Mike deGruy: Hooked by an octopus

譯者: yuanyuan liang 審譯者: Meg Lee

I first became fascinated with octopus at an early age.

我第一次被章魚迷住是在小時候

I grew up in Mobile, Alabama --

我在阿拉巴馬州的Mobile郡長大

somebody's got to be from Mobile, right? --

這裡總該有人是從那裡來的吧？

and Mobile sits at the confluence of five rivers,

Mobile位在五條河流的交會處

forming this beautiful delta.

形成美麗的三角洲

And the delta has alligators crawling

這裡有短吻鱷出沒在河裡，

in and out of rivers filled with fish

水裡滿滿是魚

and cypress trees dripping with snakes,

柏樹上垂著蛇

birds of every flavor.

還有各式各樣的鳥

It's an absolute magical wonderland to live in --

那絕對是一個神奇的樂園

if you're a kid interested in animals, to grow up in.

最適合喜歡動物的孩子在那裡成長。

And this delta water flows to Mobile Bay, and finally into the Gulf of Mexico.

三角洲的水流進Mobile灣，最後進了墨西哥灣

And I remember my first real contact with octopus

我記得我和章魚的第一次接觸

was probably at age five or six.

大概是在五六歲時

I was in the gulf, and I was swimming around and saw a little octopus on the bottom.

我在墨西哥灣游泳，在海底看到一隻小章魚。

And I reached down and picked him up, and immediately

我伸手過去把牠拿起來，在那瞬間

became fascinated and impressed by its speed and its strength and agility.

我被牠敏捷靈活有力的身手所震懾。

It was prying my fingers apart and moving to the back of my hand.

牠掰開我的手指，然後爬到我的手背上。

It was all I could do to hold onto this amazing creature.

我所能做的，就是托著他

Then it sort of calmed down in the palms of my hands

然後他就在我的手掌上安靜下來

and started flashing colors,

開始改變體色

just pulsing all of these colors.

不同顏色一直跳動

And as I looked at it, it kind of tucked its arms under it,

我看著牠把觸手藏在身下

raised into a spherical shape

變成圓形

and turned chocolate brown with two white stripes.

然後變成巧克力色，上面還有兩條白線

I'm going, "My gosh!" I had never seen anything like this in my life!

我心想“天啊！”我這輩子從來沒看過這種東西。

So I marveled for a moment, and then decided it was time to release him,

我讚嘆了一會兒，決定是時候把牠放走了

so I put him down.

所以我把牠放下

The octopus left my hands and then did the damnedest thing:

章魚從我手上離開，然後拿出了它的絕招。

It landed on the bottom in the rubble

他沈降到水底的亂石上，

and -- fwoosh! -- vanished

然後咻一下就不見了

right before my eyes.

就在我眼前

And I knew, right then, at age six,

就在那個當下，六歲的我就決定，

that is an animal that I want to learn more about. So I did.

這就是我想要瞭解學習更多的動物。而我也就這麼做了，

And I went off to college and got a degree in marine zoology,

我進了大學並拿到了海洋生物學的學位

and then moved to Hawaii and entered graduate school

接著搬到夏威夷

at the University of Hawaii.

進了夏威夷大學的研究所

And while a student at Hawaii, I worked at the Waikiki Aquarium.

當我在夏威夷唸書時，我在威基基水族館工作

And the aquarium had a lot of big fish tanks

水族館裡有很多大魚缸

but not a lot of invertebrate displays,

但是無脊椎動物的展示並不多。

and being the spineless guy, I thought, well

既然我是研究無脊椎動物的，我想，好吧，

I'll just go out in the field and collect these wonderful animals

我就自己去外面收集這些美妙的動物

I had been learning about as a student

在我的學生生涯裡，我一直在研究牠們，

and bring them in, and I built these elaborate sets and put them on display.

