Actually, I come from Britain, but I've been living in Maldives for 26 years now. So, that's home really. The Maldives, as I'm sure you're aware, are a chain of islands off the southwest coast of India here. Capital, Malé, where I live. Actually, sitting here today in Mysore, we're closer to Malé than we are to Delhi, for example.
我其實是英國人, 但是我已經在馬爾地夫住了26年了, 馬爾地夫才算是我真正的家。 大家應該都知道,馬爾地夫是由一連串小島組成, 位於印度西南海岸外緣, 首都是馬累,我就住在那裡。 其實,今天會場的所在地邁索爾, 就離馬累比較近,去德里反而遠一點。
If you're in IT, India, obviously, is the place to be at the moment. But if you're a marine biologist, Maldives is not such a bad place to be. And it has been my home these years. For those of you who've been there, fantastic coral reefs, fantastic diving, fantastic snorkeling. I spend as much of my time as possible investigating the marine life. I study fish, also the bigger things, whales and dolphins.
如果你從事資訊產業,印度很顯然是最好的選擇; 但如果你是個海洋生物學家,馬爾地夫也算是個不錯的選擇。 正因為這樣,我才在馬爾地夫住了這麼多年。 如果各位曾經去過那裡,就知道那裡有超棒的珊瑚礁、 超棒的潛水、超棒的浮潛。 我把所有時間都用來 研究海洋生物, 我研究魚類, 也研究更大的動物,像鯨和海豚。
This is a blue whale. We have blue whales in the waters around here, off Maldives, around the waters of India. You can see them off Kerala. And, in fact, we're very lucky in this region. One of the best places in the world to see blue whales is here in this region. In Sri Lanka, if you go down to the south coast of Sri Lanka, during the northeast monsoon season, you can see blue whales very, very easily. It's probably the best place in the world to see them.
這是一隻藍鯨,藍鯨出現在 這附近的海域,就在馬爾地夫 和印度之間,你可以在卡瑞拉附近看到他們。 我們很幸運能住在這個地區, 因為這個地區就是全球觀賞藍鯨 最佳地點的其中之一。 在斯里蘭卡,如果你在東北季風季節 來到斯里蘭卡南部海岸的話, 你可以很輕易地就看到藍鯨, 那裡可能是世界上觀賞藍鯨的最佳地點。
Now, when I talk about the northeast monsoon season, I'm sure many of you here know exactly what I mean, but perhaps some of you are not quite so sure. I need to explain a little bit about monsoons. Now, monsoon, the root of the word "monsoon" comes from the word "season."
好,當我說到東北季風的時候, 我相信大部分的人都知道我指的是什麼, 但有些人可能還不太清楚, 我來稍微解釋一下季風是怎麼回事。 好,「季風」這個詞, 很明顯和「季節」有關,
So, it's just a season. And there are two seasons in most of South Asia. And in the summer India heats up, gets very hot. Hot air rises, and air is drawn in off the sea to replace it. And the way it works is, it comes from the southwest. It comes off the ocean here and is drawn up towards India. So it comes from the southwest. It's a southwest monsoon. Picks up moisture as it crosses the ocean. That's what brings the monsoon rain. And then in the winter things cool down. High pressure builds over India. And the whole system goes into reverse.
所以可以把季風看成是一個季節。而在大部分南亞地區,有兩個季節。 夏天時,印度會漸漸變熱,而且會變得很熱; 當熱空氣上升,海洋上空的空氣就會被拉扯過來取而代之, 這股氣流會從西南方向來, 從這裡的海洋表面,被拉扯到印度陸地; 由於氣流是從西南方向來,所以被稱為西南季風。 在季風通過海洋表面時,夾帶了大量的水氣, 就帶來了季風雨。 然後到冬天時,氣候變冷, 高氣壓在印度上空盤旋, 使整個系統便反轉過來,
So, the wind is now coming from the northeast out of India, across the Indian Ocean, this way towards Africa. Keep that in mind. Now, I'm a marine biologist, but I'm actually a bit of an old fashioned naturalist, I suppose. I'm interested in all sorts of things, almost everything that moves, including dragonflies. And I'm actually going to talk, this afternoon, about dragonflies. This is a very beautiful species, it's called the Oriental Scarlet.
