TEDxDublin
Simon Berrow: How do you save a shark you know nothing about?
西蒙·贝罗：如何拯救你所不知的鲨鱼
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它们是世界上第二大鱼类。它们几乎频临灭绝。但是我们对它们几乎一无所知。在TED都柏林的演讲舞台上。西蒙·贝罗向我们描述了迷人姥鲨（爱尔兰语又名：“伟大的太阳鱼”）以及用他独特的奇妙的非高科技方法来技拯救它们。
Simon Berrow - Marine biologist
Simon Berrow is a marine biologist dedicated to studying and preserving the basking shark. Full bio
Simon Berrow is a marine biologist dedicated to studying and preserving the basking shark. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
Basking sharks are awesome creatures. They are just magnificent.
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姥鲨是一种了不起的生物，它们真是太令人叹为观止了
00:18
They grow 10 meters long.
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它们身长10米
00:20
Some say bigger.
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有些人认为更大些
00:22
They might weigh up to two tons.
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它们可能重达2吨
00:24
Some say up to five tons.
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有些人说要重达5吨
00:26
They're the second largest fish in the world.
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姥鲨是世界上第二大鱼类
00:28
They're also harmless plankton-feeding animals.
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它们是没有危害并依靠浮游生物为食的动物
00:31
And they are thought to be able
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而且它们被认为是可以
00:33
to filter a cubic kilometer of water every hour
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每小时吸入一千立方米的海水
00:36
and can feed on 30 kilos of zoo plankton a day to survive.
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以及每天靠滤食30公斤浮游生物生存
00:39
They're fantastic creatures.
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它们太了不起了。
00:41
And we're very lucky in Ireland, we have plenty of basking sharks
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而对于爱尔兰人来说我们更是幸运的，因为我们有足够的姥鲨
00:44
and plenty of opportunities to study them.
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并且有很多机会来研究它们
00:46
They were also very important to coast communities
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它们对海岸生态环境的发展也至关重要
00:48
going back hundreds of years,
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让我们追溯到几百年前
00:50
especially the around the Claddagh, Duff, Connemara region
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尤其是在克拉达（大西洋中部）地区，达夫地区以及爱尔兰康尼马拉地区
00:53
where subsistence farmers used to sail out
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这些都是自给自足的农民们常常出海的地方
00:55
on their hookers and open boats
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他们驶着渔船
00:57
sometimes way off shore, sometimes to a place called the Sunfish Bank,
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有时离岸，有时去到一个被称为“太阳鱼岸”的地方
00:59
which is about 30 miles west of Achill Island,
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这个地方位于阿基尔岛西部30英里
01:01
to kill the basking sharks.
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去捕杀姥鲨
01:03
This is an old woodcut from the 17, 1800s.
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这是一个18,19世纪的木刻
01:05
So they were very important, and they were important for the oil out of their liver.
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所以姥鲨很重要。因为它们的肝脏能提炼出鱼肝油。
01:08
A third of the size of the basking shark is their liver, and it's full of oil.
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肝脏占了姥鲨三分之一体积而且里面满满的都是鱼肝油
01:10
You get gallons of oil from their liver.
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你可以从它们的肝脏中得到几加仑的鱼肝油
01:12
And that oil was used especially for lighting,
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这些油可以被用来照明
01:14
but also for dressing wounds and other things.
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也可以用来治愈伤口和其他用途
01:16
In fact, the streetlights in 1742
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事实上，1742年在高威，都柏林和沃特福德这些地方
01:18
of Galway, Dublin and Waterford
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的路灯
01:20
were linked with sunfish oil.
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都多多少少与太阳鱼油有关。
01:22
And "sunfish" is one of the words for basking sharks.
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而“太阳鱼”是姥鲨众多别名中的一个
01:24
So they were incredibly important animals.
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所以它们是非常重要的动物
01:26
They've been around a long time, have been very important to coast communities.
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它们长期以来对海岸生态环境起着至关重要的作用
01:29
Probably the best documented basking shark fishery in the world
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也许世界上关于姥鲨最著名的记载
01:32
is that from Achill Island.
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莫过于来自阿基尔岛的
01:34
This is Keem Bay up in Achill Island.
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这条是阿基尔岛的Keem湾
01:36
And sharks used to come into the bay.
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姥鲨们过去常常来到这条海湾
01:39
And the fishermen would tie a net off the headland,
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渔夫们常常把渔网挂在岬上
01:42
string it out along the other net.
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平铺开与其它网连结在一起
01:44
And as the shark came round, it would hit the net, the net would collapse on it.
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当姥鲨游过来，它会碰到渔网，渔网撒落下来网到姥鲨
01:47
It would often drown and suffocate.
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它们会被溺死或者窒息而死
01:49
Or at times, they would row out in their small currachs
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渔民用小船将它们拖得精疲力竭
01:52
and kill it with a lance through the back of the neck.
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然后用鱼叉插入它们的头颈背部使其死亡
01:54
And then they'd tow the sharks back to Purteen Harbor,
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然后把它们拖到Purteen港口
01:57
boil them up, use the oil.
