Paul Snelgrove: A census of the ocean

譯者: Joan Liu 審譯者: Ya-Chun Chuang

The oceans cover some 70 percent of our planet.

海洋覆蓋地球表面七成多。

And I think Arthur C. Clarke probably had it right

而且我認為亞瑟·克拉克 極可能是對的

when he said that perhaps we ought to call our planet

他說也許我們應該叫地球

Planet Ocean.

「海行星」

And the oceans are hugely productive,

海洋是非常具有生產力的，

as you can see by the satellite image

就像你們可以在這個衛星圖看到的光合作用，

of photosynthesis, the production of new life.

也就是生命新生。

In fact, the oceans produce half of the new life every day on Earth

事實上，地球每天的新生命超過一半是來自海洋，

as well as about half the oxygen that we breathe.

海洋亦產出約我們吸進氧氣的一半。

In addition to that, it harbors a lot of the biodiversity on Earth,

此外，海洋中還包含很多各式各樣的生物，

and much of it we don't know about.

且很多生物仍然是不為我們所知的。

But I'll tell you some of that today.

但我今天會告訴你們其中的一部分。

That also doesn't even get into the whole protein extraction

那甚至不包括我們從海洋裡所做的整個

that we do from the ocean.

蛋白質萃取部份。

That's about 10 percent of our global needs

那大約是全球需求的百分之十，

and 100 percent of some island nations.

且是某些海島國家需求的百分之百。

If you were to descend

如果你深入

into the 95 percent of the biosphere that's livable,

95%生物存活的地方，

it would quickly become pitch black,

你會馬上發現那裡一片漆黑，

interrupted only by pinpoints of light

只有一些從螢光生物身上

from bioluminescent organisms.

所發出的微弱光芒。

And if you turn the lights on,

如果你把燈打開，

you might periodically see spectacular organisms swim by,

你有時也許可以看到一些很壯觀的生物游過，

because those are the denizens of the deep,

因為那些是處在深處的居住者

the things that live in the deep ocean.

屬於住在深海的生物。

And eventually, the deep sea floor would come into view.

最後，海底會進入眼簾。

This type of habitat covers more of the Earth's surface

這種棲地在地球表面的面積

than all other habitats combined.

比任何其它棲地加起來還多。

And yet, we know more about the surface of the Moon and about Mars

直到目前為止，我們瞭解月球和火星表面

than we do about this habitat,

比我們瞭解這種棲地還多。

despite the fact that we have yet to extract

即使我們仍未從那些星球上取得

a gram of food, a breath of oxygen or a drop of water

任何一份食物、一口氧氣，

from those bodies.

或是一滴水。

And so 10 years ago,

所以十年前，

an international program began called the Census of Marine Life,

一個叫作「海底生物調查」的全球性研究開始了，

which set out to try and improve our understanding

這個研究試圖加深我們對

of life in the global oceans.

地球海洋生物的瞭解。

It involved 17 different projects around the world.

這個計畫包括了17個子計畫。

As you can see, these are the footprints of the different projects.

如你所見，這是各個計畫的分布圖。

And I hope you'll appreciate the level of global coverage

我希望你們可以了解這個研究

that it managed to achieve.

涵蓋的範圍之廣。

It all began when two scientists, Fred Grassle and Jesse Ausubel,

這一切都從Fred Grassle和Jesse Ausubel這兩個科學家

met in Woods Hole, Massachusetts

在麻省海洋機構的Woods Hole

where both were guests at the famed oceanographic institute.

做客時相遇開始的，

And Fred was lamenting the state of marine biodiversity

當Fred正在感歎海洋生物

and the fact that it was in trouble and nothing was being done about it.

事實上已經面臨危機而且沒有任何實行的解決措施時。

Well, from that discussion grew this program

這個計畫就是從那次討論開始實行

that involved 2,700 scientists

包含了來自全球超過

from more than 80 countries around the world

80個國家的2,700個科學家，

who engaged in 540 ocean expeditions

研究540個海域，

at a combined cost of 650 million dollars

經費超過六億五千萬元，

to study the distribution, diversity and abundance

來研究全球海裡生物的分布、

of life in the global ocean.

