Dyan deNapoli: The great penguin rescue

譯者: Resa CC 審譯者: Ana Choi

記憶中,

For as long as I can remember,

I have felt a very deep connection to animals and to the ocean.

我一直感覺自己和動物及海洋

有很深切的連結。

在這個年紀,

And at this age, my personal idol was Flipper the dolphin.

我個人的玩具

是海豚飛寶。

And when I first learned about endangered species,

當我首度得知瀕臨絶種物種的訊息,

I was truly distressed to know that every day,

我十分難過地發現

每天有動物會永遠從地球消失。

animals were being wiped off the face of this Earth forever.

And I wanted to do something to help, but I always wondered:

我想為牠們做些事情,

但我總是疑惑,

What could one person possibly do to make a difference?

一個人能做些什麼來改變事情的發展?

And it would be 30 years,

三十年了,

but I would eventually get the answer to that question.

我終究得到問題的答案。

When these heartbreaking images of oiled birds

這些鳥群慘遭石油毒害的驚心動魄景象

finally began to emerge from the Gulf of Mexico last year

最終暴光──去年發生在墨西哥灣,

during the horrific BP oil spill,

十分嚴重的BP(國際石油公司)漏油事件──

一位德國生物學家名為Silvia Gaus

a German biologist by the name of Silvia Gaus was quoted as saying,

說過這樣的話,

「我們應讓所有的『油鳥』安樂死

"We should just euthanize all oiled birds,

because studies have shown

因研究顯示

that fewer than one percent of them survive after being released."

釋放牠們重返自然後,低於百分之一的

『油鳥』能存活下來。」

我非常不同意這個說法。

And I could not disagree more.

In addition,

此外,我相信每隻『油鳥』

I believe that every oiled animal deserves a second chance at life.

值得有第二次生存機會。

And I want to tell you why I feel so strongly about this.

我要告訴你們

為何我對這件事有強烈的感受。

On June 23, 2000,

2000年6月23日,

a ship named the Treasure sank off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa,

一艘叫『寶藏』(Treasure)的運輸船

沈入南非開普敦(Capetown)沿海海域,

spilling 1,300 tons of fuel,

1,300噸燃料外洩,

which polluted the habitats of nearly half the entire world population

污染了

幾乎大半個

全球南非企鵝棲息地。

of African penguins.

Now, the ship sank between Robben Island to the south,

那艘船沈沒在海中,就在南往羅本島(Robben Island)

and Dassen Island to the north --

和北往Dassen Island的航行路線途中。

two of the penguins' main breeding islands.

這兩個島是企鵝主要繁殖地。

And exactly six years and three days earlier,

正好6年又零3天前,

即1994年6月20日,

on June 20, 1994,

一艘叫『阿波羅海』(Apollo Sea)鐵礦運輸船沈入Dassen Island附近海域,

a ship named the Apollo Sea sank near Dassen Island,

oiling 10,000 penguins, half of which died.

油害一萬隻企鵝──

半數企鵝死了。

Now when the Treasure sank in 2000,

當『寶藏』在2000年沈入大海時,

it was the height of the best breeding season

正值繁殖季節高峰,

scientists had ever recorded for the African penguin,

科學家曾為南非企鵝紀錄──

在那時,牠們被列為生存受威脅的物種。

which at the time, was listed as a threatened species.

不久,近兩萬隻企鵝

And soon, nearly 20,000 penguins

were covered with this toxic oil.

遭油污附著。

The local seabird rescue center, named SANCCOB,

當地海鳥營救中心「SANCCOB」(The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds)

immediately launched a massive rescue operation,

立即發起一個大規模的救援行動──

and this soon would become the largest animal rescue ever undertaken.

而且很快地成為

有始以來最大規模的搶救動物行動。

At the time, I was working down the street.

嗯,當時我在陸地下工作。

I was a penguin aquarist at the New England Aquarium.

在新英格蘭海生館時,我是企鵝館館長。

And exactly 11 years ago yesterday,

從昨天算起正好11年前,

the phone rang in the penguin office.

我辦公室電話響起。

And with that call, my life would change forever.

因那通電話,我的生活從而改變了。

It was Estelle van Der Merwe calling from SANCCOB,

是海鳥營救中心 Estelle van der Meer 打來的電話

saying, "Please come help.

說:「請來協助我們。

We have thousands of oiled penguins

我們有成千上萬隻『油企鵝』

和成千上萬個熱心,

and thousands of willing but completely inexperienced volunteers.

但完全沒有經驗的自願者。

And we need penguin experts to come train and supervise them."

我們需要企鵝專家來訓練並管理他們。」

於是兩天後,

So two days later,

I was on a plane headed for Cape Town

我在一架前往開普頓的飛機上,

with a team of penguin specialists.