把牠們帶回來，我精心佈置魚缸展示牠們。

Now, the fish in the tanks were gorgeous to look at,

現在，魚缸裡的魚看上去非常美麗

but they didn't really interact with people.

可是牠們沒有真的和人互動。

But the octopus did.

但章魚會

If you walked up to an octopus tank,

如果你走向一個章魚缸

especially early in the morning before anyone arrived,

特別是一大早，大家都還沒來的時候

the octopus would rise up and look at you

章魚會起身盯著你

and you're thinking, "Is that guy really looking at me? He is looking at me!"

然後你會想“這傢伙真的在看我嗎？他在看我耶！”

And you walk up to the front of the tank. Then you realize

然後你走到缸子前，接著你會發現

that these animals all have different personalities:

這些章魚們都有不同個性

Some of them would hold their ground,

有些原地不動，

others would slink into the back of the tank and disappear in the rocks,

有些溜到魚缸後頭，消失在岩石中。

and one in particular, this amazing animal ...

但是有一個很特別，這是個奇異的傢伙……

I went up to the front of the tank, and he's just staring at me,

我走到魚缸前，而牠就這麼瞪著我。

and he had little horns come up above his eyes.

牠有些小觸角慢慢從眼睛上方抬起來。

So I went right up to the front of the tank --

於是我走到魚缸正前方。

I was three or four inches from the front glass --

離魚缸玻璃不到十公分的距離。

and the octopus was sitting on a perch, a little rock,

而這個章魚就坐在一塊小礁石的邊上，

and he came off the rock and he also came down right to the front of the glass.

然後牠從石頭上溜下來，也來到魚缸玻璃前。

So I was staring at this animal about six or seven inches away,

我就這樣隔著大概十幾公分的距離盯著它，

and at that time I could actually focus that close;

當時，我真的能看清楚那麼近的距離；

now as I look at my fuzzy fingers I realize those days are long gone.

現在當我看著自己的手指都模模糊糊時，我知道青春一去不復返了。

Anyway, there we were, staring at each other,

總之，當時我們就是這樣，彼此對視，

and he reaches down and grabs an armful of gravel

接著牠伸手到魚缸底，抓起一把小砂粒，

and releases it in the jet of water entering the tank

然後在魚缸濾水機的出水口那裡

from the filtration system,

鬆開觸手，

and -- chk chk chk chk chk! -- this gravel hits the front of the glass and falls down.

然後“呲呲呲！”這把小砂粒打到魚缸的玻璃上，再沉到水底。

He reaches up, takes another armful of gravel, releases it --

他伸出觸手，又抓起一把砂粒，鬆開……

chk chk chk chk chk! -- same thing.

“呲呲呲呲呲！”跟剛才一樣。

Then he lifts another arm and I lift an arm.

接著他舉起一個觸手。於是我也抬起一邊手臂。

Then he lifts another arm and I lift another arm.

然後他又舉起另外一邊。我也舉起另一邊。

And then I realize the octopus won the arms race,

接著我就意識到這場舉手比賽是章魚贏了，

because I was out and he had six left. (Laughter)

因為我已經沒手可舉，而他還有六個呢。

But the only way I can describe what I was seeing that day

但對於那天我的所見所聞，我只有一種解釋

was that this octopus was playing,

那就是這個章魚在玩耍，

which is a pretty sophisticated behavior for a mere invertebrate.

這對於一隻區區無脊椎動物來說是相當複雜的行為。

So, about three years into my degree,

而在我念這個學位的第三年，

a funny thing happened on the way to the office,

在我去辦公室的路上發生了一件有趣的事，

which actually changed the course of my life.

這件事，確實地改變了我的人生。

A man came into the aquarium. It's a long story, but essentially

有一個人跑來水族館。說來話長，但是基本上，

he sent me and a couple of friends of mine to the South Pacific

這個人派我和我的一些朋友去南太平洋，

to collect animals for him,

為他收集動物，

and as we left, he gave us two 16-millimeter movie cameras.