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煮沸并且提炼鱼油
01:59
They used to use the flesh as well for fertilizer
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渔夫们曾经也常常把剩下的鱼肉作为肥料
02:02
and also would fin the sharks.
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有时也切除鱼鳍
02:06
This is probably the biggest threat to sharks worldwide --
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这恐怕就是对全世界鲨鱼的最大威胁
02:08
it is the finning of sharks.
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切除鱼的鳍
02:10
We're often all frightened of sharks thanks to "Jaws."
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我们常常因为《大白鲨》这部电影而敬畏鲨鱼
02:12
Maybe five or six people get killed
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每年可能有5或者6名人类
02:14
by sharks every year.
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被鲨鱼夺命
02:16
There was someone recently, wasn't there? Just a couple weeks ago.
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就在最近不是就有这样的事情吗？就是在几周前
02:19
We kill about 100 million sharks a year.
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但是我们人类每年捕杀1亿只鲨鱼
02:22
So I don't know what the balance is,
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所以我不知道这里的平衡点在哪里
02:24
but I think sharks have got more right to be fearful of us than we have of them.
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但是我认为鲨鱼更有理由害怕我们，而不是我们害怕它们。
02:27
It was a well-documented fishery,
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这曾是一个存档完好的渔业
02:29
and as you can see here, it peaked in the 50s
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从这个柱形图你可以很清楚的看到，在50年代捕渔业达到了其鼎盛时期
02:31
where they were killing 1,500 sharks a year.
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这个时候人们每年捕杀1500条鲨鱼
02:33
And it declined very fast -- a classic boom and bust fishery,
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然后急剧下降，一个典型的繁荣和萧条循环的渔业
02:36
which suggests that a stock has been depleted
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这意味着剩下的鲨鱼已经所剩无几了
02:39
or there's low reproductive rates.
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或者它们的繁殖率极低
02:41
And they killed about 12,000 sharks in this period,
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在这段时期人类捕杀了12000条鲨鱼
02:43
literally just by stringing a manila rope
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表面上就像用马尼拉绳在阿基尔岛Keem海湾连结起来
02:46
off the tip of Keem Bay
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直到Keem海湾末端
02:48
at Achill Island.
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在阿基尔岛屿
02:50
Sharks were still killed up into the mid-80s,
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鲨鱼捕杀一直持续到80年代中期
02:52
especially after places like Dunmore East in County Waterford.
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尤其是在沃特福德郡东邓莫尔地区
02:55
And about two and a half, 3,000 sharks were killed up till '85,
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到85年大约有2500或者3000条鲨鱼被捕杀
02:58
many by Norwegian vessels.
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其中很多被挪威的船只捕杀
03:00
The black, you can't really see this, but these are Norwegian basking shark hunting vessels,
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这艘黑色的，你们可能看不清，但是这些都是挪威人用来捕杀姥鲨的船只
03:03
and the black line in the crow's nest
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望台上的黑线
03:05
signifies this is a shark vessel
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表明这是一只猎杀鲨鱼的船只
03:07
rather than a whaling vessel.
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而不是捕鲸的船只
03:09
The importance of basking sharks to the coast communities
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姥鲨对于海岸生态环境的重要性
03:12
is recognized through the language.
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体现在语言上。
03:14
Now I don't pretend to have any Irish,
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现在我不必假装会任何爱尔兰语
03:16
but in Kerry they were often known as "Ainmhide na seolta,"
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但是在凯里郡，它们经常被称为 "Ainmhide na seolta"（爱尔兰语）
03:19
the monster with the sails.
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带帆的怪兽
03:21
And another title would be "Liop an da lapa,"
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另一个别称是"Liop an da lapa,"（爱尔兰语）
03:24
the unwieldy beast with two fins.
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有两鳍的笨拙野兽
03:27
"Liabhan mor," suggesting a big animal.
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“Liabhan mor”（爱尔兰语）意思为大动物
03:30
Or my favorite, "Liabhan chor greine,"
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或者我最喜爱的表达："Liabhan chor greine"(爱尔兰语）
03:32
the great fish of the sun.
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意为伟大的太阳鱼
03:34
And that's a lovely, evocative name.
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这是一个多么惹人喜爱又让人浮想联翩的名字
03:36
On Tory Island, which is a strange place anyway, they were known as muldoons,
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在托里岛，这个奇怪的地方。它们被认为是马尔登皇室家族
03:39
and no one seems to know why.
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似乎没有人知道原因
03:41
Hope there's no one from Tory here; lovely place.
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但愿今天这里没有人来自托里岛，很美丽的地方
03:43
But more commonly all around the island,
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但是这个岛上更为普遍的是
03:46
they were known as the sunfish.
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著名的太阳鲨
03:48
And this represents their habit of basking on the surface when the sun is out.
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这个名字的来由是因为它们习惯在太阳出来时把身体露出来晒太阳
03:51
There's great concern that basking sharks are depleted
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最令人担忧的是姥鲨数量正在减少
03:54
all throughout the world.
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而且是全世界范围内的骤减
03:56
Some people say it's not population decline.