同行的還有企鵝專家團隊。

And the scene inside of this building was devastating and surreal.

大樓內的景象

令人震驚又難以置信。

In fact, many people compared it to a war zone.

事實上,很多人稱其可與戰場相比擬。

Last week, a 10-year-old girl asked me:

上週,一個十歲的女孩問：

"What did it feel like when you first walked into that building

「那是怎樣的感覺,

當妳首次走入那棟大樓

and saw so many oiled penguins?"

看到那樣多的『油企鵝』?」

And this is what happened.

情形是這樣：

I was instantly transported back to that moment in time.

我當下彷彿回到

那個時刻。

企鵝是「很愛說話」的鳥類,

Penguins are very vocal birds and really, really noisy,

真的真的很吵。

所以我料定走進這座大樓

so I expected to walk into this building

and be met with this cacophony of honking and braying and squawking.

會聽到這樣的嘈雜聲

喋喋咻咻、嘎嘎作響,

But instead,

可是

when we stepped through those doors and into the building,

當我踏入大樓,進入一道道的門

it was eerily silent.

取而代之的是,怪異的沈默寂靜

So it was very clear

由此可知

these were stressed, sick, traumatized birds.

這些是焦慮、生病、受創的企鵝。

另一件令人震撼的事是

The other thing that was so striking

was the sheer number of volunteers.

自願參與救援的人數眾多,

一天多達一千人

Up to 1,000 people a day came to the rescue center.

到營救中心。

在整個救援的過程中

Eventually, over the course of this rescue,

more than 12-and-a-half thousand volunteers

超過一萬二千五百多人

came from all over the world to Cape Town,

自世界各地來到開普頓

協助拯救這些雀鳥。

to help save these birds.

And the amazing thing was that not one of them had to be there.

令人動容的是

他們任何人都沒必要這麼做,

然而他們來了。

Yet they were.

So for the few of us that were there in a professional capacity,

看在我們──在那裡是少數的專業人員──的眼中,

this extraordinary volunteer response to this animal crisis

這個非凡的自願行動

──對動物危機的回響──

was profoundly moving and awe-inspiring.

令人十分敬佩又感動萬分。

So the day after we arrived,

話說回來,我們抵達隔天

two of us from the aquarium were put in charge of room two.

來自海生館的我們兩人負責2號室。

Room two had more than 4,000 oiled penguins in it.

2號室有超過四千隻『油企鵝』。

Now, mind you --

你要知道, 開始的前三天,

three days earlier, we had 60 penguins under our care,

我們照料六十隻企鵝。

so we were definitely overwhelmed

哦! 我們真的忙得人仰馬翻

而且有點惶恐──至少我是這樣。

and just a bit terrified -- at least I was.

個人而言,我真不知道

Personally, I really didn't know

我是否有能力應付

if I was capable of handling such a monstrous task.

場面如此殘酷難堪的任務。

就全體而言,

And collectively,

we really didn't know if we could pull this off.

我們真的不確定挽救行動能否奏效。

Because we all knew that just six years earlier,

因為大家都知道

早在六年前,

half as many penguins had been oiled and rescued,

遭油害後,有半數企鵝獲救,

其中僅半數存活。

and only half of them had survived.

這麼說吧,人力能挽救

So would it be humanly possible to save this many oiled penguins?

多少『油企鵝』?

我們當下真不知道。

We just did not know.

但讓我們點燃希望的是

But what gave us hope

這些全力以赴、奮不顧身的自願者──

were these incredibly dedicated and brave volunteers,

three of whom here are force-feeding penguins.

這三個自願者得強迫餵食企鵝。

You may notice they're wearing very thick gloves.

你可能注意到了,他們戴著非常厚的手套。

And what you should know about African penguins

你知道的,非洲企鵝

is that they have razor-sharp beaks.

有像剃刀那般鋒利的鳥喙。

不久前,

And before long,

our bodies were covered head to toe

我們遍體鱗傷,

這些傷口是

with these nasty wounds inflicted by the terrified penguins.

飽受驚嚇的企鵝留下的。

就在我們抵達隔天

Now the day after we arrived, a new crisis began to unfold.

一個新的危機呈現,

The oil slick was now moving north towards Dassen Island,

浮油漸漸朝北方,向Dassen Island流動,

and the rescuers despaired,

救難人員感到絶望,

because they knew if the oil hit,

因為他們曉得若油水抵達

it would not be possible to rescue any more oiled birds.

就不可能搭救任何『油鳥』了。

And there really were no good solutions.

當時真的沒有好辦法了。

But then finally,

但後來,

one of the researchers threw out this crazy idea.