於是,風就從東北方向吹過來, 從印度大陸吹到印度洋, 再一路吹向非洲。 請各位記住這一點。 好,我是海洋生物學家,可是我覺得 自己比較像老派的自然學家。 我對各式各樣的事情都感興趣,包括所有會動的東西, 也包括蜻蜓。 我今天下午就是要跟你們談談蜻蜓。 這是一個非常美麗的蜻蜓品種,叫做東方猩紅蜻蜓。
And one thing you need to know about dragonflies, one important thing, is that they lay their eggs in fresh water. They need fresh water to breed. They lay the eggs into fresh water. Little larvae hatch out in fresh water. They feed on other little things. They feed on mosquito larvae. So, they're very important. They control mosquito larvae, among other things. And they grow and grow by stages. And they climb out of the water, burst out, as the adult which we see. And typically, there is a lot of variation, but if you have a dragonfly with, say, a one year life cycle, which is quite typical, the larva, living in the fresh water, lives for 10 or 11 months. And then the adult, which comes after, lives for one or two months. So it's essentially a freshwater animal. It really does need fresh water.
有一件關於蜻蜓事是很重要的, 你們必須瞭解, 蜻蜓會在淡水中產卵, 他們需要淡水才能繁殖。 蜻蜓把卵產在淡水中, 小小的幼蟲就在淡水中孵化出來, 他們捕食其他小生物,包括蚊子的幼蟲, 所以他們非常重要, 他們可以控制蚊子幼蟲的數量。 在經過幾個生長階段之後,他們會從水裡爬出來, 蛻變成為我們看到的成蟲。 當然,不同種類間的會有不同的差異, 如果持續觀察,你會看到蜻蜓的生命週期通常是一年, 他的幼蟲通常會在淡水中生活 10或11個月, 而他蛻變為成蟲之後,會再活一或兩個月。 因此,蜻蜓本質上是一種淡水動物, 他們需要依靠淡水才能生存。
Now, the particular species of dragonfly I want to talk about is this one, because most dragonflies, like the one we've just seen, when the adult is there for its brief one or two months of life, it doesn't go very far. It can't travel very far. A few kilometers, maybe, is quite typical. They are very good fliers, but they don't go too far. But this guy is an exception. And this is called the Globe Skimmer, or Wandering Glider. And, as the name might suggest, it is found pretty much around the world. It lives throughout the tropics, the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia, into the Pacific. And it wanders far and wide. We know that much about it. But it really hasn't been studied very much.
好了,我要講到的一種很特別的蜻蜓 就是這種, 因為大多數的蜻蜓,像我們剛剛看到的那種, 在他短暫的一兩個月的成蟲期內, 不會飛得很遠,不能長途旅行, 頂多就是幾公里而已。 蜻蜓非常善於飛行,但是他們不會飛很遠。 但這個傢伙是個例外, 他的名字叫做黃蜻, 又稱薄翅蜻蜓, 在世界各地都能找到他, 分佈遍及熱帶、美洲、 非洲、亞洲、澳洲以及太平洋地區。 活動範圍非常廣泛,我們對他的瞭解也僅止於此, 從來沒有人好好地研究過這種蜻蜓,
It's a rather mediocre looking dragonfly. If you're going to study dragonflies, you want to study those really bright beautiful ones, like that red one. Or the really rare ones, the endemic endangered ones. This is, it seems a bit dull you know. It's sort of dull-colored. And it's fairly common. And it occurs everywhere -- you know, why bother? But if you take that attitude, you're actually missing something rather special. Because this dragonfly has a rather amazing story to tell. And I feel very privileged to have stumbled across it living in the Maldives.