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一些人认为这不是姥鲨数量的减少
03:58
It might be a change in the distribution of plankton.
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而是因为浮游生物分布产生了变化
04:00
And it's been suggested that basking sharks would make
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而姥鲨资源的减少
04:02
fantastic indicators of climate change,
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是反应气候变化的指标
04:04
because they're basically continuous plankton recorders
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因为事实上它们是浮游生物的“记录仪”
04:06
swimming around with their mouth open.
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总是张着大嘴在海中遨游
04:08
They're now listed as vulnerable under the IUCN.
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姥鲨现被世界自然保护联盟列为濒危物种
04:11
There's also moves in Europe to try and stop catching them.
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欧洲也正在采取一些措施尝试停止捕捉它们
04:14
There's now a ban on catching them and even landing them
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现在已有了禁止捕捉姥鲨的条例甚至不准让它们上岸
04:17
and even landing ones that are caught accidentally.
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包括禁止那些不经意被捉到的鲨鱼上岸
04:19
They're not protected in Ireland.
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姥鲨在爱尔兰并不受保护
04:21
In fact, they have no legislative status in Ireland whatsoever,
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事实上，在爱尔兰并没有受到任何法律保护
04:23
despite our importance for the species
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尽管我们知道姥鲨在其物种资源上的重要意义
04:25
and also the historical context within which basking sharks reside.
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以及它们赖以生存的历史环境意义
04:29
We know very little about them.
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我们还是对它们了解甚少
04:31
And most of what we do know
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我们所了解最多的
04:33
is based on their habit of coming to the surface.
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莫过于它们喜欢浮出海面晒太阳这个习惯
04:35
And we try to guess what they're doing
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我们也尝试从它们这种浮出水面的习惯中猜测
04:37
from their behavior on the surface.
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它们在干什么
04:39
I only found out last year, at a conference on the Isle of Man,
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我只在去年的马恩岛一次会议中才找到答案
04:42
just how unusual it is to live somewhere
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生活在马恩岛，这是件那么不同寻常的经历
04:45
where basking sharks regularly, frequently and predictably
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姥鲨有规律地，经常性，可预见地出现在那里
04:48
come to the surface to "bask."
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浮出水面晒太阳
04:50
And it's a fantastic opportunity in science
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这次会议是一次绝好机会
04:52
to see and experience basking sharks,
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去观察和了解姥鲨
04:54
and they are awesome creatures.
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它们实在是太牛了
04:56
And it gives us a fantastic opportunity to actually study them, to get access to them.
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这次难得的机会让我们可以研究它们，进一步接近它们
04:59
So what we've been doing a couple of years -- but last year was a big year --
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因此这也是我们这几年一直专注的事业。但是去年却非比寻常
05:02
is we started tagging sharks
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因为我们开始给它们编号做标记
05:05
so we could try to get some idea
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这样我们就可以进一步获得信息
05:07
of sight fidelity and movements and things like that.
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例如它们视力精确性和游动范围等信息
05:09
So we concentrated mainly
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因此我们主要关注
05:11
in North Donegal and West Kerry
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北多尼戈尔和西凯瑞地区
05:13
as the two areas where I was mainly active.
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作为我们主要研究范围
05:16
And we tagged them very simply, not very hi-tech,
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我们做标记时不用高科技，只是用最简单的方法
05:18
with a big, long pole.
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用一个又大又长的杆子
05:20
This is a beachcaster rod
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这是一个海滩铸造钓鱼棒
05:22
with a tag on the end.
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末尾有一个标签
05:24
Go up in your boat and tag the shark.
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架在船上然后扎入鲨鱼体内
05:27
And we were very effective.
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我们当时效率很高
05:29
We tagged 105 sharks last summer.
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就去年夏天共标记了105条姥鲨
05:31
We got 50 in three days
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我们在三天内就标记了50条
05:33
off Inishowen Peninsula.
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在伊尼斯半岛附近
05:35
Half the challenge is to get access, is to be in the right place at the right time.
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一半挑战来自于如何接近它们，如何在正确的地方合适的时间接触它们
05:38
But it's a very simple and easy technique.
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但是这是一个非常简单和容易的技术
05:40
I'll show you what they look like.
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我来展示给大家看
05:42
We use a pole camera on the boat
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我们用一个带有照相机的杆子放在船上
05:44
to actually film shark.
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拍摄姥鲨
05:46
One is to try and work out the gender of the shark.
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一个人试图辨认出姥鲨的性别
05:48
We also deployed a couple of satellite tags, so we did use hi-tech stuff as well.
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我们也采用一些卫星标签，所以事实上我们还是会用一些高科技的方法
05:51
These are archival tags.
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这些是档案标签
05:53
So what they do is they store the data.
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他们的作用是储存数据
05:55
A satellite tag only works when the air is clear of the water
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卫星标签只在清澈的水中才起作用
05:57
and can send a signal to the satellite.
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才可以发射信号给卫星
05:59
And of course, sharks, fish, are underwater most of the time.
