Fabien Cousteau: What I learned from spending 31 days underwater

譯者: Regina Chu 審譯者: Marssi Draw

I have a confession to make.

我必須向你們坦白一件事。

I am addicted to adventure,

我對冒險成癮，

and as a young boy,

打從還是個小男孩，

I would rather look outside the window

我就寧可看看窗外

at the birds in the trees and the sky

樹上的小鳥及天空，

than looking at that two-dimensional

也不想看兩度空間的黑板，

chalky blackboard where time stands still

那裡時間像靜止般，

and even sometimes dies.

有時甚至像死了一樣。

My teachers thought there was something wrong

我的老師認為我有問題，

with me because I wasn't paying attention in class.

因為我上課都不專心。

They didn't find anything specifically wrong with me,

他們沒找出我到底哪裡有問題，

other than being slightly dyslexic because I'm a lefty.

除了有一點閱讀障礙， 因為我是左撇子。

But they didn't test for curiosity.

但是他們沒有測驗好奇心。

Curiosity, to me,

好奇心，對我而言，

is about our connection

是我們與世界，

with the world, with the universe.

與天地萬物的連結。

It's about seeing what's around that next coral head

它就是去看那塊珊瑚丘旁邊有什麼，

or what's around that next tree,

或那棵樹旁邊有什麼，

and learning more not only about our environment

及學習到更多不僅是關於環境

but about ourselves.

還有關於我們本身的東西。

Now, my dream of dreams,

那麼，我夢想中的夢想，

I want to go explore the oceans of Mars,

我想去火星上的海洋探險，

but until we can go there,

但在我們能去之前，

I think the oceans still hold

我想地球的海洋仍然保有

quite a few secrets.

很多秘密。

As a matter of fact,

事實上，

if you take our planet as the oasis in space that it is

如果你把我們的地球當做 太空中的綠洲，它的確也是，

and dissect it into a living space,

然後分出可居住空間，

the ocean represents over 3.4 billion

海洋占了超過 34 億

cubic kilometers of volume, within which

立方公里的體積，

我們卻只探索了不到百分之五。

we've explored less than five percent.

And I look at this, and I go, well,

我看著這個，然後我想，嗯，

there are tools to go deeper, longer and further:

有很多工具讓我們能潛得 更深、更久及更遠：

submarines, ROVs, even Scuba diving.

潛水艇、遙控水下載具、甚至是潛水設備。

But if we're going to explore the final frontier

但是如果我們要探索地球上

最後一塊未知領域， 我們得住在那裡。

on this planet, we need to live there.

We need to build a log cabin, if you will,

如果可以，我們得蓋一座木屋

at the bottom of the sea.

在海洋底部。

And so there was a great curiosity in my soul

所以我靈魂中有強大的好奇心，

when I went to go visit a TED [Prize winner]

在我去拜訪一位 TED 大獎得主時，

by the name of Dr. Sylvia Earle.

她是席薇亞·厄爾博士。

Maybe you've heard of her.

你們大概聽過她。

Two years ago, she was staked out

二年前，她堅守在

at the last undersea marine laboratory

最後一個海底的海洋實驗室，

to try and save it,

試著要挽救它，

to try and petition

也試著替我們請願

for us not to scrap it

不要拆毀它，

and bring it back on land.

並將它運回陸地上。

We've only had about a dozen or so

我們只有大約一打左右的

scientific labs at the bottom of the sea.

科學實驗室在海底。

There's only one left in the world:

現在全世界只剩下一個了：

it's nine miles offshore

它離岸九哩遠，

and 65 feet down.

在 65 呎深的地方。

It's called Aquarius.

它叫寶瓶座。

Aquarius, in some fashion,

寶瓶座從某些方面看，

is a dinosaur,

就像恐龍，

an ancient robot chained to the bottom,

一個年代久遠的機器人 鏈接著海底

this Leviathan.

這個鱷魚怪物。 （譯註：又稱利維坦，聖經中的海底怪物）

In other ways, it's a legacy.