在我們離開時，他給我們兩部16毫米攝影機。

He said, "Make a movie about this expedition."

他說，“把這次考察活動拍成電影吧。”

"OK, a couple of biologists making a movie --

……好吧，一堆生物學家拍電影——

this'll be interesting,"

應該會很有趣。

and off we went. And we did, we made a movie,

於是我們就出發了，而且還真的拍了部電影，

which had to be the worst movie ever made

這肯定是電影史上

in the history of movie making,

最爛的片子了。

but it was a blast. I had so much fun.

但是它很有衝擊力；我玩得不亦樂乎。

And I remember that proverbial light going off in my head,

我還記得當時我突然靈機一動，

thinking, "Wait a minute.

想到，“等等。

Maybe I can do this all the time.

說不定我可以一直做這個。

Yeah, I'll be a filmmaker."

對，我要成為一個電影製片人。”

So I literally came back from that job,

於是，當我完成這工作回來，我當真

quit school, hung my filmmaking shingle

退了學，掛上製片的招牌

and just never told anyone that I didn't know what I was doing.

不過我從沒告訴過任何人我其實根本不知道自己在做什麽。

It's been a good ride.

到現在為止都很順利。

And what I learned in school though was really beneficial.

而我在學校裡學到的東西其實都非常有用。

If you're a wildlife filmmaker

如果你是一名野生動物製片人

and you're going out into the field to film animals,

跑去野外拍攝動物，

especially behavior,

尤其是動物的行為，

it helps to have a fundamental background

具備基本的知識背景是很有幫助的

on who these animals are,

比如要拍的是怎樣一種動物，

how they work and, you know, a bit about their behaviors.

牠們如何活動，你們懂的，一些關於牠們行為的知識。

But where I really learned about octopus

但讓我真正瞭解章魚

was in the field, as a filmmaker

是我在身為製片人，

making films with them,

實地拍攝關於牠們電影的時候，

where you're allowed to spend large periods of time

在那裡你可以花大量的時間

with the animals, seeing octopus being octopus

和這些動物在一起，在章魚們的家鄉，海洋

in their ocean homes.

觀察真正的章魚是怎樣的。

I remember I took a trip to Australia,

我記得有次去澳洲，

went to an island called One Tree Island.

我去了一個名叫“一棵樹”的小島。

And apparently, evolution had occurred

而顯然，演化過程在

at a pretty rapid rate on One Tree,

“一棵樹”上以相當快的速度發生，

between the time they named it and the time I arrived,

就在他們給它命名到我到達的這段時間裡，

because I'm sure there were at least three trees

因為我明明在島上看到至少三棵樹

on that island when we were there.

當我們抵達那裡的時候。

Anyway, one tree is situated right next to

總之，這個島緊挨著

a beautiful coral reef.

一片美麗的珊瑚礁。

In fact, there's a surge channel

事實上，這裡有一條衝浪流道

where the tide is moving back and forth, twice a day, pretty rapidly.

在那裡，潮汐一天兩次快速地來回沖刷，

And there's a beautiful reef,

這裡還有一片美麗的珊瑚礁

very complex reef, with lots of animals,

很多動物生活在這片複雜的珊瑚礁中，

including a lot of octopus.

包括很多章魚。

And not uniquely

雖不是獨門行為，

but certainly, the octopus in Australia

但澳洲的章魚，

are masters at camouflage.

肯定是偽裝界的大師。

As a matter of fact,

事實上，

there's one right there.

在這個島上就有這樣的章魚。

So our first challenge was to find these things,

所以我們的第一個挑戰就是找到這些傢伙，

and that was a challenge, indeed.

而這的確是一個挑戰。

But the idea is, we were there for a month

但是我們會在那裡呆上一個月，

and I wanted to acclimate the animals to us

我想讓章魚適應我們的存在。

so that we could see behaviors without disturbing them.

