Tierney Thys: Swim with giant sunfish in the open ocean

譯者: Jenny(靖翎) Lee(李) 審譯者: Adrienne Lin

I'd like to start tonight by something completely different,

今晚，我想以一種截然不同的方式作為開始，

asking you to join me by stepping off the land

邀請你暫時和我一起離開陸地，

and jumping into the open ocean for a moment.

躍入大海。

90 percent of the living space on the planet is in the open ocean,

地球有90%的生存空間是在大海裡，

and it's where life -- the title of our seminar tonight -- it's where life began.

那也是生命的起始 － 我們今晚研討會的主題。

And it's a lively and a lovely place,

那是一個可愛且充滿生命力的地方，

but we're rapidly changing the oceans with our --

然而我們卻迅速地改變海洋，

not only with our overfishing, our irresponsible fishing,

不單單是因為我們濫捕、我們不負責任地捕撈、

our adding of pollutants like fertilizer from our cropland,

增加汙染物，例如農田的肥料，

but also, most recently, with climate change,

還有最近常有的，氣候變遷，

and Steve Schneider, I'm sure, will be going into greater detail on this.

我相信史蒂夫‧施耐德會更詳細的進入這個點。

Now, as we continue to tinker with the oceans,

現今，當我們繼續笨手笨腳地修補海洋，

more and more reports are predicting that the kinds of seas that we're creating

越來越多的報告預言我們所修補出來的海洋

will be conducive to low-energy type of animals, like jellyfish and bacteria.

會有利於低能量型的生物，像是水母和細菌，

And this might be the kind of seas we're headed for.

而這樣的海洋很可能遭受不幸。

Now jellyfish are strangely hypnotic and beautiful,

水母很不可思議地美麗且有催眠的作用，

and you'll see lots of gorgeous ones at the aquarium on Friday,

星期五的時候你可以在水族館看到許多美麗動人的水母，

but they sting like hell, and jellyfish sushi and sashimi

但被刺到可是極度不舒服，而且水母壽司和水母生魚片

is just not going to fill you up.

絕對無法滿足你。

About 100 grams of jellyfish equals four calories.

大約100公克的水母等於四卡路里，

So it may be good for the waistline,

因此，牠或許對你的腰圍有益

but it probably won't keep you satiated for very long.

但牠更可能讓你忍飢挨餓。

And a sea that's just filled and teeming with jellyfish

而且一個到處都是水母的海洋

isn't very good for all the other creatures that live in the oceans,

對其他的海洋生物來說並非一件好事，

that is, unless you eat jellyfish.

除非，你吃水母。

And this is this voracious predator launching a sneak attack

這是一個如飢似渴的捕食者，正要偷襲

on this poor little unsuspecting jellyfish there, a by-the-wind sailor.

這隻隨波逐流，沒有警戒心的可憐水母。

And that predator is the giant ocean sunfish, the Mola mola,

這個捕食者正是太陽魚 -- Mola mola，

whose primary prey are jellyfish.

牠以水母為主食。

This animal is in "The Guinness World Book of Records"

這隻動物會在金氏世界紀錄上

for being the world's heaviest bony fish.

是因為牠是世界上硬骨魚類中最重的魚。

It reaches up to almost 5,000 pounds -- on a diet of jellyfish, primarily.

以水母為主食，牠幾乎可達五千磅。

And I think it's kind of a nice little cosmological convergence here

我覺得這是宇宙性美好的聚合，

that the Mola mola -- its common name is sunfish --

翻車魚，又稱太陽魚，

that its favorite food is the moon jelly.

最喜歡吃月亮水母。

So it's kind of nice, the sun and the moon getting together this way,

這很妙，太陽和月亮聚在一起，

even if one is eating the other.

雖然其中一個在吃另外一個。

Now this is typically how you see sunfish,

這是我們常見的太陽魚，

this is where they get their common name.

也是牠們名稱的來由。

They like to sunbathe, can't blame them.

牠們喜歡曬日光浴，誰不愛呢

They just lay out on the surface of the sea

然而大部分的人卻以為牠們很懶或是生病了，

and most people think they're sick or lazy, but that's a typical behavior,

但這是牠們常有的行為，

they lie out and bask on the surface.