因為他的長相真的是太平凡了。 如果你要研究蜻蜓的話,你會想去研究那些美艷的品種, 像那隻紅的,或是稀有品種、某地瀕臨絕種的品種。 這個嘛,看起來真的很不起眼, 他的顏色有點暗淡,而且相當常見, 任何地方都可以看到。你會想,何苦浪費時間? 但如果你真的這樣想的話,你就會錯失發現特殊現象的機會, 因為這種蜻蜓具有非常不平凡的經歷, 是我居住在馬爾地夫時, 偶然有幸發現的。
When I first went to the Maldives, dead keen on diving, spent as much of my time as I could in and under the water. Didn't notice any dragonflies; maybe they were there, maybe they weren't. Didn't notice them. But after some time, after some months, one day as I was going out and about, suddenly I noticed hundreds of dragonflies, hundreds of dragonflies. Something like this, these are all this species Globe Skimmer. I didn't know at the time, but I know now, they're Globe Skimmers, hundreds of them. And they were there for some time. And then they were gone.
我剛到馬爾地夫的時候, 非常熱衷潛水,我把所有的時間 都花在潛水, 我根本沒注意到任何蜻蜓,他們可能就在附近,也可能不在, 我完全沒有注意到。 但是過了一段時間,可能有幾個月之後, 有一天我在外面走的時候, 我突然注意到有上百隻的蜻蜓, 就是這個品種,全都是黃蜻, 當時並不知道什麼品種,但我現在知道了, 他們是黃蜻,有好幾百隻, 他們在那裡待了一段時間,然後就不見了。
And I didn't think anything more of it until the following year, when it happened again, and then the year after that, and then the year after that. And I was a bit slow, I didn't really take too much notice. But I asked some Maldivian friends and colleagues, and yes they come every year. And I asked people about them and yes, they knew, but they didn't know anything, where they came from, or anything. And again I didn't think too much of it. But slowly it began to dawn on me that something rather special was happening.
我也沒去多想, 直到第二年,同樣的事又發生了, 然後又一年也是這樣,再下來的一年也一樣。 我反應比較慢,沒有真正放在心上, 但是我問過一些馬爾地夫的朋友和同事,他們都說這些蜻蜓每年都來, 我問其他人,答案也是一樣, 他們都知道蜻蜓每年來訪,但是其他什麼都不清楚, 他們不知道蜻蜓從哪裡來,什麼都不知道。 我還是一樣沒有多想。 但是慢慢地我發覺到, 應該是有什麼特別的地方才對,
Because dragonflies need fresh water to breed. And the Maldives, and I'm sure some of you have been there -- so here is home. So, Maldives, beautiful place. (Laughter) It's built entirely of coral reefs. And on top of the coral reefs are sand banks. Average height, about that much above sea level. So, global warming, sea level rise, it's a real serious issue. But I'm not going to talk about that. Another important point of these sand banks is that when it rains, the rainwater soaks down into the soil. So, it's gone. So, it stays under the soil. The trees can put their roots into it. Humans can dig holes and make a well.
因為蜻蜓需要淡水來繁殖, 而馬爾地夫--我相信你們一定有人去過-- 好,這裡就是我的家鄉, 馬爾地夫,美麗的地方。 (笑聲) 馬爾地夫全部都是珊瑚礁, 珊瑚礁上面是沙洲, 平均高度只高過海平面一點點。 因此,全球暖化、海平面上升,是馬爾地夫面臨的嚴重問題。 但我今天不是要談這個話題。 沙洲有一個特點, 就是下雨的時候, 雨水會滲透到下面的土壤,你看不見的地方。 所以,雨水留在土壤下面, 樹本就利用樹根來吸水, 人類則挖坑鑿井,
But dragonflies -- a bit tricky. There is no surface fresh water. There are no ponds, streams, rivers, lakes, nothing like that. So, why is it that every year millions of dragonflies, millions, millions of dragonflies turn up? I got a little bit curious. In fact I'll stop here, because I want to ask, and there is a lot of people who, from India of course, people who grew up spending your childhood here. Those of you who are Indian or spent your childhood here, let me have a show of hands, who of you -- not yet, not yet! You're too keen. You're too keen. No. Hang on. Hang on. Wait for the go. I'll say go.