這樣我們才能看到它們未被騷擾時的行為。

So the first week was pretty much spent

所以第一個星期就是

just getting as close as we could,

儘量靠近它們

every day a little closer, a little closer, a little closer.

每天都更近一點，更近一點，更近一點。

And you knew what the limit was: they would start getting twitchy

然後你就知道底線在哪裡，再近牠們就要開始不安了，

and you'd back up, come back in a few hours.

這時你就撤退，過幾個小時再回來，

And after the first week, they ignored us.

第一個星期以後，它們就忽視我們了。

It was like, "I don't know what that thing is, but he's no threat to me."

章魚可能覺得，“我也不知道這東西是啥，但是他對我沒什麽威脅。”

So they went on about their business

於是就繼續忙自己的事了。

and from a foot away, we're watching mating

就在三十公分的距離之外，我們觀察牠們交配，

and courting and fighting

求偶和爭鬥，

and it is just an unbelievable experience.

這真是一個令人難以置信的經驗。

And one of the most fantastic displays

而我記得的其中一個最奇妙的行為

that I remember, or at least visually,

至少是我能視覺上觀察到的

was a foraging behavior.

是捕食行為。

And they had a lot of different techniques

牠們掌握了很多不同的技巧

that they would use for foraging,

用以捕食。

but this particular one used vision.

但這種技巧用到視覺。

And they would see a coral head,

比如它們看到一塊珊瑚岬

maybe 10 feet away,

大約離著三公尺遠

and start moving over toward that coral head.

就開始朝著那裡移動過去。

And I don't know whether they actually saw crab in it, or imagined that one might be,

我也不知道牠們到底是看到有一隻螃蟹，還是猜想那裡可能有螃蟹，

but whatever the case, they would leap off the bottom

無論怎樣，牠們都是凌空而起，

and go through the water and land right on top of this coral head,

游過去，降落在這塊珊瑚岬的正頂部，

and then the web between the arms

然後各觸手之間的襟膜

would completely engulf the coral head,

將珊瑚岬完全包裹起來，

and they would fish out, swim for crabs.

接著牠們把螃蟹從裡面趕出來。

And as soon as the crabs touched the arm, it was lights out.

只要螃蟹一碰到觸手，牠就完蛋了。

And I always wondered what happened under that web.

我總是想知道在襟膜包裹之下發生了些什麽。

So we created a way to find out, (Laughter)

於是我們發明了一個方法去觀察。

and I got my first look at that famous beak in action.

這樣我才第一次看到章魚那著名的嘴如何運動。

It was fantastic.

真是太奇妙了。

If you're going to make a lot of films about a particular group of animals,

如果你想拍攝關於某一群動物的大量影片，

you might as well pick one that's fairly common.

你可能也想選擇一種非常常見的動物。

And octopus are, they live in all the oceans.

章魚就是；牠們生活在各個大洋裡。

They also live deep.

牠們也生活在深海。

And I can't say octopus are responsible

雖不能說章魚就是主因

for my really strong interest

觸發我真正濃厚的興趣

in getting in subs and going deep,

鑽進潛艇潛入深海，

but whatever the case, I like that.

但不管怎樣，我都喜歡這一行。

It's like nothing you've ever done.

這個工作是無與倫比的。

If you ever really want to get away from it all

如果你真的想從現實世界抽身而出，

and see something that you have never seen,

去看一些前所未見的東西，

and have an excellent chance of seeing something

那一個絕好的機會就是

no one has ever seen, get in a sub.

鑽進一個潛水艇。

You climb in, seal the hatch, turn on a little oxygen,

你爬進去，密封艙門，釋放一些氧氣，

turn on the scrubber,

啟動這個刷子，

which removes the CO2 in the air you breathe, and they chuck you overboard.

它能去除你呼出的二氧化碳，然後他們把你扔下船。

Down you go. There's no connection to the surface

你就開始下沉。與水面失去一切聯繫，

apart from a pretty funky radio.

