in Malin Head in Donegal,

一隻鯊魚用牠的尾鰭衝撞船的側身

the shark smacked the side of the boat with his tail,

more, I think, in startle to the fact that a boat came near it,

我想是因為船離牠很近而受驚

rather than the tag going in.

而不是因為我們要作標幟

但那沒關係，只不過是淋溼了而已

And that was fine. We got wet. No problem.

還有一次我跟艾密特

And then when myself and Emmett got back to Malin Head, to the pier,

要回馬林頭碼頭

我注意到船前有黑色的黏液

I noticed some black slime on the front of the boat.

I used to spend a lot of time on commercial fishing boats,

這時我就想起-我以前待過漁船-

我記得漁夫告訴我

and I remember fishermen saying

they can tell when a basking shark has been caught in a net,

只要魚網裡有姥鯊

就會留下黑色的黏液

because it leaves a black slime behind.

所以我就心想那一定是姥鯊留下來的黏液

So that must have come from the shark.

我們一直想

Now, we had an interest in getting tissue samples for genetics

取得組織樣本來作基因研究

because we knew they were very valuable.

因為這些樣本非常寶貴

We would use conventional methods;

我們會用傳統方法

I have a crossbow -- you see it in my hand there,

我會拿一個石弓，在這裡會看到我手中的石弓

which we use to sample whales and dolphins for genetic studies as well.

我們也會用這個來取鯨魚及海豚樣本來作基因研究

我就試了那個方法，試遍各種方法

So I tried that, I tried many techniques.

但結果石弓都斷了

All it was doing was breaking my arrows,

因為鯊魚的皮太硬

because the shark's skin is just so strong.

想用這種方法取樣本是不可能的

There was no way we were going to get a sample from that.

那是行不通的

That wasn't going to work.

So when I saw the black slime on the bow of the boat,

所以當我看到船前的黑色黏液

I thought, "If you take what you're given in this world ..."

我就想「何不拿這個現成的東西...」

So I scraped it off.

我就把黏液刮下來

I had a little tube with alcohol in it to send to the geneticists.

然後跟酒精一起裝在一個小試管裡送去給基因學家

我把黏液刮下送去阿伯丁

So I scraped the slime off and sent it to Aberdeen,

我就說「可以試試這個」

and said, "You might try that."

於是他們研究好幾個月

And they sat on it for months.

因為我們在曼島有個會議

It was only because we had a conference on the Isle of Man.

我就不斷寄信問

But I kept emailing Les, saying,

「你有抽空檢查我的黏液了嗎？」

"Have you had a chance to look at my slime?"

他就會敷衍回答「有啦，晚一點」

And he was like, "Yeah, yeah. Later."

後來他就著手去做了

He thought he'd better do it because I never met him before;

因為我們未曾見面

he might lose face if he hadn't done the thing I sent him.

所以如果沒有幫我看就很丟臉

結果他竟然在黏液中真的找到基因了

And he was amazed that they actually got DNA from the slime.

於是就把基因放大拿去作實驗

They amplified it and they tested it,

實驗結果發現這就是姥鯊的基因

and they found, yes, this was actually basking shark DNA,

而且是從黏液中取得的

which was got from the slime.

於是他就非常興奮

So he was very excited.

後來就有「賽門的鯊魚黏液」之稱

It became known as "Simon's shark slime."

我當時就想「我搞不好可以從這裡出發」

And I thought, "Hey, you know, I can build on this."

我就想我們何不出去

So we thought, OK, we're going to try to get out and get some slime.

蒐集夠多黏液

所以我們標了3500個衛星標

So having spent three-and-a-half thousand on satellite tags ...

我又投資了7.95元在這個上面-連價錢都還在上面-

I then thought I'd invest 7.95 -- the price is still on it --

就在基爾拉什當地的五金行

in my local hardware store in Kilrush

for a mop handle,

買了這個拖把柄

and even less money on some oven cleaners.

甚至花更少的錢買一些烤箱清潔刷

And I wrapped the oven cleaner around the edge of the mop handle

我就把清潔刷包在拖把柄的尾端

就迫不及待地

and ...

(Laughter)

要找到機會

I was desperate to have an opportunity to get some sharks.

標鯊魚

And this was into August now, and normally sharks peak in June, July,

當時正要進入八月

鯊魚出現的高峰通常在六、七月

其他時間都很少看到

and you rarely see them, or rarely can be in the right place

八月就很難抓準鯊魚出沒的時間地點

to find sharks into August.

