I want to tell you a love story. But it doesn't have a happy ending. Once upon a time, I was a stubborn five-year-old who decided to become a marine biologist.
我想和你們分享一個愛情故事。 但這個故事沒有美好結局。 很久以前,還是個固執五歲小孩的我 決定要成為海洋生物學家。
Thirty-four years, 400 scuba dives and one PhD later, I'm still completely enamored with the ocean. I spent a decade working with fishing communities in the Caribbean, counting fish, interviewing fishermen, redesigning fishing gear and developing policy. I've been helping to figure out what sustainable management can look like for places where food security, jobs and cultures all depend on the sea.
經過 34 年、四百次水肺潛水、 取得博士學位後, 我依舊深深迷戀著海洋。 我花了十年研究 加勒比海地區的漁業社區, 計算魚的數量、訪問漁人、 重新設計漁具,並發展政策。 我協助找出永續經營的可能模式, 提供一切必須仰賴海洋來確保 糧食安全、工作、文化的地區。
In the midst of all this, I fell in love. With a fish. There are over 500 fish species that live on Caribbean reefs, but the ones I just can't get out of my head are parrotfish. Parrotfish live on coral reefs all over the world, there are 100 species, they can grow well over a meter long and weigh over 20 kilograms, but that's the boring stuff. I want to tell you five incredible things about these fish.
在這一切之中我陷入熱戀。 對象是一隻魚。 超過五百種魚種 住在加勒比海的珊瑚礁上, 但讓我無法忘懷的 是鸚鯉。 鸚鯉住在世界各地的珊瑚礁上, 品種有上百種, 牠們可以長到超過一公尺長、 20 公斤重, 不過講這個沒意思。 我想告訴你們關於這些魚 五件神奇的事。
First, they have a mouth like a parrot's beak, which is strong enough to bite coral, although mostly they're after algae. They are the lawn mowers of the reef. This is key, because many reefs are overgrown with algae due to nutrient pollution from sewage and fertilizer that runs off of land. And there just aren't enough herbivores like parrotfish left out on the reefs to mow it all down.
首先,牠們的嘴跟鸚鵡的喙一樣, 強到足以咬珊瑚, 不過牠們平常尋覓的是海藻。 牠們是礁的除草機。 這很重要,因為 很多礁都長滿了海藻, 因為從陸地流出的廢水和肥料 造成的營養鹽汙染。 礁上像鸚鯉這樣的 草食動物實在太少了, 無法除去所有的海藻。
OK, second amazing thing. After all that eating, they poop fine white sand. A single parrotfish can produce over 380 kilograms of this pulverized coral each year. Sometimes, when scuba diving, I would look up from my clipboard and just see contrails of parrotfish poop raining down. So next time you're lounging on a tropical white-sand beach, maybe thank of parrotfish.
再來,第二件神奇的事: 牠們吃完之後會排泄出細緻的白沙。 一隻鸚鯉每年可以製造 超過 380 公斤 這種粉狀珊瑚。 有時我潛水 會將視線從手寫板移開, 只為了看鸚鯉糞便的軌跡如雨降下。 所以下次你在熱帶白沙灘上 消磨時間的時候, 也許該感謝鸚鯉。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
Third, they have so much style. Mottled and striped, teal, magenta, yellow, orange, polka-dotted, parrotfish are a big part of what makes coral reefs so colorful. Plus, in true diva style, they have multiple wardrobe changes throughout their life. A juvenile outfit, an intermediate getup, and a terminal look.
第三點,牠們有好多種造型。 斑紋、線條、鴨綠色、洋紅色、 黃色、橘色、圓點, 鸚鯉是讓珊瑚礁 色彩繽紛的最大功臣。 此外,牠們換上 真正的女名伶風格時, 有多套不同劇服在生活中登場。 青少年打扮、 中年服裝 和晚年裝扮。
Fourth, with this last wardrobe change comes a sex change from female to male, termed sequential hermaphroditism. These large males then gather harems of females to spawn. Heterosexual monogamy is certainly not nature's status quo. And parrotfish exemplify some of the beauty of diverse reproductive strategies.
第四,最後這套變裝 會讓牠們變性,由女變男, 術語稱為「循序之雌雄同體」。 這一大群公魚 會聚集在母魚閨房產卵。 異性戀一夫一妻制 實在不是大自然的常態。 鸚鯉是多樣化繁殖策略之美的典範。
Fifth, and the most incredible, sometimes when parrotfish cozy up into a nook in the reef at night, they secrete a mucus bubble from a gland in their head that envelops their entire body. This masks their scent from predators and protects them from parasites, so they can sleep soundly. I mean, how cool is this?