牠們會把自己攤在水面曬太陽。

Their other name, Mola mola, is -- it sounds Hawaiian,

牠們另一個名稱 Mola mola，聽起來有點夏威夷，

but it's actually Latin for millstone,

但其實是拉丁文"磨石"之意，

and that's attributable to their roundish, very bizarre, cut-off shape.

可能是因為牠們很奇特、圓圓的、好像被裁過似的

It's as if, as they were growing, they just forgot the tail part.

好像長大的時候忘了長出尾巴一樣。

And that's actually what drew me to the Mola in the first place,

這非比尋常的形狀，

was this terribly bizarre shape.

這正是牠第一眼吸引我的地方。

You know, you look at sharks, and they're streamlined, and they're sleek,

當你看到鯊魚，會看見牠們很光滑，線條流暢，

and you look at tuna, and they're like torpedoes --

你再看鮪魚，牠們好像魚雷 --

they just give away their agenda. They're about migration and strength,

就如同外觀，牠們對於遷徙充滿了力量，

and then you look at the sunfish.

然後你再看太陽魚。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

And this is just so elegantly mysterious, it's just --

這真是不可思議的優美，

it really kind of holds its cards a lot tighter than say, a tuna.

牠隱藏的實力更甚於鮪魚。

So I was just intrigued with what -- you know, what is this animal's story?

我很好奇，這動物背後的故事是什麼?

Well, as with anything in biology, nothing really makes sense

正如在生物學中，除了進化論以外，

except in the light of evolution.

沒有什麼說得通。

The Mola's no exception.

翻車魚也不例外。

They appeared shortly after the dinosaurs disappeared,

牠們在恐龍消失後不久就出現，

65 million years ago, at a time when whales still had legs,

6500萬年前，當鯨魚還有腳時候，

and they come from a rebellious little puffer fish faction --

牠們從河豚的派系中叛變出來－

oblige me a little Kipling-esque storytelling here.

容許我在這裡用吉卜林的風格講故事。

Of course evolution is somewhat random, and you know,

當然，進化論在某種程度上是隨機的，

about 55 million years ago there was this rebellious little puffer fish faction

大約5500萬年前，這些叛變的河豚說：

that said, oh, the heck with the coral reefs --

「哦！管他的珊瑚礁，

we're going to head to the high seas.

我們要邁向公海。」

And lots of generations, lots of tweaking and torquing,

然後經過了好幾代，經過很多扭轉和調整，

and we turn our puffer into the Mola.

河豚變成了翻車魚。

You know, if you give Mother Nature enough time, that is what she will produce.

你知道，當你給大自然足夠的時間，她就會產生出這樣的東西。

They look -- maybe they look

或許，牠們看起來有點

kind of prehistoric and unfinished, abridged perhaps,

未完成和過時，或許有點簡略，

but in fact, in fact they are the --

但事實上，牠們是海洋中

they vie for the top position of the most evolutionarily-derived fish in the sea,

魚類進化後衍生出來最頂尖的魚，

right up there with flat fish.

和比目魚一樣。

They're -- every single thing about that fish has been changed.

那種魚的一切都被改變了。

And in terms of fishes --

說到魚，

fishes appeared 500 million years ago, and they're pretty modern,

五億年前魚出現了，而且還滿現代化的，

just 50 million years ago, so --

僅5000萬年前，

so interestingly, they give away their ancestry as they develop.

有趣的是，牠們在發展的過程中拋棄牠們的祖先。

They start as little eggs,

從小小的卵開始，

and they're in "The Guinness World Book of Records" again

而且牠們的卵比地球上任何一類脊椎動物的卵還多，

for having the most number of eggs of any vertebrate on the planet.

故此再次登上金氏世界紀錄。

A single four-foot female had 300 million eggs,

一隻四英尺的雌魚有三億顆卵，

can carry 300 million eggs in her ovaries -- imagine --

牠的卵巢可以懷有三億顆卵，想看看，

and they get to be over 10 feet long. Imagine what a 10 foot one has.

而且牠們一定超過10英尺長。想像一隻10英尺長的能產多少卵。

And from that little egg,

從那一顆小小的卵，

they pass through this spiky little porcupine fish stage, reminiscent of their ancestry,

牠們經過這種像河豚一樣，刺刺的階段，令人想起祂們的祖先，

and develop -- this is their little adolescent stage.