但另一方面，它又是經典。

And so with that visit, I realized that my time is short

所以那次拜訪讓我領悟到 我的時間緊迫，

if I wanted to experience

如果我想體驗

what it was like to become an aquanaut.

成為海底觀察員是什麼感覺。

When we swam towards this after many

我們游泳接近這個居住艙，

moons of torture and two years of preparation,

當時才結束幾個月的折磨 及兩年的準備，

this habitat waiting to invite us

這個居住艙等著邀請我們，

was like a new home.

就像我們的新家一般。

And the point of going down to

我們要下去並生活在

and living at this habitat was not to stay inside.

這個居住艙的目的 不是待在裡面就好。

It wasn't about living at something the size of a school bus.

不是為了要生活在 校車般大小的空間裡，

It was about giving us the luxury of time

而是為了給我們充裕的時間

outside to wander, to explore,

在外面漫遊、探索，

to understand more about this oceanic final frontier.

及更加瞭解這塊 海洋的最後未知領域。

We had megafauna come and visit us.

我們有大型動物群來拜訪我們。

This spotted eagle ray is a fairly common sight in the oceans.

這種雪花鴨嘴燕魟在海裡還挺常見。

But why this is so important,

但是為什麼這很重要？

why this picture is up,

為什麼要放這張相片？

is because this particular animal brought his friends around,

因為這種特殊的動物 呼朋引伴來看我們，

and instead of being the pelagic animals that they were,

而且牠們拋棄了深海動物的身分，

they started getting curious about us,

牠們開始對我們起了好奇心，

these new strangers that were moving into the neighborhood,

就是我們這些剛剛搬來的新陌生人，

doing things with plankton.

不知道跟浮游生物一起在搞什麼。

We were studying all sorts of animals and critters,

我們在研究各式的動物和怪物，

and they got closer and closer to us,

而且牠們離我們愈來愈近，

and because of the luxury of time,

就是因為有充裕的時間，

these animals, these residents of the coral reef,

這些動物，這些住在珊瑚礁的居民，

were starting to get used to us,

開始習慣了我們，

and these pelagics that normal travel through stopped.

而且這些通常穿來穿去的 深海動物都停下來了。

This particular animal actually circled

這隻特殊的動物其實還繞著我們轉，

for 31 full days during our mission.

在我們的任務期間， 轉了整整 31 天。

So mission 31 wasn't so much

所以任務 31 並不是

about breaking records.

為了要打破紀錄，

It was about that human-ocean connection.

而是為了人類與海洋的連結。

Because of the luxury of time, we were able

因為有充裕的時間，我們能研究動物，

to study animals such as sharks and grouper

像鯊魚及石斑魚群集在一起，

in aggregations that we've never seen before.

這種現象前所未見。

It's like seeing dogs and cats behaving well together.

這就好像看到狗和貓相處良好一般。

Even being able to commune with animals

甚至還能與比我們

that are much larger than us,

大很多的動物生活在一起，

such as this endangered goliath grouper

譬如這種瀕臨絕種的伊氏石斑魚，

who only still resides in the Florida Keys.

仍只棲息在佛羅里達礁島群。

Of course, just like any neighbor,

當然，就像任何鄰居，

after a while, if they get tired,

過一會兒，如果牠們煩了，

the goliath grouper barks at us,

伊氏石斑魚就對我們咆哮，

and this bark is so powerful

而且咆哮地很大聲，

that it actually stuns its prey before it aspirates it all

其實會震昏獵物，

within a split second.

然後以迅雷不及掩耳的速度 把獵物吸入。

For us, it's just telling us to go back

對我們， 牠只是告訴我們回去居住艙，

into the habitat and leave them alone.

不要打攪牠們。

Now, this wasn't just about adventure.

那麼，這不只是冒險而已。

There was actually a serious note to it.

這其實還有很嚴肅的意義。

We did a lot of science, and again, because of the luxury of time,

我們作很多科學，再強調一次， 因為有很充裕的時間，

we were able to do over three years of science

我們能把原本要超過三年 才作得出的科學

in 31 days.