有個研究人員抛出一個瘋狂的點子。

He said, "OK, why don't we try and collect the birds

他說：「雖然有油侵身的風險,我們何不試著

就在油水中打撈這些鳥!」

at the greatest risk of getting oiled" --

營救團隊搜獲兩萬隻企鵝──

they collected 20,000 --

我們裝載這些企鵝沿海岸行駛長達500英哩(804.65公里)

"and we'll ship them 500 miles up the coast to Port Elizabeth

以後車廂開放式卡車將他們帶至依莉莎白港

in these open-air trucks,

放入未受油污、乾淨的海域

and release them into the clean waters there

讓他們游回家。」

and let them swim back home?"

(Laughter)

(笑)

So three of those penguins -- Peter, Pamela and Percy --

這樣說吧,三隻企鵝──彼得、潘蜜拉、波西──

戴著衛星標識裝置；

wore satellite tags,

and the researchers crossed their fingers

研究人員祈禱並希望

and hoped that by the time they got back home,

他們回到家園時,

在那個島及其海域的油能被清除掉。

the oil would be cleaned up from their islands.

還好,他們到達當天

And luckily, the day they arrived, it was.

油被清光了。

So it had been a huge gamble, but it had paid off.

這是一個巨大的賭注,但是這個策略奏效了。

因此救援團隊現在知道

And so they know now that they can use this strategy

可以採取這個策略

in future oil spills.

若未來有石油外漏的話。

So in wildlife rescue as in life,

正如救助生命；野生救援也一樣,

we learn from each previous experience,

我們有前車之鑑,

and we learn from both our successes and our failures.

從成功救援中學習,

當然也從失敗救援中獲得教訓。

最重要的事是知道

And the main thing learned during the Apollo Sea rescue in '94

──在1994年『阿波羅海』營救行動──

was that most of those penguins had died due to the unwitting use

大多數的『油企鵝』死於

未事先察覺而使用

of poorly ventilated transport boxes and trucks,

通風不良的

運送箱和貨車--

because they just had not been prepared

由於營救團隊的準備不足以

to deal with so many oiled penguins at once.

應付為數眾多的『油企鵝』。

So in these six years between these two oil spills,

因而在兩次石油外漏的六年間,

they've built thousands of these well-ventilated boxes.

營救團隊建造成千上萬個通風良好的箱子。

And as a result, during the Treasure rescue,

因此,在執行『寶藏』營救行動時

just 160 penguins died during the transport process,

在運輸過程中,

有160隻企鵝暴斃

as opposed to 5,000.

而能有5,000隻存活下來。

So this alone was a huge victory.

所以就此而論,是一場空前的勝戰。

其他從『阿波羅』營救行動中獲得的經驗

Something else learned during the Apollo rescue

是如何訓練企鵝、

was how to train the penguins

to take fish freely from their hands,

如何使用這些訓練箱

using these training boxes.

從餵食人員手中順利地取得魚。

And we used this technique again during the Treasure rescue.

我們再度使用這些手法

在『寶藏』營救行動中,

But an interesting thing was noted during the training process.

我們在訓練過程中

注意到一件有趣的事。

The first penguins to make that transition to free feeding

第一批

撐過變遷而能自由進食的企鵝

were the ones that had a metal band on their wing

是有金屬帶在翅膀的、

from the Apollo Sea spill six years earlier.

也是經歷6年前『阿波羅海』漏油的那批企鵝。

So penguins learn from previous experience, too.

所以企鵝也從先前的事件

獲得經驗。

像這樣,所有『油企鵝』

So all of those penguins had to have the oil meticulously cleaned

身體的油污必需被仔細清理；

from their bodies.

兩個人至少得花上一小時的時間

It would take two people at least an hour just to clean one penguin.

只為清理一隻企鵝。

When you clean a penguin,

而且清理一隻企鵝時

you first have to spray it with a degreaser.

首先必須噴灑去油劑在牠身上。

And this brings me to my favorite story from the Treasure rescue.

我想到我最愛的故事──

在『寶藏』救援行動時發生的。

About a year prior to this oil spill,

此石油外漏事件的約一年前,

一名十七歲的學生

a 17-year-old student had invented a degreaser.

發明了一種去油劑

And they'd been using it at SANCCOB with great success,

海鳥營救中心使用去油劑的成效很棒。

so they began using it during the Treasure rescue.

所以在執行『寶藏』援救行動便開始採用。

But partway through, they ran out.

但過程中,去油劑被用光了

So in a panic, Estelle from SANCCOB called the student

情急之下,海鳥營救中心Estelle打電話給該名學生,

and said, "Please, you have to make more!"

說：「請務必製造更多的去油劑。」

So he raced to the lab

所以他飛奔到實驗室

and made enough to clean the rest of the birds.