除了一個相當時髦的無線電對講器。

And as you go down, the washing machine

在下沉的過程中，水面上的顛簸

at the surface calms down.

平靜下來。

And it gets quiet.

四周變得安靜。

And it starts getting really nice.

一切開始變得非常美好。

And as you go deeper, that lovely, blue water you were launched in

當你繼續下潛，剛才悅目的藍色海水

gives way to darker and darker blue.

變成越來越深邃的藍。

And finally, it's a rich lavender,

最終，變成深紫色，

and after a couple of thousand feet, it's ink black.

而幾百公尺以下，就成了漆黑一團。

And now you've entered the realm

現在你所在的

of the mid-water community.

是海洋的中間層區域。

You could give an entire talk

你可以開一個講座

about the creatures that live in the mid-water.

就講生活在中間層的生物。

Suffice to say though, as far as I'm concerned,

就我所知，我可以這麼說，

without question, the most bizarre designs

毫無疑問，最古怪的生理構造

and outrageous behaviors

和最駭人聽聞的行為

are in the animals that live in the mid-water community.

就存在於生活在中間層的動物群落中。

But we're just going to zip right past this area,

但是我們要很快地離開這個區域，

this area that includes about 95 percent

這個區域包括了我們星球95%的

of the living space on our planet

有生命存在的空間。

and go to the mid-ocean ridge, which I think is even more extraordinary.

我們要去的是洋中脊，我覺得這個地區更加光怪陸離。

The mid-ocean ridge is a huge mountain range,

洋中脊是一片巨大的山脈，

40,000 miles long, snaking around the entire globe.

六萬五千公里長，綿延了整個地球。

And they're big mountains, thousands of feet tall,

而且它們都是巍峨的群山，幾百公尺高，

some of which are tens of thousands of feet

有些甚至上千近萬，

and bust through the surface,

高聳出海面，

creating islands like Hawaii.

形成像夏威夷這樣的海島。

And the top of this mountain range

而這些山脈的頂部

is splitting apart, creating a rift valley.

分開成兩半，形成裂谷。

And when you dive into that rift valley, that's where the action is

當你潛入到這裂谷，那裡才是所有事情發生的地方

because literally thousands of active volcanoes

因為那裡真的有上千個活火山

are going off at any point in time

隨時會噴發，

all along this 40,000 mile range.

這些火山就分佈在這六萬五千公里長的洋中脊。

And as these tectonic plates are spreading apart,

當這些構造板塊移動分開的時後，

magma, lava is coming up and filling those gaps,

岩漿和熔岩就會湧出來，填入這些空隙。

and you're looking land -- new land --

你看到的就是大陸，新大陸

being created right before your eyes.

正在你眼前創生。

And over the tops of them is 3,000 to 4,000 meters of water

而在這之上是3到4千米的水體，

creating enormous pressure,

產生巨大的壓力，

forcing water down through the cracks toward the center of the earth,

促使海水向下穿裂壓向地心，

until it hits a magma chamber

直到擊中一個岩漿室，

where it becomes superheated

那裡的溫度極高

and supersaturated with minerals,

充滿了大量的礦物質，

reverses its flow and starts shooting back to the surface

造成水流逆轉，衝向洋面，

and is ejected out of the earth like a geyser at Yellowstone.

像黃石公園的間歇泉一樣衝出地表。

In fact, this whole area

事實上，這整個區域

is like a Yellowstone National Park with all of the trimmings.

就像一個全套的黃石公園。

And this vent fluid is about 600 or 700 degrees F.

這管流溫度高達三四百度。

The surrounding water is just a couple of degrees above freezing.

而周圍的水溫只比冰點高幾度。

So it immediately cools,

所以它馬上就冷卻了，

and it can no longer hold in suspension

無法再維持懸浮狀態，

all of the material that it's dissolved,

所有的物質熔化

and it precipitates out, forming black smoke.

