Helping the puffin make a comeback 英海島研究助瀕危物種海鸚鵡數量增加

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How far do puffins travel each day to look for food?

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A thriving puffin population. Skomer Island is renowned for its wide range of seabirds. But the number of puffins breeding here is attracting international interest. They’ve been in decline in other parts of the UK and Europe for decades. So much so that the species is now endangered. Here scientists have found it’s a different picture.

這裡的海鸚鵡數量正蓬勃增長。英國斯科默島上以有多種類海鳥而聞名。但近來在這裡繁殖的海鸚鵡數量引起瞭國際社會的關註。幾十年來，英國和歐洲其它地區的海鸚鵡總數持續下降。以至於該物種現已瀕臨滅絕。然而科學傢卻在這座島上發現瞭另一番景象。

Dr Matt Wood, University of Gloucestershire
The population on Skomer Island has almost quadrupled in the last 30 years or so. That’s great news for puffins in Wales and we’re hoping to find out more about why those population changes are taking place, so that we can understand what might happen further into the future and maybe to help puffins more widely.

馬特·伍德博士英國格魯斯特大學
“斯科莫島上的海鸚鵡數量在過去的30年來翻瞭近兩番。這對生活在威爾士的海鸚鵡來說是個好消息。我們希望能找出該物種數量變化的原因，從而瞭解在更遠的未來可能會發生什麼，這樣做也許還能幫助到更多的海鸚鵡。”

And to do that, researchers are exploring their feeding patterns.

為瞭實現這些目標，研究人員們在探究它們的喂養方式。

Annette Fayet, Oxford University
It’s really new. No one’s ever tracked the movements of puffins before in these places where I’m gonna go.

安奈特·費亞特英國牛津大學
“這項研究很新穎。此前，從來沒有人在我要去的這些地方追蹤過海鸚鵡的足跡。”

This tracking device is small enough to fix onto a puffin’s back. And already the team has found these tiny seabirds travel more than 90 miles (145km) a day to bring food back to the nest.

這個追蹤裝置小巧到可以綁到海鸚鵡的後背上。該團隊已經發現，這些小海鳥每天要移動90多英裡（約145公裡）路，去覓食並把食物帶回鳥巢。

Annette Fayet, Oxford University
We’re not only looking at where they’re going, but with complex analytical technique we can also identify their behaviour. So we can say, OK, in this place they’re feeding, in this place they’re resting or flying, and so the feeding places are really the key ones here that we’re interested in.

安奈特·費亞特英國牛津大學
“我們不光是在記錄它們的行蹤，而是利用復雜的分析技術來識別它們的行為。這樣我們就能推斷出，它們在這裡進食，在這裡休息或飛行，所以海鸚鵡的進食地是我們興趣的關鍵。”

The team will carry out the same work in Norway and Iceland, where there are concerns about the poor survival rates of chicks and where the number of puffins is in serious decline.

該團隊將在挪威和冰島開展同樣的研究工作，這兩個國傢存在幼鳥存活率低下和海鸚鵡數量急劇減少的擔憂。

There are no such concerns on Skomer, where the chicks are being monitored daily, and a record of their weight is kept. But the work being carried out here could have a huge impact in helping scientists understand the threat these seabirds face.

在斯科莫島就沒有這種顧慮，每天都會有人密切關註這裡幼鳥的生長情況，並記錄它們的體重變化。在這裡開展的研究工作可能對幫助科學傢們弄清這些海鳥面臨的威脅有重大的影響。