第五點也是最神奇的一點, 有時鸚鯉晚上 在珊瑚礁深處窩著的時候, 牠們會從頭部腺體分泌黏液泡泡, 來包覆全身。 這招能夠遮掩牠們的香味, 避開食肉動物, 保護牠們遠離寄生生物, 如此就能一夜好眠。 這超酷的吧?
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
So this is a confession of my love for parrotfish in all their flamboyant, algae-eating, sand-pooping, sex-changing glory.
這是我對鸚鯉的真愛告白, 因為牠們炫麗、 吃海藻、排沙子和變性的光環。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
But with this love comes heartache. Now that groupers and snappers are woefully overfished, fishermen are targeting parrotfish. Spearfishing took out the large species, midnight blue and rainbow parrotfish are now exceedingly rare, and nets and traps are scooping up the smaller species. As both a marine biologist and a single person, I can tell you, there aren't that many fish in the sea.
但隨著這份愛而來的是心碎。 現在石斑魚和鯛魚都被過度捕撈, 漁人轉向鸚鯉。 射矛打魚帶走較大的魚種, 午夜藍鸚鯉和彩虹鸚鯉 現在已非常稀少, 漁網和誘鉺將較小的魚種一網打盡。 身為海洋生物學家和一介平民, 我可以告訴你, 其實海裡沒有那麼多魚。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
And then, there's my love for their home, the coral reef, which was once as vibrant as Caribbean cultures, as colorful as the architecture, and as bustling as carnival. Because of climate change, on top of overfishing and pollution, coral reefs may be gone within 30 years. An entire ecosystem erased. This is devastating, because hundreds of millions of people around the world depend on reefs for their nutrition and income. Let that sink in.
而且,我愛牠們的家, 也就是那些珊瑚礁, 一度如加勒比海文化般活躍, 如建築般繽紛, 如嘉年華般熱鬧。 由於氣候變遷, 加上過度捕撈和污染, 珊瑚礁可能在 30 年內消失。 整個生態會被消滅。 這件事讓人非常沮喪。 因為世界上有上億人 仰賴珊瑚礁供給他們營養和收入。 請了解這一點。
A little bit of good news is that places like Belize, Barbuda and Bonaire are protecting these VIPs -- Very Important Parrotfish. Also, more and more places are establishing protected areas that protect the entire ecosystem. These are critical efforts, but it's not enough. As I stand here today, only 2.2 percent of the ocean is protected. Meanwhile, 90 percent of the large fish, and 80 percent of the coral on Caribbean reefs, is already gone. We're in the midst of the sixth mass extinction. And we, humans, are causing it. We also have the solutions. Reverse climate change and overfishing, protect half the ocean and stop pollution running from land. But these are massive undertakings requiring systemic changes, and we're really taking our sweet time getting around to it.
好消息是: 有些地方,像貝里斯、巴布達 和波納爾都在保護這些重要的魚, 非常重要的鸚鯉。 同時,越來越多地方在建立保護區, 保護整個生態系統。 這些努力都很關鍵,但都還不夠。 今天我站在這裡的同時, 只有 2.2% 的海洋受到保護。 此時,有 90% 的大魚, 和 80% 的加勒比海礁 都已經消失。 我們正歷經第六次大滅絕。 我們人類是罪魁禍首。 我們也有解決方法。 扭轉氣候變遷和過度捕撈、 保護一半的海洋、 阻擋來自陸地的污染。 但這些都是很大規模的任務, 需要系統變化, 事態緊急,我們卻在慢慢耗時光。
Each of us can contribute, though. With our votes, our voices, our food choices, our skills and our dollars. We must overhaul both corporate practices and government policies. We must transform culture. Building community around solutions is the most important thing.
然而,我們每個人都能盡一己之力。 藉由我們的選票、聲音、食物選擇、 技能和財富。 我們必須改造企業的行事 和政府的政策。 我們必須徹底改變文化。 以解決方法為中心來建立社群 是最重要的事。
I am never going to give up working to protect and restore this magnificent planet. Every bit of habitat we preserve, every tenth of a degree of warming we prevent, really does matter. Thankfully, I'm not motivated by hope, but rather a desire to be useful. Because I don't know how to give an honest talk about my beloved parrotfish and coral reefs that has a happy ending.
我永遠都不會放棄 繼續保護和修復這個壯麗的星球。 我們保護的每一分棲息地, 即使我們只能防止暖化 0.1 度, 都還是很重要。 還好我不僅是懷抱著希望, 而是渴望能更有助益。 因為我不知道要怎麼在真誠的演說中 提及我珍愛的鸚鯉和珊瑚礁, 而牠們沒有美好結局。
Thank you.
謝謝。
(Applause)
(掌聲)