多樣性、和豐富性。

And so what did we find?

所以我們找到什麼呢？

We found spectacular new species,

我們發現許多令人嘆為觀止的新物種，

the most beautiful and visually stunning things everywhere we looked --

比我們看過的任何生物都更美麗驚艷。

from the shoreline to the abyss,

從海岸線到深海，

form microbes all the way up to fish and everything in between.

包含從微生物一路到魚類等。

And the limiting step here wasn't the unknown diversity of life,

而這之中的限速步驟並不是未知的生物多樣性，

but rather the taxonomic specialists

而是分類學家

who can identify and catalog these species

試圖鑑定並分類這些物種，

that became the limiting step.

這才是限速步驟。

They, in fact, are an endangered species themselves.

他們，事實上，就是一種面臨絕種的物種。

There are actually four to five new species

每天事實上大約有四到五個新物種

described everyday for the oceans.

在海洋中被發現。

And as I say, it could be a much larger number.

如我所說的，還可以是個更大的數字。

Now, I come from Newfoundland in Canada --

我來自加拿大的紐芬蘭，

It's an island off the east coast of that continent --

那是一個位於大陸東邊海岸的島嶼，

where we experienced one of the worst fishing disasters

也是我們的歷史上其中一個遭遇過

in human history.

嚴重濫捕的地方。

And so this photograph shows a small boy next to a codfish.

可以看到這張照片有個小男孩在一條鱈魚旁邊。

It's around 1900.

大約是19世紀左右。

Now, when I was a boy of about his age,

當我跟這個小男孩大概一樣大的時候，

I would go out fishing with my grandfather

我會跟我祖父去釣魚，

and we would catch fish about half that size.

然後我們會抓到只有這張照片尺寸一半的魚。

And I thought that was the norm,

而我當時認為那是很正常的，

because I had never seen fish like this.

因為我從來沒有看過這樣大的魚。

If you were to go out there today, 20 years after this fishery collapsed,

在漁業瓦解二十年後的今天，如果你再去釣魚，

if you could catch a fish, which would be a bit of a challenge,

如果你可以順利抓到一隻魚，這是有點挑戰的，

it would be half that size still.

那隻魚的大小也會是我當時釣魚的一半。

So what we're experiencing is something called shifting baselines.

所以我們正在經歷的是一個叫做變換底線的過程。

Our expectations of what the oceans can produce

我們期待在海裡可以產生的東西

is something that we don't really appreciate

是一個我們無法真正體會的事情，

because we haven't seen it in our lifetimes.

因為我們從未在我們的一生中看過。

Now most of us, and I would say me included,

現在大部份的人們，也包括我，

think that human exploitation of the oceans

會認為人類對海洋的浩劫

really only became very serious

大約是在過去50年、100年或更早

in the last 50 to, perhaps, 100 years or so.

才開始嚴重起來的。

The census actually tried to look back in time,

這個調查試圖利用所有能找到的資訊

using every source of information they could get their hands on.

來回溯過去的時間點。

And so anything from restaurant menus

因此他們從餐廳菜單

to monastery records to ships' logs

到修道院的船行紀錄，

to see what the oceans looked like.

來瞭解當時海洋的情形。

Because science data really goes back

因為科學數據大部分至多回溯到

to, at best, World War II, for the most part.

第二次世界大戰。

And so what they found, in fact,

而他們發現事實上

is that exploitation really began heavily with the Romans.

從羅馬時期漁業濫捕就開始嚴重了。

And so at that time, of course, there was no refrigeration.

在那個年代，冰箱還不存在。

So fishermen could only catch

所以漁人只會抓

what they could either eat or sell that day.

他們當天可以賣掉或吃掉的量。

But the Romans developed salting.

但羅馬人發明出醃漬法。

And with salting,

有了醃漬法，

it became possible to store fish and to transport it long distances.

存放及長途漁獲運輸變成可行了。

And so began industrial fishing.

因此開啟了工業漁業。

And so these are the sorts of extrapolations that we have

這些是我們目前的推斷，

of what sort of loss we've had

根據早期人類對海洋的衝擊

relative to pre-human impacts on the ocean.