和凝析出來的東西，形成黑煙。

And it forms these towers, these chimneys

然後又形成這些塔，這些煙囪，

that are 10, 20, 30 feet tall.

有三米高的，六米的，八米的。

And all along the sides of these chimneys

沿著這些煙囪上下

is shimmering with heat and loaded with life.

都閃動著熱氣，爬滿了生物。

You've got black smokers going all over the place

這些海底黑煙柱隨處可見，

and chimneys that have tube worms

煙囪上長滿管蟲

that might be eight to 10 feet long.

可以長達兩三公尺。

And out of the tops of these tube worms

在這些管蟲的頂部，

are these beautiful red plumes.

伸出這些美麗的紅色羽狀物。

And living amongst the tangle of tube worms

而生活在這團管蟲之間的，

is an entire community of animals:

是一個完整的生物群落，

shrimp, fish, lobsters, crab,

有蝦，魚，龍蝦，螃蟹，

clams and swarms of arthropods

蚌和一群一群的節肢動物，

that are playing that dangerous game

牠們彷彿在玩一個非常危險的遊戲，

between over here is scalding hot and freezing cold.

一邊是極熱，一邊是極冷。

And this whole ecosystem

而這整個生態系統

wasn't even known about

一直不為人所知，

until 33 years ago.

直到33年前。

And it completely threw science on its head.

它完全顛覆了科學常識。

It made scientists rethink

它促使科學家反思，

where life on Earth might have actually begun.

地球上的生命起源自哪裡。

And before the discovery of these vents,

在這些熱泉被發現以前，

all life on Earth, the key to life on Earth,

人們以為地球上的生命，生命起源的關鍵，

was believed to be the sun and photosynthesis.

在於太陽和光合作用，

But down there, there is no sun,

但是在這裡，完全不見陽光，

there is no photosynthesis;

也就沒有光合作用。

it's chemosynthetic environment down there driving it,

這裡主要是化學合成環境，

and it's all so ephemeral.

一切都是轉瞬即逝。

You might film this

當你拍攝這個

unbelievable hydrothermal vent,

不可思議的深海熱泉時，

which you think at the time has to be on another planet.

你可能會覺得自己是在另一個星球。

It's amazing to think that this is actually on earth;

想想看這其實是地球，多麼神奇！

it looks like aliens in an alien environment.

看上去卻像是生活在外星上的異形。

But you go back to the same vent eight years later

但是當你8年以後回到同一個熱泉，

and it can be completely dead.

它可能已經完全死亡。

There's no hot water.

熱水枯竭了。

All of the animals are gone, they're dead,

所有的動物都不見了，死了。

and the chimneys are still there

只有那些煙囪還在，

creating a really nice ghost town,

簡直就是一個鬼城，

an eerie, spooky ghost town,

陰森恐怖，鬼氣森森的鬼城，

but essentially devoid of animals, of course.

當然，沒有任何動物存在了。

But 10 miles down the ridge...

但是從洋中脊向下十六公里，

pshhh! There's another volcano going.

噗絲絲絲絲！另一個火山在噴發。

And there's a whole new hydrothermal vent community that has been formed.

那裡已經形成了一個全新的深海熱泉生態群落。

And this kind of life and death of hydrothermal vent communities

這種生物群落的生生死死

is going on every 30 or 40 years

每30到40年就輪迴一次，

all along the ridge.

整個洋中脊都是如此。

And that ephemeral nature

深海熱泉生態圈

of the hydrothermal vent community

這種短命特色

isn't really different from some of the

和我見過的其他地區

areas that I've seen

並沒有什麽不同。

in 35 years of traveling around, making films.

過去三十五年裡，我到處去拍攝電影。

Where you go and film a really nice sequence at a bay.

你去一個海灣拍了一系列非常棒的片子。

And you go back, and I'm at home,

然後你回到家，

and I'm thinking, "Okay, what can I shoot ...