可是蜻蜓,就不好辦了。 沒有地表的淡水, 沒有池塘、小溪、河流、湖泊, 什麼都沒有, 那麼為什麼每年 還有幾百萬隻的蜻蜓, 會出現在這裡呢? 我覺得很好奇。在這裡我想先暫停一下, 因為我想問你們問題,你們一定有很多人 是從印度來的、在印度長大、或在印度度過童年, 如果你是印度人,或者在印度這裡長大, 請舉一下手,有誰 - 還沒開始,還沒哦! 你們太急了,太急了。不,稍等, 等我喊開始。
Those of you who grew up in India, do you remember in your childhood, dragonflies, swarms of dragonflies? Maybe at school, maybe tying little bits of string onto them? Maybe pulling bits off? I'm not asking about that. You've only got to say, do you remember seeing lots of dragonflies. Any hands? Any hands? Yes. Thank you. Thank you. It's a widespread phenomenon throughout South Asia, including the Maldives. And I got a bit curious about it.
你們如果在印度長大, 記不記得小時候曾經看見蜻蜓, 一大群的蜻蜓?學生可能會 在他們身上綁上一節細繩? 然後把他們扯碎?我不是要問你們那個。 你只要告訴我,是不是記得曾經看見過很多的蜻蜓, 請舉手。好,謝謝。 那是在整個南亞,包括馬爾地夫 都隨處可見的現象。 我還是很好奇。
In the Maldives -- now, in India there is plenty of water, so, dragonflies, yeah, of course. Why not? But in Maldives, no fresh water. So, what on Earth is going on? And the first thing I did was started recording when they turned up in the Maldives. And there is the answer, 21st of October. Not every year, that's the average date. So, I've been writing it down for 15 years now. You'd think they're coming from India. It's the closest place. But in October, remember, we're still in southwest monsoon, Maldives is still in the southwest monsoon. But wind is, invariably, every time, is from the west. It's going towards India, not from India. So, are these things, how are these things getting here? Are they coming from India against the wind? Seemed a bit unlikely.
在馬爾地夫--當然在印度有很多水, 自然就會有很多蜻蜓,對吧? 但是在馬爾地夫,並沒有淡水。那,到底是怎麼回事? 於是我做的第一件事,就是開始記錄 他們在馬爾地夫出現的時間。 答案是10月21日。 不是每年都在同一天,但就在那幾天, 因為我已經記錄了15年了。 你會想他們是從印度來,因為那是最近的地方。 但在十月份的時候,是吹西南季風, 馬爾地夫仍受西南季風影響, 風每回都是從西邊吹來, 是吹向印度,不是從印度吹來。 那麼,這些傢伙是怎樣來到這裡的呢? 他們是逆風從印度飛過來的嗎? 有點不太可能。
So, next thing I did is I got on the phone. Maldives is a long archipelago. It stretches about 500 miles, of course it's India here. I got on the phone and emailed to friends and colleagues. When do you see the dragonflies appear? And pretty soon, a picture started emerging. In Bangalore, a colleague there sent me information for three years, average, 24th of September, so late September. Down in Trivandrum, a bit later. Far north of Maldives, a bit later. Then Malé, then further south. And then the southernmost Maldives. It's pretty obvious, they're coming from India. But they are coming 400 miles across the ocean, against the wind. How on Earth are they doing that? I didn't know.
所以,我接下來開始打電話。 馬爾地夫是由一串很長的群島組成, 延伸大約500英哩(800公里),一直到印度這裡。 我打電話和發電子郵件給我的朋友和同事, 問他們什麼時候看到蜻蜓出現? 很快地,我大概瞭解狀況了。 班加羅爾的一個同事, 連續三年提供我蜻蜓出現的日期, 大約在9月24日前後,也就是九月下旬。 往下的曲凡德郎,就晚一點。 而馬爾地夫的最北端,又更晚一點。 再來是馬累,然後更往南, 最後是馬爾地夫的最南端。 很明顯,它們是從印度來。 他們逆風飛行,從400英哩(650公里)外漂洋過海來到這裡, 他們是怎麼辦到的呢? 我當時並不知道。
The next thing I did was I started counting dragonflies. I wanted to know about their seasonality, what time of year, this is when they first arrive, but how long are they around for? Does that give any clues? So, I started a very rigorous scientific process. I had a rigorous scientific transect. I got on my bicycle, and I cycled around the island of Malé. It's about five kilometers around, counting the dragonflies as I go, trying not to bump into people as I'm looking in the trees.