牽連到我們現在的損失。

They range from 65 to 98 percent

他們將百分之65到98的受到危害的

for these major groups of organisms,

主要生物族群

as shown in the dark blue bars.

用深藍色長條顯示。

Now for those species the we managed to leave alone, that we protect --

然後那些我們已經開始維護的物種，

for example, marine mammals in recent years and sea birds --

以近年來的海洋哺乳動物和海鳥來說，

there is some recovery.

開始有復原的跡象。

So it's not all hopeless.

所以也不是完全沒有希望。

But for the most part, we've gone from salting to exhausting.

但其他絕大部份，我們已經歷了大量醃漬到資源枯竭。

Now this other line of evidence is a really interesting one.

現在另一個證據是非常有趣的。

It's from trophy fish caught off the coast of Florida.

這是在佛羅里達海岸捕捉到的漁獲。

And so this is a photograph from the 1950s.

這是1950年代的照片。

I want you to notice the scale on the slide,

我要你們注意旁邊的比例尺，

because when you see the same picture from the 1980s,

因為當我們看1980年代的相同照片時，

we see the fish are much smaller

我們可以看到魚明顯地變小，

and we're also seeing a change

且我們也看到

in terms of the composition of those fish.

魚的結構有些不同。

By 2007, the catch was actually laughable

到了2007，這些漁獲的大小

in terms of the size for a trophy fish.

已經有點可笑了。

But this is no laughing matter.

但這並不是件好笑的事。

The oceans have lost a lot of their productivity

海洋已經喪失了很大部份的生產力，

and we're responsible for it.

且我們得為此負責。

So what's left? Actually quite a lot.

接下來談什麼？事實上還有很多可以聊。

There's a lot of exciting things, and I'm going to tell you a little bit about them.

而且我要來跟你們聊一點關於這些計畫的趣事。

And I want to start with a bit on technology,

我要從科技面來開始談，

because, of course, this is a TED Conference

因為這是TED會議，

and you want to hear something on technology.

你們自然會想要聽到一些關於科技的東西。

So one of the tools that we use to sample the deep ocean

我們用來採集深海樣本

are remotely operated vehicles.

的其中一種工具是遙控汽車。

So these are tethered vehicles we lower down to the sea floor

我們將這些綁在一起的運載工具降到海床，

where they're our eyes and our hands for working on the sea bottom.

讓他們成為我們在海底工作的雙眼和雙手。

So a couple of years ago, I was supposed to go on an oceanographic cruise

像幾年前，我原本要去一趟海洋地質之旅，

and I couldn't go because of a scheduling conflict.

但因為時間上調度的問題無法參加。

But through a satellite link I was able to sit at my study at home

但透過一個衛星連結，我可以坐在我家書房繼續我的研究。

with my dog curled up at my feet, a cup of tea in my hand,

我的狗就盤在我的腳邊，手上還拿著一杯茶，

and I could tell the pilot, "I want a sample right there."

跟艦長說：「我要這裡的樣本。」

And that's exactly what the pilot did for me.

艦長就會完全照做。

That's the sort of technology that's available today

這是現今才有的科技，

that really wasn't available even a decade ago.

這些科技在十年前甚至還不存在。

So it allows us to sample these amazing habitats

所以這讓我們可以在這些離海面和光源

that are very far from the surface

很遠卻令人驚艷的棲地

and very far from light.

來採集樣本。

And so one of the tools that we can use to sample the oceans

其中一個我們可以用來採集樣本的工具是

is acoustics, or sound waves.

聲音，也就是聲波。

And the advantage of sound waves

聲波的優點是

is that they actually pass well through water, unlike light.

他們能輕易透過水傳聲, 不像光一樣。

And so we can send out sound waves,

所以我們可以發射聲波，

they bounce off objects like fish and are reflected back.

聲波會碰到像魚之類的生物反射回來。

And so in this example, a census scientist took out two ships.

所以在這個例子裡，一個調查員帶了兩艘船出去。

One would send out sound waves that would bounce back.