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诚然，各种鲨鱼和各种鱼类大多数时间都在水下活动
06:02
So this tag actually works out the locations of shark
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所以这些标签事实上可以确认鲨鱼活动的地方
06:05
depending on the timing and the setting of the sun,
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而这又取决于不同时间以及太阳日落时间
06:08
plus water temperature and depth.
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并且还受到水温和水深的影响
06:10
And you have to kind of reconstruct the path.
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而且有时不得不重建一些途径
06:13
What happens is that you set the tag to detach from the shark after a fixed period,
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经过一段固定时间后，你往往还要把标签从姥鲨身上分离下来
06:16
in this case it was eight months,
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这一般是在8个月后
06:18
and literally to the day the tag popped off, drifted up, said hello to the satellite
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到那天标签被取下，漂浮起来，然后向卫星发送数据
06:22
and sent, not all the data, but enough data for us to use.
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并不是发送所有数据，但对我们来说已经足够了
06:25
And this is the only way to really work out
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而且这个是唯一可以真正研究姥鲨
06:27
the behavior and the movements when they're under water.
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在水下的行为和活动情况的方法
06:30
And here's a couple of maps that we've done.
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这个是几张我们绘制的地图
06:33
That one, you can see that we tagged both off Kerry.
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这张，你们可以看出我们是在凯瑞做标记的
06:36
And basically it spent all its time, the last eight months, in Irish waters.
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事实上，最后的8个月我们都在爱尔兰水域做研究
06:39
Christmas day it was out on the shelf edge.
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圣诞节那天是在大陆架外缘
06:41
And here's one that we haven't ground-truthed it yet
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这里还有一个我们还没有证实
06:43
with sea surface temperature and water depth,
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由于不同的海水表面温度和水深
06:45
but again, the second shark kind of spent most of its time
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但是姥鲨大多数时间
06:47
in and around the Irish Sea.
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都生活在爱尔兰海域附近
06:49
Colleagues from the Isle of Man last year
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去年有一些来自马恩岛的同事
06:51
actually tagged one shark
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标记了一条姥鲨
06:53
that went from the Isle of Man all the way out to Nova Scotia in about 90 days.
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在90天内从马恩岛一路游到加拿大新斯科舍省
06:56
That's nine and a half thousand kilometers. We never thought that happened.
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9500公里啊。这根本就在我们的预料之外。
06:59
Another colleague in the States
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在这个州的另外一个同事
07:01
tagged about 20 sharks off Massachusetts, and his tags didn't really work.
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他在美国马萨诸塞附近海域标记了大约20条姥鲨，但是他的标记没有真正起作用。
07:04
All he knows is where he tagged them
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他只知道在哪里给它们做了标记
07:06
and he knows where they popped off.
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哪里这些标记遗落了
07:08
And his tags popped off in the Caribbean
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他的这些标记有的在加勒比海附近遗落
07:10
and even in Brazil.
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甚至遗落在巴西
07:12
And we thought that basking sharks were temperate animals
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我们认为姥鲨是温带动物
07:14
and only lived in our latitude.
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只能生活在我们的纬度
07:16
But in actual fact, they're obviously crossing the Equator as well.
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但是事实上，它们显然也穿越赤道进入南半球。
07:19
So very simple things like that,
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所以像这些简单的事实
07:21
we're trying to learn about basking sharks.
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都是我们要学习研究姥鲨的地方
07:23
One thing that I think
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有一件事我一直认为
07:26
is a very surprising and strange thing
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非常有趣和奇怪
07:28
is just how low the genetic diversity of sharks are.
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那就是姥鲨是基因多样性很低
07:31
Now I'm not a geneticist, so I'm not going to pretend to understand the genetics.
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我当然不是基因遗传学专家，所以我也不必装作了解基因遗传学
07:34
And that's why it's great to have collaboration.
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这也是为什么我们要合作的重要性
07:37
Whereas I'm a field person,
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我只是一个野外实生物学家
07:39
I get panic attacks if I have to spend too many hours
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我会感到非常痛苦如果让我花几个小时
07:41
in a lab with a white coat on -- take me away.
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呆在实验室，穿着白大褂研究基因，还是让我走吧
07:44
So we can work with geneticists who understand that.
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所以我们要与研究基因遗传学的专家们合作
07:47
So when they looked at the genetics of basking sharks,
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当他们看到姥鲨的遗传信息时
07:49
they found that the diversity was incredibly low.
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他们也发现了它们的多样性是如此之低
07:52
If you look at the first line really,
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如果你仔细看第一行
07:54
you can see that all these different shark species are all quite similar.
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你可以看到所有这些姥鲨种类都非常相似
07:57
I think this means basically that they're all sharks
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我想这只能说明它们都是鲨鱼类
07:59
and they've come from a common ancestry.
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它们都来自于同一个祖先
08:01
If you look at nucleotide diversity,
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如果你再仔细观察核苷酸多样性
08:04
which is more genetics that are passed on through parents,
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有很多是从父母辈遗传下来的信息
08:07
you can see that basking sharks, if you look at the first study,
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如果你再仔细观察第一次的研究
08:10
was an order of magnitude less diversity
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姥鲨的数量级
08:12
than other shark species.