我做的第二件事情,就是開始計算蜻蜓的數目。 我想知道他們的季節性, 我知道他們每年開始出現的時間, 但是他們會待多久?能否從他們的數目找到一點線索? 於是,我開始了一個很嚴謹的科學研究, 我用嚴謹的科學研究交通工具, 也就是我的自行車, 沿著馬累島轉, 一圈大概有五公里, 一邊騎,一邊數蜻蜓, 在我數樹上的蜻蜓時,還得小心路人。
And they're here for a very short time, October, November, December. That's it. And then they tail off, there's a few, but that's it. October, November, December. That is not the northeast monsoon season. That's not the southwest season. That's the inter-monsoon, the time when the monsoon changes.
我發現他們在這裡只待一段很短的時間, 十月、十一月、十二月,就走了。 他們的數量會減少,只剩下一些,其他都走了。 十月、十一月、十二月,那不是東北季風季節, 也不是西南季風季節, 那是介於二個季風之間的時期, 也就是季風變換的時期。
Now, what I said was, you get the southwest monsoon going one way, and then it changes and you get the northeast monsoon going the other way. And that sort of gives the impression you've got one air mass going up and down, up and down. It doesn't work like that. What happens, actually, is there is two air masses. And there is a front between them, and the front moves. So, if you've got India here, when the front is up above India you're into the southwest monsoon. Then the front moves into the northeast monsoon. And that front in the middle is not vertical, it's at an angle.
好了,我剛才說的是,這裡西南季風往這個方向吹, 緊接著,變成東北季風往相反方向吹。 你會以為是有一個氣團 在這附近上上下下,實際上並不是如此。 實際上,那裡有兩個氣團, 氣團之間有個鋒面,是鋒面在移動。 所以,如果這裡是印度, 當鋒面在印度上空時,就吹西南季風; 當鋒面移走,就吹東北季風。 而且氣團中間的鋒面並不是垂直的, 他呈一個角度。
So, as it comes over towards Malé I'm standing in Malé underneath the front. I can be in the southwest monsoon. But the wind above is from the northeast monsoon. So, the dragonflies are actually coming from India on the northeast monsoon, but at an altitude at 1,000 to 2,000 meters up in the air. Incredible. These little insects, it's the same ones we see out here [in India], two inches long, five centimeters long, flying in their millions, 400 miles across the ocean, at 2,000 meters up. Quite incredible.
所以,當鋒面向馬累這邊移動過來的時候, 我站在馬累的鋒面之下, 就處於西南季風裡, 但是這上面的風卻是從東北季風吹過來的。 所以,這些蜻蜓其實是跟著東北季風從印度來的, 而且是在海拔一千到二千米的空中,真不可思議。 這些小小的昆蟲,就和我們在印度這裡看到的一樣, 兩英寸長,或五公分長, 跟著其他百萬隻蜻蜓一起飛行,在二千米的高空上, 飛越400英哩(640公里)的海洋。真是太不可思議了!
So, I was quite pleased with myself. I thought wow, I've tracked this one, I know how they come here. Then I scratched my head a bit, and that's okay, I know how they come here, but why do they come here? What are millions of dragonflies doing, flying out over the ocean every year to their apparent doom? It doesn't make sense. There is nothing for them in Maldives. What on Earth are they doing? Well, to cut a long story short, they're actually flying right across the ocean. They're making it all the way across to East Africa.
為此,我對自己相當滿意。我想,哇,我追蹤到了這個, 我知道他們是怎樣到這裡的。然後我抓了抓我的頭, 是很不錯, 我知道他們怎樣到達這裡,但是為什麼他們要來這裡呢? 這幾百萬隻蜻蜓在做什麼?每年飛越海洋上空, 就是為了來送死嗎? 沒有道理嘛。馬爾地夫沒有任何他們需要的東西, 他們到底在做什麼? 好吧,長話短說, 他們其實是要飛到海洋對岸, 橫跨整個海洋,一直飛到東非去。
I know that because I have friends who work on fisheries' research vessels who have sent to me reports from boats out in the ocean. I know because we have reports from Seychelles, which fit in as well, down here. And I know because when you look at the rainfall, these particular insects, these Globe Skimmers breed in temporary rain water pools. Okay, they lay their eggs where the seasonal rains are, the monsoon rains. The larvae have to develop very quickly. They only take six weeks. Instead of 11 months, they're six weeks. They're up, and they're off.