在 31 天內作完。

In this particular case, we were using a PAM,

在這個特別的實例，我們用一組 PAM，

or, let me just see if I can get this straight,

全名是，讓我看看能不能說對，

a Pulse Amplitude Modulated Fluorometer.

脈波振幅調變螢光計。

And our scientists from FIU, MIT,

我們從佛羅里達國際大學、 麻省理工學院

and from Northeastern

及東北大學來的科學家

were able to get a gauge for what coral reefs do

能估算珊瑚礁

when we're not around.

在我們遠離時的動態。

The Pulse Amplitude Modulated Fluorometer, or PAM,

脈波振幅調變螢光計， 或簡稱 PAM，

gauges the fluorescence of corals

能量測珊瑚發出的螢光，

as it pertains to pollutants in the water

因為它與水中的汙染物相關，

as well as climate change-related issues.

也與氣候變化有關的問題相關。

We used all sorts of other cutting-edge tools,

我們還使用各種不同的先進儀器，

such as this sonde, or what I like to call

例如這個探測器，

the sponge proctologist, whereby the sonde

我喜歡稱它為海綿的肛門大夫，

這個探測器本身是測量代謝率的，

itself tests for metabolism rates

in what in this particular case is a barrel sponge,

在這裡看到的是測桶狀海綿代謝率，

or the redwoods of the [ocean].

又稱為海底紅杉。

And this gives us a much better gauge

這讓我們能更準確地測出

of what's happening underwater

水面下到底發生了什麼事，

with regard to climate change-related issues,

在與氣候變遷有關的問題發生時，

and how the dynamics of that

及其動態如何

affect us here on land.

影響在陸地上的我們。

And finally, we looked at predator-prey behavior.

最後，我們還看 捕食者和被食者的行為。

And predator-prey behavior is an interesting thing,

捕食者和被食者的行為很有趣，

because as we take away some of the predators

因為如果我們取走一些

世界各地珊瑚礁群上的捕食者，

on these coral reefs around the world,

the prey, or the forage fish, act very differently.

這些稱為糧粖魚的被食者 行為會大大不同。

What we realized is

我們瞭解到

not only do they stop taking care of the reef,

牠們不但會停止照顧珊瑚礁，

darting in, grabbing a little bit of algae

就是鑽進去抓一點點海藻

and going back into their homes,

然後回家，

they start spreading out and disappearing

牠們還會開始四散，

from those particular coral reefs.

在這些特別的珊瑚礁裡消失。

Well, within that 31 days,

嗯，在那 31 天，

we were able to generate over 10 scientific papers

我們產出的資料

能針對上述每一項專題 寫出超過十篇的科學論文。

on each one of these topics.

But the point of adventure is not only to learn,

但是冒險的目的不只是為了學習，

it's to be able to share that knowledge with the world,

還能將知識分享給全世界，

and with that, thanks to a couple of engineers at MIT,

在這一點上，就要謝謝 麻省理工的兩位工程師，

we were able to use a prototype camera called the Edgertronic

我們才能使用一種稱為 愛吉 (Edgertronic) 的原型相機

to capture slow-motion video,

來捕捉慢動作影像，

up to 20,000 frames per second

每秒可顯示高達二萬影格 (fps)，

in a little box

這個小小的盒子

that's worth 3,000 dollars.

值三千美元。

It's available to every one of us.

現在大家都能買到。

And that particular camera gives us an insight

那個特別的相機讓我們仔細觀察

into what fairly common animals do

這些還挺常見的動物在做什麼，

but we can't even see it in the blink of an eye.

但我們平常卻無法用肉眼看到。

Let me show you a quick video

讓我播一段短片

of what this camera does.

看看這台相機能做什麼。

You can see the silky bubble come out

你能看見細小的泡沫

of our hard hats.

從我們的鋼盔中冒出。

It gives us an insight

它讓我們仔細觀察

into some of the animals that we were sitting

一些就在我們身邊的動物

right next to for 31 days

整整 31 天，

and never normally would have paid attention to,

而這些動物我們平常絕看不上眼，

such as hermit crabs.

