How a fleet of wind-powered drones is changing our understanding of the ocean | Sebastien de Halleux

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

We know more about other planets than our own,

我們對於其他星球的了解 比我們自己的星球還多，

and today, I want to show you a new type of robot

今天，我想要跟大家介紹 一種新型機器人，

designed to help us better understand our own planet.

設計來協助我們 更了解我們的星球。

It belongs to a category

它隸屬的類別 在海洋學的圈子裡稱為

known in the oceanographic community as an unmanned surface vehicle, or USV.

「無人水面載具」，簡稱 USV。

And it uses no fuel.

它不需要燃料。

Instead, it relies on wind power for propulsion.

取而代之，它靠風力來推進。

And yet, it can sail around the globe for months at a time.

但，它一次就可以 航行全球數個月。

So I want to share with you why we built it,

我想要和大家分享的是 我們打造它的原因，

and what it means for you.

以及它對你們的意義。

A few years ago, I was on a sailboat making its way across the Pacific,

幾年前，我坐船航行在太平洋上，

from San Francisco to Hawaii.

從舊金山到夏威夷。

I had just spent the past 10 years working nonstop,

我過去十年不停歇地努力

developing video games for hundreds of millions of users,

為數百萬使用者開發電玩遊戲，

and I wanted to take a step back and look at the big picture

我想要退一步，看看整體全局，

and get some much-needed thinking time.

留給自己一些很必要的思考時間。

I was the navigator on board,

我是船上的領航員，

and one evening, after a long session analyzing weather data

有天晚上，在花了很長的 時間分析氣象資料

and plotting our course,

並繪出我們的航線圖之後，

I came up on deck and saw this beautiful sunset.

我到甲板上，看到美麗的日落。

And a thought occurred to me:

我腦中浮現了一個念頭：

How much do we really know about our oceans?

我們對於我們的海洋知道多少？

The Pacific was stretching all around me as far as the eye could see,

在我視線範圍整個都是 太平洋的延伸，

and the waves were rocking our boat forcefully,

海浪讓我們的船劇烈搖動，

a sort of constant reminder of its untold power.

不時提醒我們 未知的海洋力量有多強大。

How much do we really know about our oceans?

我們對海洋知道多少？

I decided to find out.

我決定要找出答案。

What I quickly learned is that we don't know very much.

我很快就了解到，我們所知甚少。

The first reason is just how vast oceans are,

第一個原因就只是海洋太廣大了，

covering 70 percent of the planet,

覆蓋了地球 70% 的表面，

and yet we know they drive complex planetary systems

我們知道它們會帶動 複雜的地球系統，

like global weather,

比如全球天氣，這會影響到 我們的日常生活，

which affect all of us on a daily basis,

sometimes dramatically.

有時影響還很大。

And yet, those activities are mostly invisible to us.

但，那些活動大部分 都是我們看不見的。

Ocean data is scarce by any standard.

不論用什麼標準來看， 海洋資料都很稀少。

Back on land, I had grown used to accessing lots of sensors --

回到陸地上，我已經很習慣

使用許多感測器——

billions of them, actually.

其實，是數十億個。

But at sea, in situ data is scarce and expensive.

但在海上，現場資料

稀少且昂貴。

Why? Because it relies on a small number of ships and buoys.

為什麼？因為它要仰賴 很少量的船隻和浮標。

How small a number was actually a great surprise.

數量少到讓人吃驚。

Our National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,

我國的海洋暨大氣總署，

better known as NOAA,

更為人熟知的簡稱 NOAA， 只有十六艘船，

only has 16 ships,

and there are less than 200 buoys offshore globally.

全球近海的浮標還不到兩百個。

It is easy to understand why:

原因很容易理解：

the oceans are an unforgiving place,

海洋是個無情的地方，

and to collect in situ data, you need a big ship,

要收集現場資料，就需要大船，

capable of carrying a vast amount of fuel

要能夠裝載大量的燃料，

and large crews,

很多船員，

costing hundreds of millions of dollars each,

每艘船都要花上 數百萬美金的成本，

or, big buoys tethered to the ocean floor with a four-mile-long cable

或者，用四英里纜線 拴在海底的大型浮標

and weighted down by a set of train wheels,

用一組火車車輪壓住，

which is both dangerous to deploy and expensive to maintain.

部署十分危險，維護十分昂貴。

What about satellites, you might ask?

你可能會問，那衛星呢？

Well, satellites are fantastic,

嗯，衛星很棒，

and they have taught us so much about the big picture

在過去數十年間，它們讓我們 學到了好多整體的情況。

over the past few decades.

However, the problem with satellites

然而，衛星的問題在於

is they can only see through one micron of the surface of the ocean.