我會知道,是因為我有朋友在漁場考察船上工作, 他們從船上傳送報告給我, 還有人從塞席爾傳送報告給我, 也很吻合,在這裡。 而且如果把雨量 也考量進去,你就會知道, 這些特別的昆蟲,這些黃蜻, 是在臨時的雨水積水池裡繁殖的。 他們會在雨季來臨的地方產卵, 雨季就是季風雨。 黃蜻的幼蟲必須很快地發育, 他們只需六星期,而不是11個月。六個星期後, 他們就蛻變為蜻蜓,飛走了。
Now, here we have, in case you can't read at the back, the top is rainfall for India. And we're starting in June. So this is the monsoon rain. By September, October, it's drying out. Nothing for these dragonflies. There is no more seasonal rain. They've got to go hunting for seasonal rain. And they fly south. As the monsoon withdraws to the south they come down through Karnataka, into Kerala. And then they run out of land. But they are incredibly good fliers. This particular species, it can fly for thousands of kilometers. And it just keeps going. And the wind, the northeast wind swooshes it around and carries it off across the ocean to Africa, where it's raining. And they are breeding in the rains of Africa. Now, this is southeast Africa. It makes it look like there are sort of two breeding periods here. It's slightly more complicated than that.
好,我們來看看,如果你坐在後排看不清楚的話, 這上面是印度的降雨分佈。 這些是季風雨,從六月開始, 到九月、十月的時候,就乾掉了, 這些蜻蜓就沒有雨了,沒有季節性雨水了, 他們需要去尋找季節性的雨水。 所以他們向南飛,跟著向南移動的季風, 他們向南飛,經過卡南塔卡,再到卡拉拉, 然後就到了陸地的盡頭。 但是他們非常善於飛行,這種特別的品種, 可以飛行上千公里。 所以他們就一直飛,而東北風 把他們托起來,帶著他們飄洋過海, 來到正在下雨的非洲, 讓他們在非洲的雨水中繁殖。 好,這是東南非洲,你會以為好像有 兩個繁殖季節,實際上要稍微複雜一點。
What's happening is they are breeding in the monsoon rains here. And the dragonflies you can see today outside here, on the campus, are the young of this generation. They hatched out in India. They're looking for somewhere to breed. If it rains here they'll breed. But most of them are going to carry on. And next stop, perhaps only four or five days away is going to be East Africa. The wind will swoosh them out across here. If they pass the Maldives they might go and have a look, nothing there, they'll carry on.
他們其實是在這裡的季風雨中繁殖, 而你們現在在外面校園裡 所看到的蜻蜓, 就是他們的後代, 也就是在印度這裡孵出來的。 這些蜻蜓其實在找適當的產卵地點,哪裡有雨就在哪裡產卵, 但大部分的蜻蜓會繼續長途旅行,他們的下一站, 還要飛四、五天才會到達,也就是東非, 季風會把他們帶到那兒去; 在他們經過馬爾地夫的時候,或許會停下來看看, 如果什麼都沒有,就繼續旅行,
Here, here, Kenya, East Africa, they've actually just come out of a long drought. Just last week the rains broke. The short rains broke and it's raining there now. And the dragonflies are there. I have reports from my various contacts. The dragonflies are here now. They're breeding there. When those guys, they'll lay their eggs now. They'll hatch out in six weeks. By that time the seasonal rains have moved on. It's not there, it's down here. They'll fly down here. And the clever thing is the wind is always converging to where the rain is. The rain occurs, these are summer rains. This is a summer monsoon. The sun is overhead there. Summer rains in southern Africa. The sun is overhead, maximum heating, maximum evaporation, maximum clouds, maximum rainfall, maximum opportunities for reproduction.