製造出足以清潔其他企鵝的劑量。

So I just think it is the coolest thing

我認為這是最酷的事

that a teenager invented a product

是一名青少年

發明了一項產品

that helped save the lives of thousands of animals.

協助拯救

成千上萬隻動物的生命。

So what happened to those 20,000 oiled penguins?

那麼這兩萬隻『油企鵝』後來怎麼了?

Silvia Gaus說對了嗎?

And was Silvia Gaus right?

我們應該讓所有的企鵝沒有餘地

Should we routinely euthanize all oiled birds

只能安樂死嗎?

because most of them are going to die anyway?

反正他們大部分還是無法存活下來,是嗎?

Well, she could not be more wrong.

嗯,她錯得離譜。

After half a million hours of grueling volunteer labor,

在五十萬個小時

精疲力竭自願勞動後,

more than 90 percent of those oiled penguins

超過百分之九十的『油企鵝』

were successfully returned to the wild.

被野放成功。

And we know from follow-up studies

我們從後續的研究得知

that they have lived just as long as never-oiled penguins,

牠們活得和那些未遭油害的

企鵝一般長久,

並且相當成功地繁殖。

and bred nearly as successfully.

And in addition,

還有大約三千隻企鵝寶寶

about 3,000 penguin chicks were rescued and hand raised.

獲救並且由人工哺育。

And again, we know from long-term monitoring

我們經由長期的觀測得知

that more of these hand-raised chicks survive to adulthood and breeding age

人工哺育的企鵝寶寶

順利存活至長大成人並達繁殖年齡,

比由其雙親哺育的企鵝寶寶還多。

than do parent-raised chicks.

有了這層了解

Armed with this knowledge, SANCCOB has a chick-bolstering project,

海鳥營救中心便策劃出企鵝寶寶保育計劃。

and every year, they rescue and raise abandoned chicks,

每年援救並扶養被棄養的企鵝寶寶。

and they have a very impressive, 80 percent success rate.

而且成功率高達

百分之八十。

This is critically important,

這是十分重要,

because one year ago,

因為一年前

the African penguin was declared endangered.

非洲企鵝被正式宣佈瀕臨絶種。

而且不到十年,

And they could be extinct in less than 10 years

若我們現在不採取

行動保護牠們的話, 牠們可能滅絶。

if we don't do something now to protect them.

So what did I learn

這麼說吧,從這個深刻難忘的經驗

from this intense and unforgettable experience?

我們學到什麼?

Personally, I learned that I am capable of handling so much more

個人而言,我發現

自己有能力成就更多,連作夢都難以想像。

than I ever dreamed possible.

And I learned that one person can make a huge difference.

而且我明白個人力量

能讓情況截然不同──

Just look at that 17-year-old.

瞧!那個十七歲的學生就做到了。

And when we come together and work as one,

當我們團結在一起

行動一致,

we can achieve extraordinary things.

我們能成就非凡。

的確,成為某個非凡行動的一部分

And truly, to be a part of something so much larger than yourself

──你能體驗超越個人能力所能及的成就──

是你可能擁有的

is the most rewarding experience you can possibly have.

最有意義的經驗。

So I'd like to leave you with one final thought

最後我想讓大家思考一下

若你們願意,請接受提議

and a challenge, if you will.

My mission as The Penguin Lady is to raise awareness and funding

我擔任「企鵝大使」的任務

是喚起民眾意識和募款

保護企鵝,

to protect penguins.

只是,你們為何應該要在乎企鵝?

But why should any of you care about penguins?

Well, you should care because they're an indicator species.

你們確實應該要在乎,

因為牠們是「指標物種」。

And simply put: if penguins are dying, it means our oceans are dying.

簡單說,如果企鵝逐步滅跡,

這意味我們的海洋處於垂死狀態,

And we ultimately will be affected,

我們到頭來還是會受影響,

because, as Sylvia Earle says,

因為如同海洋學家Sylvia Earle說的,

"The oceans are our life-support system."

「海洋是我們的自然生命維持系統。」

And the two main threats to penguins today

目前企鵝面臨的兩個主要威脅是

are overfishing and global warming.

過度捕捉和全球暖化。

這兩件事是

And these are two things

that each one of us actually has the power to do something about.

我們每個人

實際有能力去解決的牠

所以若我們每人都能出一份力

So if we each do our part, together, we can make a difference,

便能扭轉乾坤,讓情況改變,

and we can help keep penguins from going extinct.

可使企鵝免於滅絶。

Humans have always been the greatest threat to penguins,

人類一直是企鵝面臨的最大威脅,

但現在我們是牠們唯一的希望。

but we are now their only hope.

謝謝大家。

Thank you.

(Applause)

(掌聲)