The discoveries awaiting us in the ocean's twilight zone | Heidi M. Sosik

譯者: Helen Chang 審譯者: Yuntao Li

I bet all of you are familiar with this view of the ocean,

我打賭你們都熟悉這種海洋景觀，

but the thing is,

但事實上

most of the ocean looks nothing like this.

大部分海洋看起來不像這樣。

Below the sunlit surface waters,

在陽光照射的海面下，

there's an otherworldly realm

還有個非世俗的境界

known as the twilight zone.

被稱為「過渡區（twilight zone）」。

At 200 to 1,000 meters below the surface,

位於海面下 200 至 1000 公尺處，

sunlight is barely a glimmer.

陽光幾乎僅僅是一絲微光。

Tiny particles swirl down through the darkness

微小的粒子漩渦穿過黑暗，

while flashes of bioluminescence

同時閃爍著生物發的光，

give us a clue that these waters teem with life:

提供我們這些水域充滿生命的線索：

microbes, plankton, fish.

微生物、浮游生物、魚。

Everything that lives here has amazing adaptations

這裡所有的生物

都能夠適應這種極端環境的挑戰。

for the challenges of such an extreme environment.

These animals help support top predators such as whales, tuna,

這些動物幫助支撐頂級獵食者，

如鯨魚、金槍魚、箭魚和鯊魚。

swordfish and sharks.

There could be 10 times more fish biomass here

這裡的魚類生物量

可能比以前想像的還多上十倍。

than previously thought.

In fact, maybe more than all the rest of the ocean combined.

事實上，也許比海洋 其他地方的總和更多。

There are countless undiscovered species in deep waters,

深水中有無數未被發現的物種，

and life in the twilight zone is intertwined with earth's climate.

過渡區的生活與地球氣候交織在一起。

Yet the twilight zone is virtually unexplored.

然而，過渡區幾乎未被開發。

There are so many things we still don't know about it.

有很多我們仍不知道的事。

I think we can change that.

我想我們能改變這一點。

I was drawn to oceanography by just this kind of challenge.

我被這種挑戰吸引到海洋學領域。

To me it represents the perfect intersection

對我而言，它代表科學、

of science, technology and the unknown,

技術和未知的完美交集，

the spark for so many breakthrough discoveries about life on our planet.

是我們星球上許多有關 生命突破性發現的火花。

As a college student,

身為大學生時，

I went on an expedition across the Atlantic

我和一群科學家在大西洋上探險，

with a team of scientists using a high-powered laser

使用高功率雷射光

to measure microscopic algae.

來測量微觀藻類。

The wild thing that happened on that trip

那次旅行發生的一件大事是

is that we discovered what everyone who looked before had completely missed:

我們發現前人完全錯過了：

photosynthetic cells smaller than anyone thought possible.

光合細胞比任何人認為的還要小。

We now know those tiny cells are the most abundant

如今我們知道這些微小的細胞

photosynthetic organisms on earth.

是地球上最豐富的光合生物。

This amazing discovery happened because we used new technology

這驚人的發現肇因於 我們使用新技術，

to see life in the ocean in a new way.

以新的方式觀察海洋生命。

I am convinced that the discoveries awaiting us in the twilight zone

我確信，在過渡區等待我們去發現的

will be just as breathtaking.

將同樣令人嘆為觀止。

We know so little about the twilight zone because it's difficult to study.

我們對過渡區知之甚少， 因為很難研究它。

It's exceedingly large,

它的範圍廣大，

spanning from the Arctic to the Southern Ocean

從北極到南大洋

and around the globe.

和全球各地。

It's different from place to place.

各地互不相同，

It changes quickly as the water and animals move.

隨著水和動物的移動而迅速變化。

And it's deep and dark and cold, and the pressures there are enormous.

它深沉而黑暗、寒冷，且壓力巨大。

What we do know is fascinating.

我們已知的令人目眩神馳。

You may be imagining huge monsters lurking in the deep sea,

或許你想像的是潛伏深海的巨怪，

but most of the animals are very small,

但大多數的動物都非常小，

like this lantern fish.

就像這條燈籠魚。

And this fierce-looking fish is called a bristlemouth.

這看起來兇猛的魚叫做「圓罩魚」。

Believe it or not, these are the most abundant vertebrates on earth

信不信由你，這些是地球上 最富饒的脊椎動物，

and many are so small that a dozen could fit in this one tube.