來到這裡,東非的肯亞, 那裡才剛結束一段長期的乾旱, 上星期才開始下雨,雨季開始了, 現在雨下個不停。 有人告訴我蜻蜓現在停留在那裡, 交配季節到了, 他們在那裡產卵, 卵會在六個星期內孵化, 到那時,季風雨已經又移動了,不在那裡,會移到這裡, 蜻蜓也會跟著移動下來,最神奇的事是, 季風永遠都會伴隨著季風雨出現。 雨季來臨的時候,是在夏天, 這是夏季季風, 太陽高高在上,而夏季的雨水則在南非, 溫度很熱, 水氣都蒸發了,雲量很多, 雨量也很大, 是繁殖的最佳季節。
Not only that, because you have this convection, you have this rising of the air where it's hot, air is drawn in. There's a convergence. So, wherever the rain is falling, the air is drawn towards it to replace the air that's rising. So, the little fellow that hatches out here, he gets up into the air, he is automatically carried to where the rain is falling. Lay their eggs, next generation, they come up, automatically carried to where the rain is falling. It's now back there. They come out, it's time to come back. So, in four generations, one, two, three, four and then back.
不只這樣,由於對流的關係, 熱空氣上升, 就牽引進冷空氣, 來彌補上升的熱空氣。所以,只要有下雨的地方, 冷空氣就會被牽引過來取代上升的空氣。 這些產過卵的蜻蜓, 就被上升的空氣托到空中,自動被 帶到會下雨的地點。 產卵、孵化、蛻變成蜻蜓, 再自動被帶到會下雨的地點。 他們現在回來了,蛻變成蜻蜓後又回來了。 所以,在經過四代之後, 他們又回來了,
A complete circuit of the Indian Ocean. This is a circuit of about 16,000 kilometers. 16,000 kilometers, four generations, mind you, for a two inch long insect. It's quite incredible. Those of you from North America will be familiar with the Monarch butterfly. Which, up until now has had the longest known insect migration. It's only half the length of this one. And this crossing here, of the ocean, is the only truly regular transoceanic crossing of any insect. A quite incredible feat. And I only stumbled on this because I was living in Malé, in Maldives for long enough for it to percolate into my brain that something rather special was going on.
環繞了印度洋一周, 全長約一萬六千公里, 一萬六千公里,四個世代, 是這種二吋長的昆蟲辦到的壯舉,真是令人不敢相信! 如果有人是從北美來的, 就比較熟悉帝王斑蝶(大樺斑蝶), 那是目前所知遷移路線最長的昆蟲, 但他們的路程只有這些蜻蜓的一半而已, 這些蜻蜓還會橫跨海洋, 是目前所知能夠定期橫跨海洋 的昆蟲。 很不可思議吧! 因為我在馬爾地夫的馬累住得夠久, 我才會注意到這件事, 我的腦袋也才會發現 這件特別的事情。
But dragonflies are not the only creatures that make the crossing. There is more to the story. I'm also interested in birds. And I'm familiar with this fellow. This is a rather special bird. It's a falcon. It's called the eastern red-footed falcon, obviously. But it's also called the Amur Falcon. And it's called the Amur Falcon because it breeds in Amurland. Which is an area along the Amur River, which is up here. It's the border, much of it is the border between China and Russia, up here in the far east.
但是蜻蜓並不是唯一會飄洋過海的生物, 我還研究了其他物種, 我對鳥類特別有興趣,我所熟知的這種鳥, 是很特別的一種鳥, 是鷹的一種,人們叫它東方紅腳隼, 或有人稱之為黑龍江隼, 因為這種鷹是在 黑龍江地區繁殖的, 也就是沿著黑龍江一帶,在這上面, 靠近邊界一帶,也就是 中俄邊界,在遠東這上面,
So, Siberia, Manchuria. And that's where it breeds. And if you're a falcon it's quite a nice place to be in the summer. But it's a pretty miserable place to be in the winter. It's, well, you can imagine. So, as any sensible bird would do, he moves south. They move south. The whole population moves south. But then the being sensible stopped. So, now they don't stop here, or even down here. No, they turn across here. They have a little refueling stop in northeastern India. They come to the latitude of about Mumbai or Goa. And then they strike out across the ocean, down to Kenya. And down here, and they winter down here [in southern Africa]. Incredible. This is the most extraordinary migration of any bird of prey. A quite incredible migration.