第一艘船會發射聲波

They would be received by a second ship,

之後反射回來的聲波會被第二艘船接收，

and that would give us very precise estimates, in this case,

這會給我們很精準的估計值，在這個例子中

of 250 billion herring

兩千五百億隻鯡魚

in a period of about a minute.

在一分鐘內就被偵測出來

And that's an area about the size of Manhattan Island.

那大概有一個曼哈頓島這麼大。

And to be able to do that is a tremendous fisheries tool,

能這麼做對漁業來說是很有用，

because knowing how many fish are there is really critical.

因為知道有多少魚是非常重要的。

We can also use satellite tags

我們也可以用衛星定位

to track animals as they move through the oceans.

來追蹤在海裡移動的動物。

And so for animals that come to the surface to breathe,

也可用在那些會到水面上呼吸的動物，

such as this elephant seal,

例如這隻海象，

it's an opportunity to send data back to shore

衛星定位可以將資料回傳給岸上

and tell us where exactly it is in the ocean.

並且顯示牠在海裡的位置。

And so from that we can produce these tracks.

這可以讓我們用來繪製路線圖。

For example, the dark blue

舉例來說，深藍色的點

shows you where the elephant seal moved in the north Pacific.

告訴你這隻海象搬到北太平洋。

Now I realize for those of you who are colorblind, this slide is not very helpful,

我知道對色盲的人來說，這張投影片並沒有很有用，

but stick with me nonetheless.

但還是跟著我聽下去。

For animals that don't surface,

對那些不到水面上的動物，

we have something called pop-up tags,

我們有一個叫做彈出標簽的東西，

which collect data about light and what time the sun rises and sets.

它會收集光線的資料和日出日落的時間。

And then at some period of time

然後在某些時段，

it pops up to the surface and, again, relays that data back to shore.

它會彈上海面上，將這些資料傳回岸上。

Because GPS doesn't work under water. That's why we need these tools.

因為GPS無法在水裡使用，所以我們才需要這些工具。

And so from this we're able to identify these blue highways,

因此利用這些資訊，我們可以找出這些藍色路徑，

these hot spots in the ocean,

這些海底熱點，

that should be real priority areas

應該是海洋保育

for ocean conservation.

優先採取的地帶。

Now one of the other things that you may think about

另外一件你們可能會想到的是

is that, when you go to the supermarket and you buy things, they're scanned.

當你們去超市買東西的時候，這些東西會經過掃描。

And so there's a barcode on that product

因為這些物品上有條碼，

that tells the computer exactly what the product is.

會告訴電腦物品是什麼。

Geneticists have developed a similar tool called genetic barcoding.

基因學家也發明了相似的工具叫做基因條碼。

And what barcoding does

這些條碼利用一個叫做

is use a specific gene called CO1

CO1的基因，

that's consistent within a species, but varies among species.

這個基因在同種類中是相同的，但在不同種類中卻不同。

And so what that means is we can unambiguously identify

這代表我們可以很清楚的分辨

which species are which

不同的物種，

even if they look similar to each other,

即使他們看起來很像，

but may be biologically quite different.

但在生物性質上卻是很不同的。

Now one of the nicest examples I like to cite on this

用其中一個我喜歡的例子來說，

is the story of two young women, high school students in New York City,

一個在紐約市的兩個女高中生

who worked with the census.

與調查計畫合作的故事

They went out and collected fish from markets and from restaurants in New York City

他們去紐約市的魚市場和餐廳蒐集魚

and they barcoded it.

然後掃描魚。

Well what they found was mislabeled fish.

他們發現有很多被標錯名稱的魚。

So for example,

舉例來說，

they found something which was sold as tuna, which is very valuable,

他們找到一些被當成很有價值的鮪魚販售，

was in fact tilapia, which is a much less valuable fish.

但實際上卻是低於鮪魚價值很多的吳郭魚。

They also found an endangered species

他們也有找到一個瀕臨絕種的種類

sold as a common one.

以很常見的物種拍賣。

So barcoding allows us to know what we're working with

所以條碼化可以讓我們瞭解我們是在研究

and also what we're eating.

以及食用哪些物種。

The Ocean Biogeographic Information System

海洋生物地理資訊系統

is the database for all the census data.