想，“嗯，我要拍什麽呢？

Ah! I know where I can shoot that.

啊，我知道我可以去哪裡拍攝了！

There's this beautiful bay, lots of soft corals and stomatopods."

有這麼一個美麗的海灣，那裡有很多軟珊瑚和口足動物。”

And you show up, and it's dead.

然後當你到那裡時，那裡已經死了。

There's no coral, algae growing on it, and the water's pea soup.

珊瑚都不見了，長了大片海藻，海水好像豌豆湯。

You think, "Well, what happened?"

你會納悶，“阿？怎麼回事？”

And you turn around,

然後你張望四周，

and there's a hillside behind you with a neighborhood going in,

背後立起一座小丘，上頭正建造一片新社區，

and bulldozers are pushing piles of soil back and forth.

推土機來來回回推土。

And over here

就在這裡，

there's a golf course going in.

正在蓋一個高爾夫球場。

And this is the tropics.

這是熱帶。

It's raining like crazy here.

雨瘋狂下著。

So this rainwater is flooding down the hillside,

這些雨水沿著山坡向下沖刷，

carrying with it sediments from the construction site,

帶著工地裡的沉積物，

smothering the coral and killing it.

覆蓋在珊瑚上，將它毒死。

And fertilizers and pesticides

化肥和殺蟲劑

are flowing into the bay from the golf course --

從高爾夫球場流入海灣。

the pesticides killing all the larvae and little animals,

殺蟲劑殺死了所有的珊瑚幼蟲和小動物，

fertilizer creating this beautiful plankton bloom --

化肥造成浮游生物大肆繁殖，

and there's your pea soup.

最後就成了豌豆湯。

But, encouragingly, I've seen just the opposite.

但是，讓人鼓舞的是，我也見過相反的情況。

I've been to a place that was a pretty trashed bay.

我曾經去過一個污染嚴重的海灣。

And I looked at it, just said, "Yuck,"

當我看到它時，我只能說，“噁心！”

and go and work on the other side of the island.

然後去島的另一頭工作。

Five years later, come back,

5年以後，我又來到這裡，

and that same bay is now gorgeous. It's beautiful.

同一個海灣現在非常美麗。賞心悅目。

It's got living coral, fish all over the place,

這裡有活躍的珊瑚，到處都是魚群，

crystal clear water, and you go, "How did that happen?"

海水清澈透明，你會問，“怎麼會這樣？”

Well, how it happened is

那麼，怎麼會這樣呢，

the local community galvanized.

是當地的社區採取行動。

They recognized what was happening on the hillside and put a stop to it;

他們發現在山坡上發生的種種問題，決定要喊停，

enacted laws and made permits required

他們通過法案，要經過許可

to do responsible construction

才能進行負責任的建設

and golf course maintenance

和高爾夫球場的維護

and stopped the sediments flowing into the bay,

阻止沉積物沖刷進海灣，

and stopped the chemicals flowing into the bay,

阻止化學物質流入海灣，

and the bay recovered.

然後海灣就恢復了生機。

The ocean has an amazing ability

海洋有著驚人的修復能力，

to recover, if we'll just leave it alone.

只要我們能不去打攪它。

I think Margaret Mead

我認為Margaret Mead

said it best.

說的最好。

She said that a small group of thoughtful people

她說一小群深謀遠慮的人

could change the world.

就能改變世界。

Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

確實，就是這麼簡單。

And a small group of thoughtful people

正是一小群深謀遠慮的人

changed that bay.

改變了海灣。

I'm a big fan of grassroots organizations.

我非常贊成和支持民間組織。

I've been to a lot of lectures

我去過很多地方講演，

where, at the end of it, inevitably,

無論哪裡，到最後，無可避免地，

one of the first questions that comes up is,

第一個被問到的問題總是，

"But, but what can I do?