然後發展，這是牠們青少年的階段。

They school as adolescents, and become behemoth loners as adults.

在牠們青少年的階段裡，牠們會成群結隊，成年之後就漸漸的成了巨大的獨行俠。

That's a little diver up there in the corner.

角落上方有一個小小的潛水者。

They're in "The Guinness World Book of Records" again

牠們又再次登上金氏世界紀錄，

for being the vertebrate growth champion of the world.

因為是世界上所有脊椎動物的生長冠軍。

From their little hatching size of their egg, into their little larval stage

從小小的卵，經過幼期，

till they reach adulthood, they put on 600 million times an increase in weight.

到成年，牠們的體重增加六億倍。

600 million. Now imagine if you gave birth to a little baby,

六億。想像你生了個嬰孩，

and you had to feed this thing.

而且要餵牠。

That would mean that your child, you would expect it to gain the weight of six Titanics.

這表示你的小孩所增加的重量是六艘鐵達尼號。

Now I don't know how you'd feed a child like that but --

我不知道你要怎麼養一個像那樣的孩子。

we don't know how fast the Molas grow in the wild,

我們不知道野生的翻車魚的成長有多快，

but captive growth studies at the Monterey Bay Aquarium --

但在蒙特利灣水族館－

one of the first places to have them in captivity --

第一個人工飼養翻車魚的地方之一，

they had one that gained 800 lbs in 14 months.

研究資料顯示有一隻在短短的14個月就增加了800磅。

I said, now, that's a true American.

我說，那才是正港的美國人。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

(Applause)

(掌聲)

So being a loner is a great thing, especially in today's seas,

當獨行俠是一件很棒的事，由其是在今天。

because schooling used to be salvation for fishes,

以前，聚集成群是魚類生存的方法，

but it's suicide for fishes now.

如今卻是自殺行為。

But unfortunately Molas, even though they don't school,

很不幸的是，雖然翻車魚不聚集成群，

they still get caught in nets as by-catch.

還是會被網子抓住。

If we're going to save the world from total jellyfish domination,

如果我們想要拯救世界，脫離水母的控制，

then we've got to figure out what the jellyfish predators --

就要知道水母的天敵是誰，

how they live their lives, like the Mola.

牠們的生活模式是如何，例如說，翻車魚。

And unfortunately, they make up a large portion of the California by-catch --

但很不幸的，在加州，牠們被流刺網抓到的比例

up to 26 percent of the drift net.

高達26%。

And in the Mediterranean, in the swordfish net fisheries,

並且在地中海區，高達90%的翻車魚

they make up up to 90 percent.

在漁場被捕劍魚的網子捕捉。

So we've got to figure out how they're living their lives.

因此，我們必須知道牠們生活模式是如何。

And how do you do that?

那要怎麼做?

How do you do that with an animal -- very few places in the world.

要怎麼知道一種世上只有少數地方才有的動物的生活模式?

This is an open ocean creature. It knows no boundaries -- it doesn't go to land.

這是一隻生活在大洋中的生物，牠不知道界限，因為牠從不登上陸地。

How do you get insight?

要怎麼樣才能深入瞭解牠們?

How do you seduce an open ocean creature like that to spill its secrets?

要如何誘騙一隻生活在大洋中的生物洩漏牠的秘密?

Well, there's some great new technology

其實，最近有一些很棒的新科技產品

that has just recently become available,

是可以被取得的，

and it's just a boon for getting insight into open ocean animals.

它們對觀察生活在大洋中的生物是非常有幫助的。

And it's pictured right here, that little tag up there.

這裡就有一張照片。上面那個小小的標籤，

That little tag can record temperature, depth and light intensity,

可以記錄溫度、海深、

which is correlated with time, and from that we can get locations.

光線強度、時間和地點。

And it can record this data for up to two years,

它可以保留長達兩年的數據資料，

and keep it in that tag, release at a pre-programmed time,

然後在預先設定的時間浮出水面，

float to the surface, upload all that data, that whole travelogue,

將那些數據資料，整個旅行紀錄，

to satellite, which relays it directly to our computers,

上傳到衛星，而衛星和我們的電腦有直接的連線，

and we've got that whole dataset. And we didn't even have --

我們就得到了整個資料集。我們根本沒有—

we just had to tag the animal and then we went home and you know, sat at our desks.