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其他鲨鱼种类更缺乏多样性
08:14
And you see that this work was done in 2006.
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而这项发现工作是在2006年完成的
08:16
Before 2006, we had no idea of the genetic variability of basking sharks.
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在2006年之前，我们对姥鲨基因遗传的变化性没有任何概念
08:19
We had no idea, did they distinguish into different populations?
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我们不知道它们是不是因为不同群类而有所不同
08:22
Were there subpopulations?
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它们是亚群嘛？
08:24
And of course, that's very important if you want to know
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当然, 那是很重要的假如你想了解鲸鱼
08:26
what the population size is and the status of the animals.
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种类的数量和物种的现有状况
08:29
So Les Noble in Aberdeen
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阿伯丁大学的莱斯诺贝尔
08:31
kind of found this a bit unbelievable really.
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发现了一些令人难以置信的信息
08:33
So he did another study
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所以他做了另外一个研究
08:36
using microsatellites,
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运用微型卫星
08:39
which are much more expensive, much more time consuming,
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一种非常昂贵又费时的设备
08:42
and, to his surprise, came up with almost identical results.
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令他惊讶的是也测出了几乎相同的结果
08:45
So it does seem to be
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所以似乎可以说
08:47
that basking sharks, for some reason, have incredibly low diversity.
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姥鲨，由于某些原因确实遗传基因缺乏多样性
08:50
And it's thought maybe it was a bottleneck, a genetic bottleneck
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而且这个问题被认为是一个瓶颈，一个基金遗传学领域的瓶颈
08:52
thought to be 12,000 years ago,
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且早在12000年前就存在了
08:54
and this has caused a very low diversity.
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而这也是导致他们物种缺乏多样性的原因
08:57
And yet, if you look at whale sharks,
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如果你们看一看这些鲸鲨
08:59
which is the other plankton eating large shark,
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另一种靠滤食浮游生物为主的大鲨鱼
09:02
its diversity is much greater.
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它们的多样性却很复杂
09:04
So it doesn't really make sense at all.
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所以这个很令人迷惑不解
09:06
They found that there was no genetic differentiation
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科学家们发现全世界范围内的姥鲨
09:08
between any of the world's oceans of basking sharks.
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它们的基因差异都不大
09:11
So even though basking sharks are found throughout the world,
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即使全世界发现的各种姥鲨
09:13
you couldn't tell the difference genetically
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就基因信息上你不能说他们有太大区别
09:15
from one from the Pacific, the Atlantic, New Zealand, or from Ireland, South Africa.
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虽然它们可能有的来自太平洋，大西洋， 新西兰或者爱尔兰，南非
09:18
They all basically seem the same.
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它们本质上都是一样的
09:20
But again, it's kind of surprising. You wouldn't really expect that.
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但就这点来说也是另人惊讶的。是你意想不到的
09:23
I don't understand this. I don't pretend to understand this.
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我不理解这点。我也不不懂装懂。
09:25
And I suspect most geneticists don't understand it either,
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而且我估计很多基因遗传学家也并不理解这点
09:27
but they produce the numbers.
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但是姥鲨还是会孕育后代
09:29
So you can actually estimate the population size
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所以你可以估算出实际的数量
09:31
based on the diversity of the genetics.
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根据基因遗传多样性
09:33
And Rus Hoelzel came up with an effective population size:
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Rus Hoelzel得出一个有效的姥鲨数量
09:36
8,200 animals.
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8200条
09:38
That's it.
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就这么多。
09:40
8,000 animals in the world.
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全世界只有8200条
09:42
You're thinking, "That's just ridiculous. No way."
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你一定在纳闷。这太荒谬了，不可能。
09:44
So Les did a finer study
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所以Les又做了一个更仔细的研究
09:46
and he found out it came out about 9,000.
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这次他发现的数量是大约9000条
09:48
And using different microsatellites gave the different results.
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用不同的微型卫星会得出不同的结果
09:51
But the average of all these studies came out --
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但是所有这些研究的数量的平均数字
09:54
the mean is about 5,000,
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大约是5000条
09:56
which I personally don't believe,
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我个人其实并不相信
09:58
but then I am a skeptic.
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我是一个怀疑主义者
10:00
But even if you toss a few numbers around,
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不过即使你觉得数字应该再多些
10:02
you're probably talking of an effective population of about 20,000 animals.
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你很可能认为比较有效的数量大约在两万条左右
10:05
Do you remember how many they killed off Achill there
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还记得在阿基里附近被杀掉多少？
10:07
in the 70s and the 50s?
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在70年代和50年代
10:10
So what it tells us actually
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所以事实上告诉我们的是
10:12
is that there's actually a risk of extinction of this species
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就这个物种而言姥鲨已经濒临灭绝
10:15
because its population is so small.
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因为其数量太少
10:17
In fact, of those 20,000, 8,000 were thought to be females.
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事实上，在这2万多条中，8000条是雌的
10:20
There's only 8,000 basking shark females in the world?