它們只能看穿海洋表面的一微米。

They have relatively poor spatial and temporal resolution,

它們的空間和時間 解析度相對比較差，

and their signal needs to be corrected for cloud cover and land effects

且它們的訊號需要根據雲層覆蓋、

陸地效應，及其他因子來做校調。

and other factors.

So what is going on in the oceans?

所以，海洋裡的狀況如何？

And what are we trying to measure?

我們想要測量的是什麼？

And how could a robot be of any use?

機器人又有什麼用途？

Let's zoom in on a small cube in the ocean.

咱們把海洋的一小塊放大來看。

One of the key things we want to understand is the surface,

我們想要了解的關鍵之一是表面，

because the surface, if you think about it,

因為如果你細想，

is the nexus of all air-sea interaction.

表面是所有空氣和海洋互動的交界處。

It is the interface through which all energy and gases must flow.

它是個介面，所有能量 和氣體都要流過它。

Our sun radiates energy,

我們的太陽會散發能量，

which is absorbed by oceans as heat

海洋會將它以熱能的形式吸收，

and then partially released into the atmosphere.

接著將一部分釋放到大氣當中。

Gases in our atmosphere like CO2 get dissolved into our oceans.

我們大氣中的氣體，如二氧化碳， 會溶解到我們的海洋中。

Actually, about 30 percent of all global CO2 gets absorbed.

事實上，全球有大約 30% 的二氧化碳被吸收。

Plankton and microorganisms release oxygen into the atmosphere,

浮游生物和微生物 會把氧氣釋放到大氣中，

so much so that every other breath you take comes from the ocean.

量大到你所吸的每兩口氣 就有一口來自海洋。

Some of that heat generates evaporation, which creates clouds

有些熱能會產生蒸發，創造出雲，

and then eventually leads to precipitation.

最終導致降雨。

And pressure gradients create surface wind,

壓力梯度會造成地表的風，

which moves the moisture through the atmosphere.

讓濕氣透過大氣來移動。

Some of the heat radiates down into the deep ocean

有些熱能向下發散到海洋深處，

and gets stored in different layers,

儲存在不同層，

the ocean acting as some kind of planetary-scale boiler

海洋就像是地球規模的鍋爐， 將所有那些能量儲存起來，

to store all that energy,

which later might be released in short-term events like hurricanes

後續可能會透過 短期事件來釋放，如颶風，

or long-term phenomena like El Niño.

或長期現象，如聖嬰現象。

These layers can get mixed up by vertical upwelling currents

垂直向上湧出的氣流 可能會將各層混合，

or horizontal currents, which are key in transporting heat

還有水平的氣流，對於將熱能

從熱帶傳送到極地， 扮演了關鍵角色。

from the tropics to the poles.

And of course, there is marine life,

當然，還有海洋生物，

occupying the largest ecosystem in volume on the planet,

佔據了地球上體積 最大的生態系統，

from microorganisms to fish to marine mammals,

從微生物，到魚類， 到海洋哺乳類動物，

like seals, dolphins and whales.

如海豹（seal）、海豚，和鯨魚。

But all of these are mostly invisible to us.

但，這些大部分是我們看不見的。

The challenge in studying those ocean variables at scale

大規模研究這些

海洋變量的挑戰是能量，

is one of energy,

the energy that it takes to deploy sensors into the deep ocean.

將感測器部署到海洋深處的能量。

And of course, many solutions have been tried --

當然，已經有許多 解決方案被嘗試過——

from wave-actuated devices

從浪流驅動裝置， 到衛星追蹤浮球，

to surface drifters

to sun-powered electrical drives --

到太陽能電子裝置——

each with their own compromises.

每一種都有它要妥協的地方。

Our team breakthrough came from an unlikely source --

我們團隊的突破，來自 一個很不可能的來源——

the pursuit of the world speed record in a wind-powered land yacht.

追求打破陸上風帆 速度的世界記錄。

It took 10 years of research and development

在十年的研究和開發之後，

to come up with a novel wing concept

才出現了一種新穎的機翼概念，

that only uses three watts of power to control

只用三瓦特的電力就可以控制，

and yet can propel a vehicle all around the globe

但似乎可以非常自主地

將載具推進到全世界各地。

with seemingly unlimited autonomy.

By adapting this wing concept into a marine vehicle,

我們把這種機翼概念 用到海洋載具上，

we had the genesis of an ocean drone.

創造出了海洋無人機。

Now, these are larger than they appear.

它們比看起來的還要大。

They are about 15 feet high, 23 feet long, seven feet deep.

它們有約十五英尺高， 二十三英尺長，七英尺深。

Think of them as surface satellites.