例如寄居蟹。

Now, using a cutting-edge piece of technology

現在，要使用最新科技產品，

that's not really meant for the oceans

卻不是專為海洋工作設計的，

is not always easy.

並不太容易。

We sometimes had to put the camera upside down,

我們有時候必須把相機顛倒放，

cordon it back to the lab,

密封帶回實驗室，

and actually man the trigger

並真的找人看守著

from the lab itself.

實驗室裡的開關。

But what this gives us

但是這讓我們能

is the foresight to look at and analyze

預先查看及分析

in scientific and engineering terms

科學及工程學上的專有名詞，

some of the most amazing behavior

如何形容一些非常奇妙的行為，

that the human eye just can't pick up,

是人眼不能看見的，

such as this manta shrimp

例如這隻瀨尿蝦

trying to catch its prey,

正想要抓獵物，

within about .3 seconds.

時間不到 0.3 秒。

That punch is as strong as a .22 caliber bullet,

那一擊的力道強如一顆口徑 .22 子彈，

and if you ever try to catch a bullet

如果你曾嘗試以肉眼抓住一顆

in mid-flight with your eye, impossible.

飛行中的子彈，你知道那不可能。

But now we can see things

但是現在我們可以看到

such as these Christmas tree worms

像是這些聖誕樹管蟲

pulling in and fanning out

收進去再扇形展開的景象，

in a way that the eye just can't capture,

肉眼就是無法捕捉，

or in this case,

或是像這個例子，

a fish throwing up grains of sand.

一條魚吐出沙礫。

This is an actual sailfin goby,

這是四眼蝦虎的本尊，

and if you look at it in real time,

如果你當場觀察牠，

it actually doesn't even show its fanning motion

你甚至看不到牠展扇的動作，

because it's so quick.

因為太快了。

One of the most precious gifts that we had underwater

我們在水下最珍貴的禮物

is that we had WiFi,

是能無線上網，

and for 31 days straight we were able to connect

整整 31 天我們都能與世界連線，

with the world in real time from the bottom of the sea

即時從海底傳輸

and share all of these experiences.

並分享這些經驗。

Quite literally right there

真的可以說

I am Skyping in the classroom

我是從教室

with one of the six continents

與六大洲

and some of the 70,000 students that we connected

及七萬名學生即時通訊，

every single day to some of these experiences.

我們每天都用視訊分享這些經驗。

As a matter of fact, I'm showing a picture that I took

事實上，我要展示一張相片，

with my smartphone from underwater

是我用智慧型手機在水下拍的，

of a goliath grouper laying on the bottom.

一條鞍帶石斑魚躺在海底。

We had never seen that before.

我們之前從沒看過。

And I dream of the day

我夢想著有一天

that we have underwater cities,

我們會有水下都市，

and maybe, just maybe, if we push the boundaries

也許，只是也許，如果我們擴展

冒險及知識的疆界，

of adventure and knowledge,

and we share that knowledge with others out there,

而且我們與別人分享那些知識，

we can solve all sorts of problems.

我們就能解決所有的問題。

My grandfather used to say,

我的祖父常這麼說：

"People protect what they love."

「人們保護其心所愛。」

My father, "How can people protect

我的父親則說：「人要如何保護

what they don't understand?"

他們不懂的事？」

And I've thought about this my whole life.

我畢生都在思考這個問題。

Nothing is impossible.

凡事都有可能。

We need to dream, we need to be creative,

我們必須夢想，我們必須有創造力，

and we all need to have an adventure

我們也都必須冒險，

in order to create miracles in the darkest of times.

才能在最黑暗的時期創造奇蹟。

And whether it's about climate change

無論這是不是與氣候變遷有關，

or eradicating poverty

或是要根除貧窮，

or giving back to future generations

或是要還給未來的子孫

what we've taken for granted,

我們視為理所當然的，

it's about adventure.

這其實是冒險。

And who knows, maybe there will be underwater cities,

誰知道呢？說不定就會有水下都市，

and maybe some of you

說不定你們之中，

will become the future aquanauts.

會成為未來的海底觀察員。

Thank you very much.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）