許多小到這試管裡能放進一打之多。

It gets even more interesting,

更有趣的是

because small size does not stop them from being powerful through sheer number.

小尺寸不妨礙牠們「數大為強」。

Deep, penetrating sonar shows us that the animals form dense layers.

深深穿透的聲納向我們展示 動物所形成的緻密層。

You can see what I mean by the red and yellow colors

看紅色和黃色的數據 就能夠明白我的意思，

around 400 meters in these data.

紅色和黃色是四百公尺左右的數據。

So much sound bounces off this layer,

這層因反彈的聲音多

it's been mistaken for the ocean bottom.

而被誤認為海底。

But if we look, it can't be, because the layer is deep during the day,

但如果仔細瞧，它不可能是海底，

因為這一層在白天很深， 而在夜間升起，

it rises up at night

and the pattern repeats day after day.

日復一日地重複這模式。

This is actually the largest animal migration on earth.

這實際上是地球上最大的動物遷徙，

It happens around the globe every day,

每天發生在全球各地，

sweeping through the world's oceans in a massive living wave

活動的巨波席捲全球的海洋，

as twilight zone inhabitants travel hundreds of meters

攜帶過渡區的居民旅行數百公尺，

to surface waters to feed at night

晚上到海面進食，

and return to the relative safety of deeper, darker waters during the day.

白天返回相對安全， 更深、更暗的水域。

These animals and their movements help connect the surface and deep ocean

這些動物和牠們的移動

協助海面和深海緊要地連接著。

in important ways.

The animals feed near the surface,

這些動物靠近海面進食，

they bring carbon in their food into the deep waters,

將食物中的碳帶入深海，

where some of that carbon can stay behind

其中一些碳留在深海，

and remain isolated from the atmosphere for hundreds or even thousands of years.

與大氣層隔絕長達 數百年甚至數千年之久。

In this way, the migration may help keep carbon dioxide

這樣一來，遷移可能有助於

使二氧化碳遠離大氣層，

out of our atmosphere

and limit the effects of global warming on our climate.

局限全球暖化對氣候的影響。

But we still have many questions.

但我們仍有很多問題。

We don't know which species are migrating,

我們不知道哪些物種遷徙，

what they're finding to eat,

牠們尋覓什麼食物，

who is trying to eat them

誰試圖獵食牠們，

or how much carbon they are able to transport.

或者牠們能夠運輸多少碳。

So I'm a scientist who studies life in the ocean.

我是個研究海洋生物的科學家。

For me, curiosity about these things is a powerful driver,

對這些事情的好奇心 對我而言是個強大的驅動力，

but there's more to the motivation here.

但還有更多的動機。

We need to answer these questions and answer them quickly,

我們需要回答這些問題 並迅速地回答，

because the twilight zone is under threat.

因為過渡區正受到威脅。

Factory ships in the open ocean

在公海上的工廠船隻

have been vacuuming up

一直在吸捕數十萬噸

hundreds of thousands of tons of small, shrimp-like animals called krill.

被稱為磷蝦的小型蝦類動物。

The animals are ground into fish meal

這些磷蝦被磨成魚粉

to support increasing demands for aquaculture

以支撐對水產養殖和磷蝦油等營養品

and for nutraceuticals such as krill oil.

日益增長的需求。

Industry is on the brink of deepening fisheries such as these

這行業的捕魚活動正下探

into the mid-water

這一類海域下面更深的海，

in what could start a kind of twilight zone gold rush

可能向過渡區淘金的熱潮

operating outside the reach of national fishing regulations.

運行在國家捕撈法規範圍之外，

This could have irreversible global-scale impacts

可能會對海洋生物和食物網

on marine life and food webs.

造成不可逆轉的全球影響。

We need to get out ahead of fishing impacts

我們必須在捕魚影響之前擺脫困境，

and work to understand this critical part of the ocean.

努力理解海洋的這一關鍵部分。

At Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,

在伍茲霍爾海洋學研究所，

I'm really fortunate to be surrounded by colleagues who share this passion.

我真的很幸運周遭全是 共有這種激情的同事們。

Together, we are ready to launch a large-scale exploration

我們準備一起啟動

對過渡區的大規模探索。

of the twilight zone.

We have a plan to begin right away

我們計劃立即開始

with expeditions in the North Atlantic,

在北大西洋進行探險，

where we'll tackle the big challenges

在那裡我們將解決觀察和研究

of observing and studying the twilight zone's remarkable diversity.