我們只有把標籤貼到翻車魚上，然後回家，坐在辦公桌前。

So the great thing about the Mola

因此，最棒的是，

is that when we put the tag on them -- if you look up here --

當我們將標籤貼到牠們身上，你看這邊，

that's streaming off, that's right where we put the tag.

有東西在漂，那就是我們貼標籤的地方。

And it just so happens that's a parasite hanging off the Mola.

那看起來就像掛在翻車魚上面的寄生蟲一樣。

Molas are infamous for carrying tons of parasites.

翻車魚以攜帶大量的寄生蟲而聞名。

They're just parasite hotels; even their parasites have parasites.

簡直就是寄生蟲飯店，甚至連牠身上的寄生蟲都有寄生蟲。

I think Donne wrote a poem about that.

我記得多恩寫過有關這個的詩。

But they have 40 genera of parasites,

牠們身上大約有40種寄生蟲，

and so we figured just one more parasite won't be too much of a problem.

我們發現多放一隻並不會是太大的問題。

And they happen to be a very good vehicle for carrying oceanographic equipment.

而且牠們恰好是攜帶海洋攝影儀器很好的交通工具。

They don't seem to mind, so far.

目前為止，牠們不會在意。

So what are we trying to find out? We're focusing on the Pacific.

我們到底想知道什麼?我們的重點是太平洋，

We're tagging on the California coast, and we're tagging over in Taiwan and Japan.

標記加州海岸、台灣、日本。

And we're interested in how these animals are using the currents,

令人感興趣的是，牠們如何利用水流、

using temperature, using the open ocean, to live their lives.

利用溫度、利用海洋來過生活。

We'd love to tag in Monterey.

我們最喜歡標記蒙特雷。

Monterey is one of the few places in the world where Molas come in large numbers.

蒙特雷是世界上少數有大量翻車魚湧現的地方之一。

Not this time of year -- it's more around October.

但不是這個時候，大約在十月的時候。

And we'd love to tag here -- this is an aerial shot of Monterey --

我們還喜歡標記這裡，這是一張蒙特雷的空照圖，

but unfortunately, the Molas here end up looking like this

但不幸的，這裡的翻車魚長這樣。

because another one of our locals really likes Molas but in the wrong way.

因為這裡的居民也喜歡翻車魚，但是以錯誤的方式。

The California sea lion takes the Molas as soon as they come into the bay,

當翻車魚一入加州海灣，加州海獅會馬上捕捉牠們，

rips off their fins, fashions them into the ultimate Frisbee, Mola style,

扯掉牠們的魚鰭，最終把牠們做成翻車魚型的飛盤，

and then tosses them back and forth.

然後把牠們丟來丟去。

And I'm not exaggerating, it is just --

我沒有誇大，只是 —

and sometimes they don't eat them, it's just spiteful.

而且有的時候不會把牠們吃掉，這真的很惡毒。

And you know, the locals think it's terrible behavior,

你知道嗎，當地的居民覺得這真是太可怕了！

it's just horrible watching this happen, day after day.

看見這種事情日復一日的發生，真的很可怕。

The poor little Molas coming in, getting ripped to shreds,

可憐的小翻車魚來，被五馬分屍，

so we head down south, to San Diego.

所以我們往南，到聖地牙哥。

Not so many California sea lions down there.

那裡沒有那麼多的加州海獅。

And the Molas there, you can find them with a spotter plane very easily,

而且用偵察機就可以很容易的發現牠們，

and they like to hang out under floating rafts of kelp.

牠們喜歡徘徊在大型褐藻下。

And under those kelps -- this is why the Molas come there

在這些大型褐藻下－這是為什麼翻車魚喜歡來這裡，

because it's spa time for the Molas there.

因為這是牠們的水療時間。

As soon as they get under those rafts of kelp, the exfoliating cleaner fish come.

當牠們一到大型褐藻下，去角質魚就來，

And they come and give the Molas --

牠們會來，給翻車魚－

you can see they strike this funny little position that says,

你可以看到牠們擺出很好笑的姿勢，說：

"I'm not threatening, but I need a massage."