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全世界只有8000条雌姥鲨？
10:23
I don't know. I don't believe it.
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我不知道，我也不相信
10:25
The problem with this
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问题在于
10:27
is they were constrained with samples.
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专家们的研究会受到样本的限制
10:29
They didn't get enough samples
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他们无法得到足够多的样本
10:31
to really explore the genetics
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去进一步真正研究姥鲨的基因
10:33
in enough detail.
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真正仔细彻底地研究
10:35
So where do you get samples from
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所以到底从哪里能得到可靠的样本呢
10:38
for your genetic analysis?
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用来做基因研究分析
10:40
Well one obvious source is dead sharks,
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当然最常见的来源是死姥鲨
10:42
Dead sharks washed up.
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死姥鲨被冲上岸
10:44
We might get two or three dead sharks washed up in Ireland a year,
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每年在爱尔兰，我们可能会发现2到3条死姥鲨被冲上岸
10:47
if we're kind of lucky.
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那说明我们足够幸运
10:49
Another source would be fisheries bycatch.
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另一来源是渔民们误杀
10:51
We were getting quite a few caught in surface drift nets.
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我们在海洋漂网中捕获过几只
10:54
That's banned now, and that'll be good news for the sharks.
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现在这已被禁止，这对于姥鲨们来说是个好消息
10:57
And some are caught in nets, in trawls.
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还有一些被各类渔网，拖网捕捉到
10:59
This is a shark that was actually landed in Howth just before Christmas,
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这是一条圣诞前夕在爱尔兰霍斯附近抓到的姥鲨
11:02
illegally, because you're not allowed to do that under E.U. law,
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这是非法的，但是因为欧盟法体律系下，你是不能这么做的。
11:05
and was actually sold for eight euros a kilo as shark steak.
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而且事实上还作为鲨鱼排骨以一公斤8欧元出售
11:08
They even put a recipe up on the wall, until they were told this was illegal.
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他们甚至把烹饪秘方贴在墙上，直到被告知这是违法的。
11:11
And they actually did get a fine for that.
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而且还为此被罚款了
11:14
So if you look at all those studies I showed you,
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所以如果你看看这些我展示给你们的研究
11:16
the total number of samples worldwide
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这些全球范围的样本数量
11:19
is 86 at present.
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目前是86条
11:21
So it's very important work,
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所以这是一项非常艰巨的任务
11:23
and they can ask some really good questions,
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因为这些样本可以看成是一些很好的问题
11:25
and they can tell us about population size
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它们也能告诉你这个物种的数量
11:27
and subpopulations and structure,
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以及分组数量和结构
11:30
but they're constrained by lack of samples.
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但是也因为样本的缺乏从而导致研究受限
11:33
Now when we were out tagging our sharks,
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现在当我们出海给它们做标记的时候
11:35
this is how we tagged them on the front of a RIB -- get in there fast --
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这个是我们如何在它们的肋骨上做标记。动作一定要迅速
11:38
occasionally the sharks do react.
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偶尔姥鲨也会反抗
11:40
And on one occasion when we were up in Malin Head up in Donegal,
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有一次，当我们在多尼哥地区的马林角地区
11:43
a shark smacked the side of the boat with his tail,
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一条姥鲨用它的尾巴拍打我们船的一侧
11:46
more, I think, in startle to the fact that a boat came near it,
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我觉得更多的是因为有船只靠近而惊恐
11:49
rather than the tag going in.
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并不是因为我们给它们做标记
11:51
And that was fine. We got wet. No problem.
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不过还好。我们只是被打湿了。并没有其他大碍
11:54
And then when myself and Emmett
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然后当我和埃米特
11:56
got back to Malin Head, to the pier,
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回到马林角码头
11:58
I noticed some black slime on the front of the boat.
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我发现在船的前方有些黑色的黏液
12:01
And I remembered -- I used to spend a lot of time out on commercial fishing boats --
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我曾经很长一段时间生活在那些商业渔船上
12:03
I remember fishermen telling me they can always tell
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我记得渔民们告诉我他们总是有办法知道
12:05
when a basking shark's been caught in the net
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姥鲨是否被渔网捕到
12:07
because it leaves this black slime behind.
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因为它们总是留下类似的黑色黏液
12:09
So I was thinking that must have come from the shark.
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所以我当时就想这一定是来自姥鲨的
12:11
Now we had an interest
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现在我们对此很有兴趣
12:13
in getting tissue samples for genetics
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为研究基因而对拿到这些组织样品
12:15
because we knew they were very valuable.
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因为我们知道这些组织样本很珍贵非常有价值
12:17
And we would use conventional methods --
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而且我们也用常规分析法
12:19
I have a crossbow, you see the crossbow in my hand there,
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我有一个石弓，拿在手里
12:21
which we use to sample whales and dolphins for genetic studies as well.
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我用这个也采样鲸鱼和海豚作基因遗传研究
12:24
So I tried that, I tried many techniques.
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所以我试过这个，我试过很多技巧方法
12:26
All it was doing was breaking my arrows
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常常发生的是我的箭被折断
12:28
because the shark skin is just so strong.