是用來儲存這些調查的資料庫。

It's open access; you can all go in and download data as you wish.

他是開放性的，你們大家都可以去那邊下載你們想要的資料。

And it contains all the data from the census

它包含了「海洋生物調查」的所有數據

plus other data sets that people were willing to contribute.

加上其它人們願意貢獻的資料。

And so what you can do with that

所以你們可以利用這些資料

is to plot the distribution of species and where they occur in the oceans.

來瞭解物種的分類和他們分布在海洋的位置。

What I've plotted up here is the data that we have on hand.

這邊是我用我們現有的資料繪製的圖。

This is where our sampling effort has concentrated.

這是用我們主要集中心力的的採樣的地方。

Now what you can see

你們可以看到

is we've sampled the area in the North Atlantic,

我們在北大西洋蒐集樣本，

in the North Sea in particular,

主要在北海，

and also the east coast of North America fairly well.

在北美洲東部海洋也蒐集到很多。

That's the warm colors which show a well-sampled region.

暖色系顯示樣本數很多的地區。

The cold colors, the blue and the black,

冷色系, 像是藍色和黑色，

show areas where we have almost no data.

代表我們幾乎沒有資料。

So even after a 10-year census,

所以就算經過了十年的調查，

there are large areas that still remain unexplored.

仍然有很多地區沒有被勘查過。

Now there are a group of scientists living in Texas, working in the Gulf of Mexico

有一群在墨西哥海灣工作的德州科學家

who decided really as a labor of love

成為工作狂熱者，

to pull together all the knowledge they could

將他們所知道關於墨西哥海灣的

about biodiversity in the Gulf of Mexico.

所有生物資訊統整。

And so they put this together, a list of all the species,

所以他們整理出一張所有生物的清單，

where they're known to occur,

上面標註他們出沒的地方

and it really seemed like a very esoteric, scientific type of exercise.

這看起來真的很深奧、純科學的活動。

But then, of course, there was the Deep Horizon oil spill.

但後來有了墨西哥灣漏油事故。

So all of a sudden, this labor of love

突然間，這份對工作的熱愛所產生的清單

for no obvious economic reason

在顯然不是經濟因素所產生的情況下

has become a critical piece of information

成為一個很重要的資訊，

in terms of how that system is going to recover, how long it will take

像是這個系統要如何恢復，得花多久時間?

and how the lawsuits

和這些訴訟的後續

and the multi-billion-dollar discussions that are going to happen in the coming years

以及在未來幾年好幾億的討論等

are likely to be resolved.

該如何解決?

So what did we find?

所以我們發現什麼？

Well, I could stand here for hours, but, of course, I'm not allowed to do that.

我可以站在這談這個談好幾個小時，但當然我不能這麼做。

But I will tell you some of my favorite discoveries

但我要告訴你們一部分在這個調查中

from the census.

我最喜歡的發現。

So one of the things we discovered is where are the hot spots of diversity?

其中一件是我們發現哪裡是多生物的集中點？

Where do we find the most species of ocean life?

我們在哪裡可以找到最多海洋物種？

And what we find if we plot up the well-known species

所以當我們把熟知的物種繪製出來，

is this sort of a distribution.

就會是像這樣的分佈。

And what we see is that for coastal tags,

所以我們看到的沿岸標籤，

for those organisms that live near the shoreline,

是那些住在在沿岸附近的生物，

they're most diverse in the tropics.

呈現在熱帶地區最多樣化的情況。

This is something we've actually known for a while,

這是實際上我們已經知道一段時間的事了，

so it's not a real breakthrough.

所以也不算是什麼驚人的發現。

What is really exciting though

真正振奮人心的是

is that the oceanic tags, or the ones that live far from the coast,

許多海洋標籤，或是說那些離海岸比較遠的生物，

are actually more diverse at intermediate latitudes.

其實在中緯度的地方比較多樣化。

This is the sort of data, again, that managers could use

這些資料可以讓管理者利用，

if they want to prioritize areas of the ocean that we need to conserve.

如果他們想要優先保育海洋中其中一個區域的話。

You can do this on a global scale, but you can also do it on a regional scale.