「我不可怕，但我需要按摩。」

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

And they'll put their fins out and their eyes go in the back of their head,

牠們會擺出牠們的鰭，翻白眼，

and the fish come up and they just clean, clean, clean --

然後那些魚就進前來清潔、清潔、清潔－

because the Molas, you know, there's just a smorgasbord of parasites.

你知道的，因為有吃到飽的寄生蟲可以吃。

And it's also a great place to go down south

再往南走也很棒，

because the water's warmer, and the Molas are kind of friendly down there.

因為那裡的水更溫暖，那裡的翻車魚也滿友善的。

I mean what other kind of fish, if you approach it right,

我是說，有哪些魚會在你靠近牠的時候

will say, "Okay, scratch me right there."

跟你說：「OK，搔我這裡。」

You truly can swim up to a Mola -- they're very gentle --

你真的可以靠近牠們，牠們很溫和的，

and if you approach them right, you can give them a scratch and they enjoy it.

如果你正確的接近牠們，你可以幫牠們搔個癢，牠們會很享受的。

So we've also tagged one part of the Pacific;

我們還有標記太平洋的一個地方，

we've gone over to another part of the Pacific,

我們到太平洋的另一處，

and we've tagged in Taiwan, and we tagged in Japan.

我們標記台灣，也標記日本。

And over in these places, the Molas are caught in set nets that line these countries.

在這些地方，翻車魚被這一帶的國家的定置網所捕。

And they're not thrown back as by-catch, they're eaten.

牠們不會因為誤捕而被丟回海裡，而是被吃掉。

We were served a nine-course meal of Mola after we tagged.

在我們標記牠們之後，他們提供我們九道翻車魚的菜餚。

Well, not the one we tagged!

但不是我們標記的那一隻啦!

And everything from the kidney, to the testes, to the back bone,

從腎臟、到睪丸、到脊椎、

to the fin muscle to -- I think that ís pretty much the whole fish -- is eaten.

到鰭的肌肉－我想這幾乎是整條魚了　－　被吃掉。

So the hardest part of tagging, now, is

所以下標籤最難的部分就是，

after you put that tag on, you have to wait, months.

你標好了之後，要等好幾個月。

And you're just wondering, oh, I hope the fish is safe,

然後就會想，我希望那條魚還平安，

I hope, I hope it's going to be able to actually live its life out

我希望牠們可以在標籤紀錄的航行中，

during the course that the tag is recording.

能夠過牠原有的生活。

The tags cost 3500 dollars each, and then satellite time is another 500 dollars,

一個標籤要3500元，然後衛星要再乘以500元，

so you're like, oh, I hope the tag is okay.

然後你就會想，我希望那個標籤沒壞掉。

And so the waiting is really the hardest part.

所以等待其實是最難的部分。

I'm going to show you our latest dataset.

我要給你們看最新的資料。

And it hasn't been published, so it's totally privy information just for TED.

它還未被發表過，完全只准予TED知道。

And in showing you this, you know, when we're looking at this data,

在給你看的時候，你要知道，當我們看這些資料，

we're thinking, oh do these animals, do they cross the equator?

我們會想，哦，這些動物會跨越赤道嗎?

Do they go from one side of the Pacific to the other?

牠們會從太平洋的一端游到另一端嗎?

And we found that they kind of are homebodies.

後來我們發現，牠們有點戀家，

They're not big migrators. This is their track:

牠們不是狂熱的移民者。這是牠們的足跡：

we deployed the tag off of Tokyo, and the Mola in one month

我們在東京將標籤分散下去，然後在一個月內，

kind of got into the Kuroshio Current off of Japan and foraged there.

翻車魚似乎被捲入了黑潮，離開了日本，並且在那裡覓食。

And after four months, went up, you know, off of the north part of Japan.

四個月後往上，你知道的，到日本的北部。

And that's kind of their home range.

那裡有點像牠們的活動範圍。

Now that's important, though, because if there's a lot of fishing pressure,

這是很重要的，若是有很大的捕魚壓力，

that population doesn't get replenished.

牠們會數量不足。

So that's a very important piece of data.

因此，這是很重要的一份資料。

But also what's important is that they're not slacker, lazy fish.

另外有一點很重要的就是牠們並不怠惰，不是懶惰的魚。

They're super industrious.