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因为姥鲨的皮肤很坚硬
12:30
There was no way we were going to get a sample from that.
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我们几乎不可能从那里得到样本。
12:32
So that wasn't going to work.
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所以那个是行不通的。
12:35
So when I saw the black slime on the bow of the boat,
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因此当我看到船头有这个黑色黏液
12:38
I thought, "If you take what you're given in this world ..."
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我就这样想的：你拿走的是这个世界给予你的
12:41
So I scraped it off.
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所以我把它刮下来
12:43
And I had a little tube with alcohol in it to send to the geneticists.
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然后装进一个带有酒精的小试管送去给基因遗传学专家
12:46
So I scraped the slime off and I sent it off to Aberdeen.
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所以我把黑色黏液刮下来送到了阿伯丁
12:48
And I said, "You might try that."
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然后我说，你们可以试一试
12:50
And they sat on it for months actually.
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然后事实上他们研究了几个月
12:52
It was only because we had a conference on the Isle of Man.
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因为在马恩岛会议上见过
12:54
But I kept emailing, saying,
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但是我一直发邮件
12:56
"Have you had a chance to look at my slime yet?"
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问：你们有没有看过我的那些黑色黏液样本？
12:58
And he was like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Later, later, later."
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他总是回答：有的有的。但是要过一阵
13:00
Anyway he thought he'd better do it,
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无论如何，他知道他最好去研究下
13:02
because I never met him before
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因为我以前从来没有和他见过
13:04
and he might lose face if he hadn't done the thing I sent him.
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而且如果他没有完成我交给他的任务，他可能会觉得没有面子
13:06
And he was amazed that they actually got DNA from the slime.
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而且令他惊讶的是他们事实上从黏液中得到了DNA
13:09
And they amplified it and they tested it
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他们放大仔细研究测试
13:11
and they found, yes, this was actually basking shark DNA,
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最后发现，这个确实是姥鲨的DNA
13:13
which was got from the slime.
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从黏液中而得
13:16
And so he was all very excited.
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他非常兴奋
13:18
It became known as Simon's shark slime.
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被称为西蒙的姥鲨黏液
13:21
And I thought, "Hey, you know, I can build on this."
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我说，你知道的，我们可以以此出发来研究它
13:24
So we thought, okay, we're going to try to get out
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所以我们立刻说干就干，出海
13:26
and get some slime.
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想办法拿到更多的黏液样本
13:28
So having spent three and a half thousand on satellite tags,
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在标记了3500个卫星标记后
13:34
I then thought I'd invest 7.95 -- the price is still on it --
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我甚至想要投资7.95欧（这个价格还在上面）
13:37
in my local hardware store in Kilrush
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在基尔拉什的硬件设备上
13:40
for a mop handle
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一个拖把柄
13:42
and even less money on some oven cleaners.
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甚至花更少的钱买一些烤箱清洁刷
13:45
And I wrapped the oven cleaner around the end of the mop handle
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我把烤箱清洁刷绑在拖把柄的一头
13:48
and was desperate, desperate
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非常急切地
13:50
to have an opportunity
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迫不及待地
13:53
to get some sharks.
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要去接近姥鲨
13:55
Now this was into August now,
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那个时候已到八月
13:57
and normally sharks peak at June, July.
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通常姥鲨出现的高峰是在六月和七月
13:59
And you rarely see them.
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而且你几乎看不到它们
14:01
You can only rarely be in the right place to find sharks into August.
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在8月你几乎不太可能在它们常出现的地方找到姥鲨
14:04
So we were desperate.
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当时我们很绝望
14:06
So we rushed out to Blasket as soon as we heard there were sharks there
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所以当我们一听到在布拉斯基特群岛有姥鲨时我们立刻冲到那里去
14:09
and managed to find some sharks.
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的确费了一番周折找到了一些姥鲨
14:11
So by just rubbing the mop handle down the shark
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通过这把自制的拖把柄摩擦姥鲨
14:13
as it swam under the boat --
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在它们游到船下的时候
14:15
you see, here's a shark that's running under the boat here --
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你们看，这个就是姥鲨在这里游到了船下
14:17
we managed to collect slime.
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我们成功获取了一些黏液
14:19
And here it is.
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在这里
14:21
Look at that lovely, black shark slime.
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看看这个如此可爱的黑色鲨鱼黏液
14:24
And in about half an hour,
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大约在半个小时内
14:27
we got five samples, five individual sharks,
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我们取得了5个样本，5个不同的姥鲨样本
14:30
were sampled using Simon's shark slime sampling system.
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采用与西蒙姥鲨一样的系统采集分析
14:33
(Laughter)
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观众大笑
14:35
(Applause)
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观众鼓掌
14:40
I've been working on whales and dolphins in Ireland for 20 years now,
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我已经在爱尔兰研究鲸鱼和海豚将近20年
14:43
and they're kind of a bit more dramatic.
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而姥鲨是一种更为戏剧化的种类
14:45
You probably saw the humpback whale footage
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你们或许看到过座头鲸的精彩镜头
14:47
that we got there a month or two ago off County Wexford.