你可以以全球化保育，但也可以區域化保育。

And that's why biodiversity data can be so valuable.

這也是為什麼生物多樣性的資料這麼珍貴。

Now while a lot of the species we discovered in the census

雖然我們在這個調查中發現的物種，

are things that are small and hard to see,

大多是很小且不容易看見的，

that certainly wasn't always the case.

但並不是一直都是這樣。

For example, while it's hard to believe

舉例來說，雖然很難相信

that a three kilogram lobster could elude scientists,

有三公斤大的龍蝦可以躲過科學家的搜尋，

it did until a few years ago

但直到幾年前

when South African fishermen requested an export permit

南美洲漁夫要求外銷許可時，

and scientists realized that this was something new to science.

科學家才發現這個物種。

Similarly this Golden V kelp

同樣的，這個金色V型海帶

collected in Alaska just below the low water mark

是在阿拉斯加僅比水位低一點的地方

is probably a new species.

被發現的新物種。

Even though it's three meters long,

儘管它有三公尺長，

it actually, again, eluded science.

但仍然沒有被科學家發現。

Now this guy, this bigfin squid, is seven meters in length.

這個傢伙，大鰭魷魚，長約七公尺。

But to be fair, it lives in the deep waters of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge,

不過說實在的，它生存在大西洋中洋脊的深海，

so it was a lot harder to find.

所以當然更難被找到。

But there's still potential for discovery of big and exciting things.

但仍然有機會能發現很重要且很有趣的東西的可能性。

This particular shrimp, we've dubbed it the Jurassic shrimp,

這種蝦子，我們叫它侏羅蝦，

it's thought to have gone extinct 50 years ago --

它被認定在50年前就絕種了，

at least it was, until the census discovered

直到最後被海洋生物調查發現

it was living and doing just fine off the coast of Australia.

他們在澳洲海岸活得好好的。

And it shows that the ocean, because of its vastness,

這顯示海洋的無邊無際

can hide secrets for a very long time.

可以長久隱藏許多未知的事物。

So, Steven Spielberg, eat your heart out.

所以史蒂芬·史匹柏，別難過了。

If we look at distributions, in fact distributions change dramatically.

如果我們看這些分佈圖，它事實上分佈轉變得很快。

And so one of the records that we had

我們其中一個紀錄顯示

was this sooty shearwater, which undergoes these spectacular migrations

灰鸌，經歷令人嘆為觀止的遷徙，

all the way from New Zealand

從紐西蘭一路上

all the way up to Alaska and back again

飛到阿拉斯加再飛回來

in search of endless summer

就為了尋找永無止盡的夏天，

as they complete their life cycles.

讓牠們完成牠們的生命週期。

We also talked about the White Shark Cafe.

另一個紀錄是有關於白鯊咖啡廳。

This is a location in the Pacific where white shark converge.

在太平洋有個地方是白鯊聚集的地方。

We don't know why they converge there, we simply don't know.

我們不知道為什麼牠們喜歡待在那，真的不知道。

That's a question for the future.

這是留給未來的問題。

One of the things that we're taught in high school

我們在高中曾學過

is that all animals require oxygen in order to survive.

所有動物都需要氧氣才能存活。

Now this little critter, it's only about half a millimeter in size,

這個小動物，只有半公釐長，

not terribly charismatic.

並不吸引人。

But it was only discovered in the early 1980s.

直到1980年代早期才被發現。

But the really interesting thing about it

但非常有趣的是

is that, a few years ago, census scientists discovered

幾年前，海洋生物調查的科學家發現

that this guy can thrive in oxygen-poor sediments

這傢伙可以在氧氣不足的

in the deep Mediterranean Sea.

深地中海裡蓬勃成長

So now they know that, in fact,

所以現在他們知道，事實上，

animals can live without oxygen, at least some of them,

動物可以不靠氧氣生活，至少一部分不用，

and that they can adapt to even the harshest of conditions.

且他們可以適應於最殘酷的環境。

If you were to suck all the water out of the ocean,

如果你把海洋中的水都吸走，

this is what you'd be left behind with,

會剩下這個，

and that's the biomass of life on the sea floor.