“但是，我能做什麽呢？

I'm an individual. I'm one person.

我就自己一個人，單槍匹馬，

And these problems are so large and global, and it's just overwhelming."

而那些問題都那麼大，全球性的，太超出我的能力了。”

Fair enough question.

這的確是個問題。

My answer to that is don't look

我的回答是，不要老是盯著

at the big, overwhelming issues of the world.

那些大的，世界性的問題。

Look in your own backyard.

看看自己的後院。

Look in your heart, actually.

事實上，看看自己的內心。

What do you really care about that isn't right where you live?

在你周圍有什麽你真正關心的地方出了問題。

And fix it.

解決它。

Create a healing zone in your neighborhood

在你家社區建立一塊恢復自然的休養區，

and encourage others to do the same.

並鼓勵他人也這麼做。

And maybe these healing zones can sprinkle a map,

也許這些修復區會成為星星之火，

little dots on a map.

散佈整個地圖。

And in fact, the way that we can communicate today --

其實，今天我們溝通信息的方式，

where Alaska is instantly knowing what's going on in China,

使得阿拉斯加的人能馬上就知道中國在發生什麽，

and the Kiwis did this, and then over in England they tried to ...

紐西蘭人怎樣了，英國人又在幹什麼……

and everybody is talking to everyone else --

誰和誰都能夠說上話

it's not isolated points on a map anymore,

這讓我們不再是地圖上分散的點，

it's a network we've created.

我們已經建立起一個網絡。

And maybe these healing zones can start growing,

也許這些修復區能開始擴展，

and possibly even overlap, and good things can happen.

甚至重疊，美好的事情就能發生。

So that's how I answer that question.

所以我就是這樣回答這個問題的。

Look in your own backyard, in fact, look in the mirror.

看看自己的後院，事實上，看看鏡子。

What can you do that is more responsible

你能做點什麽比

than what you're doing now?

你現在正在做的事負起更多責任？

And do that, and spread the word.

那就去做，並且到處宣傳。

The vent community animals

熱泉群落裡的動物們

can't really do much

對自己的生死

about the life and death

無能為力，

that's going on where they live, but up here we can.

只能聽天由命，但我們可以有所作為。

In theory, we're thinking, rational human beings.

理論上，我們會思考，我們是理性的人類。

And we can make changes to our behavior

我們可以改變自己的行為

that will influence and affect the environment,

來影響和改變環境。

like those people changed the health of that bay.

就像那些改變了海灣狀況的人們。

Now, Sylvia's TED Prize wish

Sylvia的TED獲獎願望是

was to beseech us to do anything we could,

呼籲我們盡我們所能，

everything we could,

傾我們所有，

to set aside not pin pricks,

劃出大片海域，

but significant expanses

而不是芝麻綠豆大的面積，

of the ocean for preservation,

作為保育區，

"hope spots," she calls them.

她稱之為“希望小區”

And I applaud that. I loudly applaud that.

我為此而大聲鼓掌喝彩。

And it's my hope that some of these "hope spots"

我希望，這些希望小區當中能有些

can be in the deep ocean,

放在深海，

an area that has historically

這些地方在過去

been seriously neglected, if not abused.

被嚴重忽略了，假如沒有被濫用的話——

The term "deep six" comes to mind:

我想到“海拋”。

"If it's too big or too toxic for a landfill,

不管什麼東西對垃圾掩埋場來說太大或太毒，

deep six it!"

那就扔海裡去。

So, I hope that we can also keep

所以我希望我們也能

some of these "hope spots" in the deep sea.

在深海保留一些“希望小區”。

Now, I don't get a wish,

現在我還不能許願，

but I certainly can say

但我敢說

that I will do anything I can

我要盡我所能地

to support Sylvia Earle's wish.

支持Sylvia Earle的願望。

And that I do.

我心甘情願。

Thank you very much. (Applause)

非常感謝大家。（觀眾鼓掌）