把它們想成是地表衛星。

They're laden with an array of science-grade sensors

它們裝滿了一大堆 科學等級的感測器，

that measure all key variables,

用來測量各種變數，

both oceanographic and atmospheric,

包括海洋學變數和大氣變數，

and a live satellite link transmits this high-resolution data

還有現場的衛星連結傳輸， 將這些高解析度的資料

back to shore in real time.

即時回傳到岸上。

Our team has been hard at work over the past few years,

過去幾年，我們的團隊 一直很努力，

conducting missions in some of the toughest ocean conditions

在地球上一些最艱鉅的 海洋條件下執行任務，

on the planet,

from the Arctic to the tropical Pacific.

從北極圈到熱帶太平洋。

We have sailed all the way to the polar ice shelf.

我們曾經一路航行到極地冰架。

We have sailed into Atlantic hurricanes.

我們曾經航行到大西洋颶風中。

We have rounded Cape Horn,

我們曾經繞過合恩角，

and we have slalomed between the oil rigs of the Gulf of Mexico.

我們曾經在墨西哥灣的 石油井間迂迴前進。

This is one tough robot.

這是個很強悍的機器人。

Let me share with you recent work that we did

讓我跟各位分享我們近期

在普里比洛夫群島做了什麼。

around the Pribilof Islands.

This is a small group of islands deep in the cold Bering Sea

這是一小群島嶼， 在寒冷的白令海深處，

between the US and Russia.

位在美國和俄國之間。

Now, the Bering Sea is the home of the walleye pollock,

白令海是狹鱈的家，

which is a whitefish you might not recognize,

狹鱈是一種白色鱒魚， 你們可能不認得，

but you might likely have tasted if you enjoy fish sticks or surimi.

但如果你們喜歡吃魚條或魚肉醬， 很可能就有嚐過牠。

Yes, surimi looks like crabmeat, but it's actually pollock.

是的，魚肉醬看起來像蟹肉， 但其實是狹鱈。

And the pollock fishery is the largest fishery in the nation,

而狹鱈漁業是美國最大的漁業，

both in terms of value and volume --

在價值上和產量上都是最大的——

about 3.1 billion pounds of fish caught every year.

每年會捕獲大約三十一億磅的魚。

So over the past few years, a fleet of ocean drones

在過去幾年，一支海洋無人機機隊

has been hard at work in the Bering Sea

在白令海努力工作著，

with the goal to help assess the size of the pollock fish stock.

目標是要協助評估 狹鱈魚群到底有多大。

This helps improve the quota system that's used to manage the fishery

這資訊能協助改善 用來管理漁業的配額系統，

and help prevent a collapse of the fish stock

並協助預防這種魚群大量減少，

and protects this fragile ecosystem.

保護這個脆弱的生態系統。

Now, the drones survey the fishing ground using acoustics,

無人機利用聲學來調查魚場，

i.e., a sonar.

也就是聲納。

This sends a sound wave downwards,

它會向下發出聲波，

and then the reflection, the echo from the sound wave

接著反射，碰到海床或魚群時，

from the seabed or schools of fish,

聲波會產生回聲，

gives us an idea of what's happening below the surface.

讓我們知道在海面底下的狀況。

Our ocean drones are actually pretty good at this repetitive task,

我們的海洋無人機其實很擅長 做這種重覆性的工作任務，

so they have been gridding the Bering Sea day in, day out.

它們一天到晚 在白令海分區辛勤工作。

Now, the Pribilof Islands are also the home of a large colony of fur seals.

普里比洛夫群島

也是許多海狗（fur seal）的家。

In the 1950s, there were about two million individuals in that colony.

在五〇年代，這個聚居地 約有兩百萬隻海狗。

Sadly, these days, the population has rapidly declined.

感傷的是，近期數量已快速下降，

There's less than 50 percent of that number left,

只剩下不到一半，

and the population continues to fall rapidly.

且數量還在持續快速減少。

So to understand why,

所以，為了了解原因，

our science partner at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory

我們在國家海洋哺乳類動物 實驗室的科學夥伴

has fitted a GPS tag on some of the mother seals,

在一些海狗媽媽的身上 裝上了 GPS 追蹤器，

glued to their furs.

黏在牠們的毛皮上。

And this tag measures location and depth

這種追蹤器會測量地點和深度，

and also has a really cool little camera

還配有一個很酷的小攝影機，

that's triggered by sudden acceleration.

只要突然加速就會啟動它。

Here is a movie taken by an artistically inclined seal,

這段影片來自一隻優美下潛的海狗，

giving us unprecedented insight into an underwater hunt

讓我們能看到北極圈 深處的水下狩獵，

deep in the Arctic,

這是前所未有的，

and the shot of this pollock prey

這張照片是被捕食的狹鱈，

just seconds before it gets devoured.

幾秒鐘後牠就被吃掉了。

Now, doing work in the Arctic is very tough, even for a robot.