這是在海床的生物質。

Now what we see is huge biomass towards the poles

我們可以看到在極圈地帶有很大量的生物質量，

and not much biomass in between.

但在中間卻沒有那麼多。

We found life in the extremes.

我們在極地有找到生物跡象，

And so there were new species that were found

並發現新的品種

that live inside ice

生存在冰中

and help to support an ice-based food web.

成為食物鏈循環的一部分。

And we also found this spectacular yeti crab

我們也找到令人驚奇的雪蟹，

that lives near boiling hot hydrothermal vents at Easter Island.

牠們可以在復活島附近的海底火山旁生存。

And this particular species

而這個特別的物種

really captured the public's attention.

引起大眾極大的注意力。

We also found the deepest vents known yet -- 5,000 meters --

我們也發現目前所知最深的火山口有五千公尺深、

the hottest vents at 407 degrees Celsius --

最熱的火山口高達攝氏407度、

vents in the South Pacific and also in the Arctic

在南太平洋和北極海發現了海底火山口，

where none had been found before.

而這些地方在之前從未被發現過。

So even new environments are still within the domain of the discoverable.

所以就算是新的環境也會有新的發現

Now in terms of the unknowns, there are many.

至於未知的事物仍不勝枚舉。

And I'm just going to summarize just a few of them

我現在僅很快地大略舉出其中一部份

very quickly for you.

給你們。

First of all, we might ask, how many fishes in the sea?

首先，我們可能會提到，海洋中有多少魚？

We actually know the fishes better than we do any other group in the ocean

我們事實上對魚類的瞭解比海洋哺乳類動物

other than marine mammals.

以外的種類瞭解得更多。

And so we can actually extrapolate based on rates of discovery

所以我們可以利用已發現的比率來推斷

how many more species we're likely to discover.

我們可能還有多少物種等待發現。

And from that, we actually calculate

從這之中我們可以計算出

that we know about 16,500 marine species

大概已有16,500種海洋生物為我們所知

and there are probably another 1,000 to 4,000 left to go.

所以大約還有1,000到4,000種要找。

So we've done pretty well.

所以我們做得相當好了。

We've got about 75 percent of the fish,

我們已經找到百分之75的魚，

maybe as much as 90 percent.

也許已經找到九成了。

But the fishes, as I say, are the best known.

但魚類，如我說的，是我們最瞭解的。

So our level of knowledge is much less for other groups of organisms.

所以我們對其他種類的了解程度低了很多。

Now this figure is actually based on a brand new paper

這個圖表事實上是從一個即將要在

that's going to come out in the journal PLoS Biology.

生物學期刊發表的新文章中取得的。

And what is does is predict how many more species there are

而這篇文章是在預測陸地和海洋中

on land and in the ocean.

總共有多少物種。

And what they found

他們的結論是

is that they think that we know of about nine percent of the species in the ocean.

他們認為我們大略知道海洋中百分之九的物種。

That means 91 percent, even after the census,

那代表就算(海洋生物調查)之後，還有91%的生物

still remain to be discovered.

持續等待被發現。

And so that turns out to be about two million species

所以等全部都找到後

once all is said and done.

那大約會有兩百萬物種。

So we still have quite a lot of work to do

所以對於這些未知的東西，

in terms of unknowns.

我們還是有很多事情要做。

Now this bacterium

這種細菌

is part of mats that are found off the coast of Chile.

是在智利海岸可以找到的生物墊的一部份。

And these mats actually cover an area the size of Greece.

而這些生物墊實際上可涵蓋一個希臘那麼大。

And so this particular bacterium is actually visible to the naked eye.

所以這一種細菌事實上是可以用肉眼看到的。

But you can imagine the biomass that represents.

你們可以想像這樣的生物質量所代表的意義。

But the really intriguing thing about the microbes

但最耐人尋味的是這些微生物

is just how diverse they are.

的多樣性。

A single drop of seawater

一滴海水

could contain 160 different types of microbes.

可以包含160種不同的微生物。

And the oceans themselves

而且光在海洋中

are thought potentially to contain as many as a billion different types.