過渡區多樣化的巨大挑戰。

This kind of multiscale, multidimensional exploration

這種多種規模、多個維度的勘探

means we need to integrate new technologies.

意味著我們需要整合新的技術。

Let me show you a recent example that has changed our thinking.

讓我述說最近一個 改變我們想法的例子。

Satellite tracking devices on animals such as sharks

對鯊魚等動物的衛星追蹤裝置

are now showing us that many top predators

現在向我們展示了許多頂級獵食者

regularly dive deep into the twilight zone to feed.

經常深深潛入過渡區去覓食。

And when we map their swimming patterns and compare them to satellite data,

我們繪製牠們的游泳模式， 與衛星數據比對，

we find that their feeding hot spots

發現牠們的攝食熱點

are linked to ocean currents and other features.

與洋流和其他的特性有關。

We used to think these animals found all of their food in surface waters.

我們曾經認為這些動物 在海面找到所有的食物。

We now believe they depend on the twilight zone.

而現在相信牠們依賴過渡區供食。

But we still need to figure out how they find the best areas to feed,

但我們仍需弄清楚 牠們如何找到最佳進食區，

what they're eating there

牠們在那裡吃什麼，

and how much their diets depend on twilight zone species.

和多少的飲食取決於過渡區的物種。

We will also need new technologies to explore the links with climate.

我們還需要新的技術 來探索與氣候的聯繫。

Remember these particles?

還記得這些粒子嗎？

Some of them are produced by gelatinous animals called salps.

部分由海樽（salps）這種 凝膠狀動物所產生。

Salps are like superefficient vacuum cleaners,

海樽就像超級吸塵器，

slurping up plankton and producing fast-sinking pellets of poop --

吸入浮游生物， 排出快速下沉的糞便──

try saying that 10 times fast --

嘗試以十倍速說說看──

pellets of poop that carry carbon deep into the ocean.

沉重的糞便攜帶碳到海洋的深處。

We sometimes find salps in enormous swarms.

有時我們發現巨大的海樽群。

We need to know where and when and why and whether

我們需要知道何時、何地、為什麼，

this kind of carbon sink has a big impact on earth's climate.

以及這種碳的匯集 是否對地球氣候產生重大的影響。

To meet these challenges, we will need to push the limits of technology.

為了應對這些挑戰， 我們得把技術推到極限。

We will deploy cameras and samplers on smart robots

我們將在智能機器人上 部署攝影機和採樣器，

to patrol the depths and help us track the secret lives of animals like salps.

來幫我們追蹤海樽之類 動物的秘密生活。

We will use advanced sonar

我們將使用先進的聲納

to figure out how many fish and other animals are down there.

弄清楚下面有多少魚和其他的動物。

We will sequence DNA from the environment in a kind of forensic analysis

我們將為那環境裡的生物 做 DNA 排序和法醫式的分析，

to figure out which species are there

找出那裡有哪些物種，

and what they are eating.

以及牠們吃些什麼。

With so much that's still unknown about the twilight zone,

對過渡區的情況仍有這麼多的未知，

there's an almost unlimited opportunity for new discovery.

幾乎有無限的機會能獲得新發現。

Just look at these beautiful, fascinating creatures.

只要看看這些美麗、迷人的生物。

We barely know them.

我們幾乎毫不了解牠們。

And imagine how many more are just down there waiting

想像那裡還有多少

在等待我們用新技術看到牠們。

for our new technologies to see them.

The excitement level about this could not be higher on our team

我們海洋科學家、工程師和傳播團隊

of ocean scientists, engineers and communicators.

對此的興奮程度不可能更高了。

There is also a deep sense of urgency.

還有一種深刻的緊迫感。

We can't turn back the clock on decades of overfishing

我們不能將時光倒流，

數十年來無數過度捕撈的海洋地區

in countless regions of the ocean

that once seemed inexhaustible.

曾有過看似取之不盡的資源。

How amazing would it be to take a different path this time?

這次走不同的路會多精彩呢？

The twilight zone is truly a global commons.

過渡區確是個全球公有的區域。

We need to first know and understand it

我們需要先認識和理解它，

before we can be responsible stewards

才能成為負責任的管家，

and hope to fish it sustainably.

和有望永續地捕魚。

This is not just a journey for scientists,

這旅程不限於科學家，

it is for all of us,

而是所有人的，

because the decisions we collectively make

因為在未來十年我們共同作出的決定

over the next decade

will affect what the ocean looks like

將會影響未來幾個世紀的海洋相貌。

for centuries to come.

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）