We were desperate, so we rushed out to the Blaskets

所以我們相當急迫

一聽到有鯊魚出沒就匆忙趕到布拉斯克島

as soon as we heard there were sharks there,

and managed to find some sharks.

找到那些鯊魚

So by just rubbing the mop handle down the shark

所以我們只不過是把拖把柄

摩擦這些在船下游動的鯊魚

as it swam under the boat --

you see a shark running under the boat here --

這邊可以看到船底下有鯊魚在那邊游

我們就成功取得黏液

we managed to collect slime.

And here it is.

就是這個

Look at that lovely black shark slime.

非常美妙的黑色鯊魚黏液

And in about half an hour, we got five samples.

在半小時內

我們蒐集了五個樣本，五個不同鯊魚的樣本

Five individual sharks were sampled

而且是利用賽門的鯊魚黏液樣本系統

using Simon's Shark Slime Sampling System.

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

(Applause)

（掌聲）

我在愛爾蘭研究鯨魚和海豚已有20年之久

I've been working on whales and dolphins in Ireland for 20 years now,

牠們算是比較戲劇化的種類

and they're a bit more dramatic.

各位大概看過座頭鯨的精彩鏡頭

You probably saw the humpback whale footage

是我們一、兩個月前在韋克斯福德郡拍到的

we got a month or two ago off County Wexford.

我們總是想在這世界上留名

And you always think you might have some legacy

you can leave the world behind,

而我一直在擔心這些座頭鯨

and I was thinking of humpback whales breaching and dolphins.

和海豚遭殺害

不過有時候就是會有一些小東西自動送上門來

But hey -- sometimes these things are sent to you

你就只能乖乖接收了

and you just have to take them when they come.

這可能會是我遺留給這世界的遺產吧

So this is possibly going to be my legacy --

賽門的鯊魚黏液

Simon's Shark Slime.

而我們今年籌得更多資金

We got more money this year

去蒐集更多樣本

to carry on collecting more and more samples.

One thing that is very useful is that we use a pole camera --

有個非常有用的東西

我們使用高竿攝影-這是我的同事裘安拿著高竿攝影機-

this is my colleague, Joanne, with a pole camera --

就可以從鯊魚下方觀察牠們

where you can look underneath the shark.

雄姥鯊有鰭腳（生殖器官）

What you're trying to look at is, the males have claspers,

是一個長在姥鯊背後的垂狀物

which kind of dangle out behind the back of the shark.

So you can quite easily tell the gender of the shark.

這樣就可以輕易分辨姥鯊的性別

在取得樣本前

If we can tell the gender of the shark before we sample it,

一旦先辨認出性別

我們就可以告訴基因學家，這樣本的雌雄

we can tell the geneticist this was taken from a male or a female.

因為目前基因學家是無法從基因中

Because in the moment, they have no way, genetically,

辨認出雌雄

of telling the difference between a male and a female,

這是非常令人驚訝的消息

which I find staggering,

因為他們不知道要去找哪些引子

because they don't know what primers to look for.

能分辨出鯊魚的性別

Being able to tell the gender of a shark

對立法禁止

is very important for things like policing the trade

姥鯊及其他種類的鯊魚交易

in basking shark and other species through the sightings,

是非常重要的

因為任何鯊魚的買賣都是違法的

because it is illegal to trade in these sharks.

但市場上仍有鯊魚買賣行為

And they are caught and are on the market.

所以身為田野生物學家

So as a field biologist,

you just want to get encounters with these animals,

就是要和這些動物接觸

並盡全力研究牠們

and learn as much as you can.

They're often quite brief, they're often very seasonally constrained.

牠們受季節影響出現時間很短

所以就更要把握機會作研究

You just want to learn as much as you can as soon as you can.

這是非常美妙的事情

But isn't it fantastic

that you can then offer these samples and opportunities

我們可以提供這些樣本

給基因學家等人

to other disciplines, such as the geneticists,

這些學者可以從中受益無窮

who can gain so much more from that.

So as I said, these things are sent to you in strange ways.

所以就像我稍早所說的

有時候機會會自動上門來，你就要把握機會

Grab them while you can.

I'll take that as my scientific legacy.

我會把這個當作我的科學遺產

Hopefully, I might get something a bit more dramatic and romantic

不過也希望在我死前可以得到更戲劇化或更浪漫的東西

before I die.

在這之前，就謝謝各位

But for the time being, thank you for that.

記得多關注鯊魚

And keep an eye out for sharks.

If you're more interested, we have a basking shark website now set up.

如果有興趣的話，我們也剛架了一個關於姥鯊的網站

謝謝各位的聆聽

So thank you and thank you for listening.

(Applause)

（掌聲）