即使對機器人來說， 在北極圈工作也是很艱苦的。

They had to survive a snowstorm in August

它們得要在八月雪暴中存活下來，

and interferences from bystanders --

還會受到旁觀者的干涉——

that little spotted seal enjoying a ride.

那隻斑海豹（spotted seal） 很享受搭便車。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Now, the seal tags have recorded over 200,000 dives over the season,

海狗追蹤器記錄了

當季超過二十萬次潛水，

and upon a closer look,

靠近一點看，

we get to see the individual seal tracks and the repetitive dives.

我們可以看到每隻海狗的 個別軌跡和重覆的下潛。

We are on our way to decode what is really happening

我們正在譯解，來探究

那掠食之地上到底有什麼狀況，

over that foraging ground,

and it's quite beautiful.

它非常漂亮。

Once you superimpose the acoustic data collected by the drones,

一旦你把無人機收集的 聲學資料疊上去，

a picture starts to emerge.

就會有一張影像浮現。

As the seals leave the islands and swim from left to right,

當海狗離開島嶼，

從左向右游時，

they are observed to dive at a relatively shallow depth of about 20 meters,

可以觀察到牠們下潛的深度 相對比較淺，大約二十公尺，

which the drone identifies is populated by small young pollock

無人機辨識出在這個深度 有小型年輕的狹鱈，

with low calorific content.

含熱量低。

The seals then swim much greater distance and start to dive deeper

接著，海狗會游比較遠的距離， 開始潛得比較深，

to a place where the drone identifies larger, more adult pollock,

根據無人機的資訊，牠們 前往的地方有比較大的成年狹鱈，

which are more nutritious as fish.

是比較有營養的魚類。

Unfortunately, the calories expended by the mother seals

不幸的是，海狗媽媽 為了游這額外的距離

to swim this extra distance

而消耗的熱量，

don't leave them with enough energy to lactate their pups back on the island,

導致牠們沒有足夠的能量 回去給島嶼上的小海狗餵奶，

leading to the population decline.

造成族群數量下降。

Further, the drones identify that the water temperature around the island

此外，無人機發現，

島嶼附近的水溫

has significantly warmed.

明顯變暖了。

It might be one of the driving forces that's pushing the pollock north,

可能就是這股力量 在驅使狹鱈北移，

and to spread in search of colder regions.

並散開來尋找比較冷的區域。

So the data analysis is ongoing,

資料分析還在進行中，

but already we can see that some of the pieces of the puzzle

但我們已經可以看到海狗之謎

from the fur seal mystery

已經有些拼圖片漸漸變清晰了。

are coming into focus.

But if you look back at the big picture,

但，如果你回頭看看整體，

we are mammals, too.

我們也是哺乳類動物。

And actually, the oceans provide up to 20 kilos of fish per human per year.

事實上，海洋每年為每個人 提供高達二十公斤的魚類。

As we deplete our fish stocks, what can we humans learn

當我們不斷消耗魚群，我們人類 能從海狗的故事裡學到什麼？

from the fur seal story?

And beyond fish, the oceans affect all of us daily

除了魚類之外，海洋每天 也影響著我們所有人，

as they drive global weather systems,

因為海洋會帶動全球天氣系統， 影響比如全球農業產出，

which affect things like global agricultural output

or can lead to devastating destruction of lives and property

或可能透過颶風、 極度高溫，和洪水，

through hurricanes, extreme heat and floods.

造成生命的嚴重損失和貧困。

Our oceans are pretty much unexplored and undersampled,

我們的海洋還有太多未被 探索之處，也沒有足夠的採樣，

and today, we still know more about other planets than our own.

現今，我們對於其他星球的了解 仍然多於我們的星球。

But if you divide this vast ocean in six-by-six-degree squares,

但，如果把廣大的海洋 切割成 6x6 度的正方形，

each about 400 miles long,

每一塊大約四百英里長，

you'd get about 1,000 such squares.

你就會得到大約 一千個這種正方形。

So little by little, working with our partners,

所以，我們和合作夥伴 一點一點來努力，

we are deploying one ocean drone in each of those boxes,

我們在每一個格中 部署一台海洋無人機，

the hope being that achieving planetary coverage

希望能夠涵蓋整個地球，

will give us better insights into those planetary systems

讓我們更深入了解

那些會影響人類的地球系統。

that affect humanity.

We have been using robots to study distant worlds in our solar system

我們開始用機器人 來研究我們太陽系中

遙遠的世界已經有一段時間了。

for a while now.

Now it is time to quantify our own planet,

該是量化我們星球的時候了。

because we cannot fix what we cannot measure,

因為我們無法修復 我們無法測量的東西，

and we cannot prepare for what we don't know.

且我們無法準備我們未知的東西。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）