Antarctic discoveries 科學傢發現南極海洋中的生態系統

本集內容

Antarctic discoveries 科學傢提議保護南極海洋中的生態系統

學習要點

有關“Antarctica 南極”的詞匯

邊看邊答

What is threatening the species discovered in the sea off the Antarctic Peninsula?

文字稿

Antarctica – the most remote continent in the world. Encased in glacial ice thousands of feet thick. It’s still largely unexplored. And we know even less about the icy seas that bring it. Now machines are making it possible for us to catch a glimpse. A mini-submarine is taking marine biologist Doctor Susanne Lockhart down into the Antarctic deep.

Above is a land of frigid ice, below is a thriving mass of life. No light penetrates this deep. Plants can’t grow. These are all animals. Then it was my turn to go down with pilot John. We drop much deeper. More than a 1,000 feet (300 metres) down we find a wall of life. Sponges and corals, sea stars, feather stars – all thriving in complete darkness.

A robot arm catches samples. Some of these species have never been filmed before. They are threatened by an increase in fishing in the region. We gathered evidence of a unique ecosystem that deserves protection.

No one could deny that this region needs protecting. But what is the best way to do it? Is a line on a map really going to make much difference? And who is going to police anything out here? The proposal to protect all these creatures and their world will be heard by the Antarctic nations in October.

南極是世界上最偏遠的大陸。這片土地上覆蓋著數千英尺深的冰川。直到現在，在南極仍有很多地方無人涉足。而人們對構成這些冰川的冰冷海洋更是知之甚少。如今，機械裝置給我們提供瞭一睹這片海洋奧秘的機會。一臺迷你潛水艇正載著海洋生物學傢蘇珊·洛克哈特博士駛入南極海洋的深處。

海平面之上覆蓋著極為堅硬的冰塊，而海底則蘊藏瞭數量龐大的生命。沒有任何一種光線能夠穿透並到達如此深的地方。因此植物無法在這裡生長。這些全都是動物。我和駕駛員約翰一同潛入瞭海底。在潛到1000英尺（約300米）多深的地方時，我們可以看到一堵由海洋生物構成的墻，包括海綿生物、珊瑚、海星、海百合，它們都在一片漆黑的環境中茁壯地生長。

潛艇伸出一隻用來采樣的機械手臂。有一些物種在這之前從未被攝像機捕捉到過。如今，這些海洋生物受到瞭來自該地區捕魚業的威脅。我們所收集到的證據表明，這個獨特的生態系統應受到保護。

沒人能否認我們有必要保護這片海域。但解決問題最好的方法是什麼呢？難道在地圖上劃上一條線就能改變現狀嗎？此外，誰應該來監管這片地區？南極各國將在今年十月舉行的一次會議上受理有關保護這些生物及其生存環境的提案。