估計就有十億多種不同的微生物。

So that's really exciting. What are they all doing out there?

所以這很令人興奮。他們都在那裡做什麼呢？

We actually don't know.

我們並不清楚。

The most exciting thing, I would say, about this census

對我來說，最振奮人心的是

is the role of global science.

這個調查是在扮演地球科學研究的角色。

And so as we see in this image of light during the night,

所以我們從這個圖片可以看到晚上的光線圖，

there are lots of areas of the Earth

在地球上有很多區域

where human development is much greater

發展的速度遠比

and other areas where it's much less,

其它區域好，

but between them we see large dark areas

但在這兩者中間還有一些黑暗的區塊，

of relatively unexplored ocean.

即相對之下未被發掘的海洋。

The other point I'd like to make about this

而我想要討論的是

is that this ocean's interconnected.

海洋是互相連結的。

Marine organisms do not care about international boundaries;

海洋生物不並在乎國際間的界限，

they move where they will.

他們隨心所欲。

And so the importance then of global collaboration

因此國際合作

becomes all the more important.

就非常得重要。

We've lost a lot of paradise.

我們已失去很多仙境般的地方了。

For example, these tuna that were once so abundant in the North Sea

舉例來說，在北海曾經很豐盛的鮪魚

are now effectively gone.

現在已經沒了。

There were trawls taken in the deep sea in the Mediterranean,

在地中海深海撒網

which collected more garbage than they did animals.

撈上岸的垃圾比動物還多。

And that's the deep sea, that's the environment that we consider to be

且這還是在深海，那個我們認為在地球上

among the most pristine left on Earth.

最原始的地方。

And there are a lot of other pressures.

而且還有很多其他困擾。

Ocean acidification is a really big issue that people are concerned with,

海洋酸化是人們很關心的議題，

as well as ocean warming, and the effects they're going to have on coral reefs.

海洋暖化和對珊瑚礁的影響也令人關切。

On the scale of decades, in our lifetimes,

在幾十年內，相當於我們的一生，

we're going to see a lot of damage to coral reefs.

我們會看到珊瑚礁被大量得破壞。

And I could spend the rest of my time, which is getting very limited,

我大可用我最後的一些時間

going through this litany of concerns about the ocean,

來嘮叨一連串對海洋的保護，

but I want to end on a more positive note.

但我想要用一個更正面的方式結束。

And so the grand challenge then

目前最大的挑戰是

is to try and make sure that we preserve what's left,

試著保護我們僅有的事物，

because there is still spectacular beauty.

因為他們仍然令人嘆為觀止。

And the oceans are so productive,

且海洋是非常豐饒的，

there's so much going on in there that's of relevance to humans

那裡有太多跟人類息息相關的生命，

that we really need to, even from a selfish perspective,

我們真的需要，即使是以自私為出發點，

try to do better than we have in the past.

也盡可能做得比以前更好。

So we need to recognize those hot spots

所以我們需要找出這些生物熱點，

and do our best to protect them.

並盡我們所能來保護他們。

When we look at pictures like this, they take our breath away,

當我們看到這些美麗得令人無法呼吸的圖片時，

in addition to helping to give us breath

海洋還額外提供

by the oxygen that the oceans provide.

給我們呼吸的氧氣。

Census scientists worked in the rain, they worked in the cold,

調查科學家無論是在雨中工作、在嚴寒中工作、

they worked under water and they worked above water

在海底工作還是在海面上工作，

trying to illuminate the wondrous discovery,

都盡力發現這些不可思議的事物，

the still vast unknown,

儘管大部份仍是未知

the spectacular adaptations that we see in ocean life.

以及海洋生物驚人的適應能力。

So whether you're a yak herder living in the mountains of Chile,

所以無論你是住在智利山上的犛牛牧人，

whether you're a stockbroker in New York City

還是紐約市的股票經紀人，

or whether you're a TEDster living in Edinburgh,

或是住在愛丁堡的收看TED的人，

the oceans matter.

海洋對你們都是很重要的。

And as the oceans go so shall we.

所以我們應該與海洋同進退。

Thanks for listening.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）