在西伯利亞、中國東北這一帶, 他們會繁殖下一代。 如果你是一隻鷹,你會覺得這個地方的夏天很棒, 但是冬天就很糟了, 所以試著想一想, 任何有頭腦的鳥, 都會飛到南邊,所以整群鷹都飛向南邊, 直到他們覺得適合的地方才會停下來。 他們不會停在這裡,也不會停在這裡, 他們還會橫跨這裡, 在印度東北部會稍做停留,補充體力, 他們會停在孟買或果亞一帶, 然後再出發橫跨海洋,往南到肯亞, 來到非洲南部過冬。 真了不起!這是掠食性鳥類最奇特 的遷徙旅程,很了不起的遷徙!
And they are not the only one that makes the crossing. They have the most incredible journey, but several make the crossing from India to Africa. Includes this one, the hobby. This fellow is a very nice bird, this is the Pied cuckoo. Those of you from northern India will be familiar with this. It comes with the monsoons. This time of year they cross back to Africa. And this guy, the roller, a rather beautiful bird. It's known as the Eurasian Roller. In India it occurs in the northwest, so it's known as the Kashmir Roller. And these birds, what I've done is I've complied all the records, all the available records of these birds, put them together, and found out they migrate at exactly the same time as the dragonflies. They make use of exactly the same winds. They travel at exactly the same time with the same winds to make the crossing. I know they travel at the same altitude.
而他們也不是唯一橫跨海洋的鳥類, 他們的旅程是最了不起的沒錯,但是還有其他鳥類 像這種隼一樣從印度飛到非洲, 這種鳥很美,叫做斑翅鳳頭鵑, 住在印度北部的人就很熟悉這種鳥, 他們會跟著季風遷徙, 今年他們隨著季風回到非洲去了。 這隻佛法僧鳥很美, 人們稱它為藍胸佛法僧,它會出現在印度西北部, 所以又稱為喀什米亞佛法僧。 為了研究這些鳥,我把手邊的資料都拿出來, 所以有關這些鳥的資料全都蒐集起來, 放在一起,我發現他們遷徙的時間, 都和黃蜻一樣, 他們都運用同樣的季風, 在同樣的時間,乘著同一股季風, 橫越海洋。我發現他們的旅程都差不多,
It's known about the Amur Falcon. This guy, unfortunately, one of these met an unfortunate end. He was flying off the coast of Goa, 21 years ago, 1988. October, 1988. An Indian Navy jet was flying off Goa, bang! In the middle of the night. Fortunately, a two engine jet got back to base, and they pulled the remains of one of these [Eurasian Rollers] out. Flying at night over the Indian Ocean 2,424 meters. Same height as the dragonflies go. So, they are using the same winds. And the other thing, the other important factor for all these birds, all medium sized fellows, and this includes the next slide as well, which is a bee-eater. Bee-eaters eat bees. This one has a nice blue cheek. It's a Blue-cheeked Bee-eater. And every one of these birds that makes the crossing from India to East Africa eats insects, large insects, the size of dragonflies. Thank you very much. (Applause)
最有名的是這隻黑龍江隼。但這個傢伙不怎麼幸運, 下場不是很好。 那時它在果亞的外海飛行, 那是1988年十月,也就是21年以前, 有架印度海軍的噴射機也在果亞附近飛行, 碰!就在半夜,擊中了有二架引擎的噴射機, 飛機返回基地後,他們拿出來的是藍胸佛法僧的殘骸。 大半夜的,在印度洋上空2,424公尺高度飛行, 和黃蜻飛行的高度相同, 所以是同一股風。 還有另外一件值得一提的事, 就是這些鳥全都是中型鳥, 也包括下一張投影片裡的鳥,那是一隻蜂虎, 蜂虎會吃蜜蜂,這隻蜂虎的臉頰是藍色的, 所以叫做藍頰蜂虎。 每一種從印度飄洋過海 來到東非的鳥類, 都會吃昆蟲,大型的昆蟲, 就像蜻蜓這種大小。謝謝各位! (掌聲)