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那组我们一两个月前在维克斯福郡拍摄的
14:49
And you always think you might have some legacy you can leave the world behind.
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而且我们常常认为我们因为拥有这些宝贵遗产足以把世界都抛弃在后
14:52
And I was thinking of humpback whales breaching
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我一直在担心座头鲸在遭受破坏
14:54
and dolphins.
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还有海豚
14:56
But hey, sometimes these things are sent to you
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但是你看，有时候这些小生物被送到了你面前
14:58
and you just have to take them when they come.
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而你只需要在他们来的时候带走它们，就像这些珍贵的黏液
15:00
So this is possibly going to be my legacy --
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所以这个就很有可能是我的宝贵遗产
15:02
Simon's shark slime.
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西蒙的黏液
15:04
So we got more money this year
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今年我们得到更多的资金
15:06
to carry on collecting more and more samples.
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去继续收集更多的样本
15:09
And one thing that is kind of very useful
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有一样东西非常有用
15:11
is that we use a pole cameras -- this is my colleague Joanne with a pole camera --
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那就是我们用高杆摄像。这个是我的同事乔安妮拿着她的高杆照相机
15:14
where you can actually look underneath the shark.
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你可以用它拍摄姥鲨的下面
15:16
And what you're trying to look at is the males have claspers,
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你想看到的是雄鲨的鳍脚（雄性姥鲨交配器官）
15:19
which kind of dangle out behind the back of the shark.
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一种长在姥鲨身体后方的垂状物
15:22
So you can quite easily tell the gender of the shark.
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所以你可以很容易地区分出姥鲨的性别
15:24
So if we can tell the gender of the shark
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如果我们可以区分姥鲨的性别
15:26
before we sample it,
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在我们取样之前
15:28
we can tell the geneticist this was taken from a male or a female.
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我们可以告诉基因遗传专家这个是来自雄性还是雌性姥鲨
15:31
Because at the moment, they actually have no way genetically
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因为现在，他们没有方法在基因分析时
15:33
of telling the difference between a male and a female,
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区分雌鲨和雄鲨
15:35
which I found absolutely staggering,
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为此我觉得非常令人吃惊
15:37
because they don't know what primers to look for.
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因为他们不知道要分析的真正目的是什么
15:40
And being able to tell the gender of a shark
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如果能够告诉他们姥鲨的性别
15:42
has got very important
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就变得意义非凡
15:44
for things like policing the trade
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比如监管贸易往来
15:47
in basking shark and other species through societies,
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在姥鲨和其他物种之间
15:51
because it is illegal to trade any sharks.
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因为这是不合法的
15:53
And they are caught and they are on the market.
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比如他们被捕捉并在市场上出售
15:55
So as a field biologist,
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所以作为一个野外实地生物学家
15:57
you just want to get encounters with these animals.
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你只是想接触这些动物
15:59
You want to learn as much as you can.
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你想尽可能地了解它们
16:01
They're often quite brief. They're often very seasonally constrained.
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姥鲨的生活很简单。它们的活动也经常受到季节的限制
16:04
And you just want to learn as much as you can as soon as you can.
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而你只是想尽快尽可能地了解更多
16:07
But isn't it fantastic
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难道这不是件很奇妙的事吗？
16:09
that you can then offer these samples
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你可以提供这些样本
16:12
and opportunities to other disciplines, such as geneticists,
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提供机会给其他一些领域专家，例如基因遗传专家
16:15
who can gain so much more from that.
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他们可以从中得到更多信息
16:18
So as I said,
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所以正如我说的
16:20
these things are sent to you in strange ways. Grab them while you can.
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这些东西以奇怪的方式赠给你。你应该尽可能拿了它们
16:23
I'll take that as my scientific legacy.
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我把它们作为我科学研究的宝贵遗产
16:25
Hopefully I might get something a bit more dramatic and romantic before I die.
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但愿在我去世之前，我可以得到一些更戏剧化甚至更浪漫的信息
16:28
But for the time being, thank you for that.
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但是现在我只想说感谢大家
16:31
And keep an eye out for sharks.
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感谢大家一直关注姥鲨
16:33
If you're more interested, we have a basking shark website now just set up.
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如果你们对此感兴趣我们刚刚建立起一个有关姥鲨的网站
16:36
So thank you and thank you for listening.
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最后感谢大家前来听我的演讲
16:39
(Applause)
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观众掌声
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Simon Berrow - Marine biologistSimon Berrow is a marine biologist dedicated to studying and preserving the basking shark.
Why you should listen
Born in Ireland, Simon Berrow has travelled the world's oceans studying albatrosses, seals, penguins, sharks, and more. A passionate scientist and lover of Ireland's natural heritage, he founded the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group and the Irish Basking Shark Study Group.
He is also the inventor of "Simon's shark slime sampling system" -- a mop handle and oven cleaner -- which has proved to be the most effective way of collecting shark DNA for analysis.
The TEDxTalk was filmed at the Science Gallery in Dublin.
Simon Berrow | Speaker | TED.com