牠們超級勤奮的。

And this is a day in the life of a Mola, and if we --

這是翻車魚一天的生活，如果我們－

they're up and down, and up and down, and up and down, and up

牠們上下，上下，上下，

and up and down, up to 40 times a day.

上下，一天高達40 次。

As the sun comes up, you see in the blue, they start their dive.

當太陽升起，你看藍色這邊，牠們開始往下潛。

Down -- and as the sun gets brighter they go a little deeper, little deeper.

往下－當太陽越來越大，牠們就潛得更深，更深。

They plumb the depths down to 600 meters, in temperatures to one degree centigrade,

牠們潛入600公尺深，那裡溫度是攝氏一度，

and this is why you see them on the surface -- it's so cold down there.

這就是為甚麼你會在水面看到牠們－下面太冷了。

They've got to come up, warm, get that solar power,

牠們一定得上來，暖和一下，吸收太陽能，

and then plunge back into the depths, and go up and down and up and down.

然後再投入深海，上上下下的。

And they're hitting a layer down there; it's called the deep scattering layer --

牠們會到一個叫深海散射層地方，

which a whole variety of food's in that layer.

那層有豐富的食物。

So rather than just being some sunbathing slacker,

與其說牠們是愛做日光浴的懶惰蟲，

they're really very industrious fish that dance this wild dance

牠們是很勤奮的魚，瘋狂的舞蹈於

between the surface and the bottom and through temperature.

水面和深海的溫度中。

We see the same pattern -- now with these tags

同樣的方式－從這些標籤，

we're seeing a similar pattern for swordfishes, manta rays, tunas,

我們在劍魚、鬼蝠魟、鮪魚身上可以看出同樣的行為模式，

a real three-dimensional play.

活動於一個三度空間的之中。

This is part of a much larger program called the Census of Marine Life,

這是一個更大的計劃的一部分，就是海洋生物普查計劃。

where they're going to be tagging all over the world

牠們要被標記在全球各地，

and the Mola's going to enter into that.

並且翻車魚也要加入牠們。

And what's exciting -- you all travel, and you know

令人興奮的是－你們都旅遊過，所以你們知道

the best thing about traveling is to be able to find the locals,

旅遊的時候最好要找當地人，

and to find the great places by getting the local knowledge.

藉由他們找到好地方。

Well now with the Census of Marine Life, we'll be able to sidle up to all the locals

在海洋生物普查計劃中，我們能夠偷偷地接近當地居民，

and explore 90 percent of our living space, with local knowledge.

藉由他們，就能探索出我們生存空間的90%。

It's never -- it's really never been a more exciting, or a vital time, to be a biologist.

作為一名生物學家，沒有比這更令人興奮、更重要的時刻。

Which brings me to my last point, and what I think is kind of the most fun.

這引到我最後一個點，也是我覺得最好玩的一點。

I set up a website because I was getting so many questions about Molas and sunfish.

我架設了一個網站，因為我收到太多有關翻車魚和太陽魚的問題。

And so I just figured I'd have the questions answered,

所以我決定要回答這些問題，

and I'd be able to thank my funders, like National Geographic and Lindbergh.

並且能夠感謝贊助我的人，像是國家地理和林德柏格。

But people would write into the site with all sorts of,

但大家會在網站上寫各種－

all sorts of stories about these animals

各種有關這些動物的故事，

and wanting to help me get samples for genetic analysis.

試圖幫助我得到遺傳分析的樣本。

And what I found most exciting is that everyone had a shared --

而我發現最令人興奮的是，大家都有一個分享的愛

a shared love and an interest in the oceans.

和一種對海洋的興趣。

I was getting reports from Catholic nuns,

我從天主教的修女、

Jewish Rabbis, Muslims, Christians -- everybody writing in,

猶太教的律法師、回教徒、基督徒－很多人寫信來，

united by their love of life.

他們對生命的熱忱連結在一起。

And to me that -- I don't think I could say it any better than the immortal Bard himself:

對我來說－我覺得我無法說得比不朽詩人(莎士比亞)還要好：

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin."

「僅僅一摸大自然，能讓整個世界變得更親切。」

And sure, it may be just one big old silly fish, but it's helping.

確實，或許只是一隻又大又傻的魚，但牠是有益的。

If it's helping to unite the world, I think it's definitely the fish of the future.

如果牠有助於團結這個世界，我想那絕對是未來很重要的魚。