Mission Blue Voyage
Edith Widder: Glowing life in an underwater world
伊迪斯 维达： 海底世界的绚丽光体
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80%-90%的深海生物都可以发光，我们对它们如何发光以及为什么发光却知之甚少。生物性光专家伊迪斯 维达 对这个绚丽神奇的世界进行了探索，并在此与我们分享深海的绚丽多姿以及她对未知海洋（及生物性光）的见解。
Edith Widder - Marine biologist
Edith Widder combines her expertise in research and technological innovation with a commitment to stopping and reversing the degradation of our marine environment. Full bio
Edith Widder combines her expertise in research and technological innovation with a commitment to stopping and reversing the degradation of our marine environment. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
In the spirit of Jacques Cousteau, who said,
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雅克 库拉多曾经说过：
00:18
"People protect what they love,"
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“人们都会保护自己所喜爱的事物。“
00:20
I want to share with you today what I love most in the ocean,
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本着这样的精神，我想将我的海洋之爱与你分享。
00:23
and that's the incredible number and variety
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那就是这些品种繁多，不计其数的
00:26
of animals in it that make light.
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会发光的海洋生物。
00:29
My addiction began with this strange looking diving suit called Wasp;
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我对海洋的热爱始于这件怪模样的，名为Wasp（黄蜂）的潜水衣，
00:32
that's not an acronym -- just somebody thought it looked like the insect.
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这并不是首字母缩略词，只是有人觉得它长得像黄蜂。
00:35
It was actually developed for use by the offshore oil industry
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实际上它是由海上石油工业开发，
00:38
for diving on oil rigs down to a depth of 2,000 feet.
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用于海下2000英尺油井作业的潜水服。
00:41
Right after I completed my Ph.D.,
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当我刚博士毕业
00:43
I was lucky enough to be included with a group of scientists
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我有幸加入一个科研小组。
00:46
that was using it for the first time
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这个科研小组首次将这种潜水服
00:48
as a tool for ocean exploration.
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应用于探索海洋。
00:50
We trained in a tank in Port Hueneme,
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我们在休尼梅港的一个水池中接受了训练，
00:52
and then my first open ocean dive
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接着我的第一次公海潜水
00:54
was in Santa Barbara Channel.
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就在圣巴巴拉海峡开始了。
00:56
It was an evening dive.
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这是一次夜间潜水，
00:58
I went down to a depth of 880 feet
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到达海下880英尺，
01:01
and turned out the lights.
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我就关掉了所有的灯光。
01:03
And the reason I turned out the lights is because I knew I would see
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之所以关灯是因为我知道我将看到
01:05
this phenomenon of animals making light
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生物体发光的现象
01:07
called bioluminescence.
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科学上称为“生物性光”
01:09
But I was totally unprepared
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但它的壮观程度
01:11
for how much there was
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和绚丽多彩
01:13
and how spectacular it was.
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是远远出乎我的意料的。
01:16
I saw chains of jellyfish called siphonophores
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我看到了名为“管水母”的水母链，
01:19
that were longer than this room,
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比这屋子的长度还长。
01:21
pumping out so much light
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它们发出相当多的光，
01:23
that I could read the dials and gauges
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即使潜水器里没有灯光，
01:25
inside the suit without a flashlight;
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我也能读出拨号盘和测量仪的数据。
01:27
and puffs and billows
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还有或大或小的云状发光体
01:29
of what looked like luminous blue smoke;
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看起来就像是明亮蓝雾一样，
01:32
and explosions of sparks
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也有一些像是从助推器涡旋而出的
01:34
that would swirl up out of the thrusters --
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火光。
01:36
just like when you throw a log on a campfire and the embers swirl up off the campfire,
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这些火光就像你把一根木头扔进篝火中，火花四溅，
01:39
but these were icy, blue embers.
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但不同的是这些是冰冷的蓝色火花。
01:41
It was breathtaking.
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让人兴奋不已。
01:43
Now, usually if people are familiar with bioluminescence at all,
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通常熟悉生物性光这个概念的人知道的，
01:46
it's these guys; it's fireflies.
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是这些小东西，萤火虫，
01:48
And there are a few other land-dwellers that can make light --
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以及少数陆居生物，
01:50
some insects, earthworms, fungi --
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比如某些昆虫，蚯蚓和真菌等。
01:52
but in general, on land, it's really rare.
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总体来说，陆居发光生物体是很少见的。
01:55
In the ocean, it's the rule
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但在海洋里，这是生存法则，
01:57
rather than the exception.
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并非特例。
01:59
If I go out in the open ocean environment,
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试想，我进到公海区域，
02:01
virtually anywhere in the world,
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世界上哪里的海域都可以，
02:03
and I drag a net from 3,000 feet to the surface,
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在海峡3000英尺处撒张网，一直拽上海面，
02:06
most of the animals --
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大多数捕到的生物，
02:08
in fact, in many places, 80 to 90 percent
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实际上，在很多地方，
02:10
of the animals that I bring up in that net --
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80%-90%捕到的生物
02:13
make light.
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都可以发光。
02:15
This makes for some pretty spectacular light shows.
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这足以组成一场盛大的灯展了。
02:17
Now I want to share with you a little video
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接下来我想分享一段
02:20
that I shot from a submersible.
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我从潜水器里拍摄的短片。
02:22
I first developed this technique working from a little
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首先我将这项技术应用于
02:24
single-person submersible called Deep Rover
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名为“深海漫游者”的单人潜水器上，
02:27
and then adapted it for use on the Johnson Sea-Link,
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随后便运用于你现在所看到的
02:29
which you see here.
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琼森海洋连接器
02:31
So, mounted in front of the observation sphere,
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请看，安装在观察区前的是
02:33
there's a a three-foot diameter hoop
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一个直径为三英尺的铁环，
02:36
with a screen stretched across it.
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环上铺设了一层屏幕。
02:38
And inside the sphere with me is an intensified camera
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在潜水器内我架设了一架高敏相机，
02:40
that's about as sensitive as a fully dark-adapted human eye,
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其敏感度不亚于完全适应黑暗的人眼
02:43
albeit a little fuzzy.
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唯一美中不足的是图像稍微有一点模糊。
02:45
So you turn on the camera, turn out the lights.
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然后打开摄像机，关上光设备
02:47
That sparkle you're seeing is not luminescence,
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你现在看到的并不是生物性光，
02:49
that's just electronic noise
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是高敏相机上的
02:51
on these super intensified cameras.
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电子噪音。
02:53
You don't see luminescence until the submersible
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当潜水器在水中前行时
02:55
begins to move forward through the water,
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就可以看到荧光了。
02:57
but as it does, animals bumping into the screen
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但正如所设计的那样，这些生物无意中撞到屏幕上
02:59
are stimulated to bioluminesce.
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受了刺激而发了光。
03:01
Now, when I was first doing this,
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起初使用设备拍摄时，
03:03
all I was trying to do was count the numbers of sources.
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我只想去统计发光体的数量。
03:05
I knew my forward speed, I knew the area,
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我知道潜水器的前行速度，也知道（这个屏幕的）面积
03:07
and so I could figure out how many hundreds of sources
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我就能算出
03:09
there were per cubic meter.
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每立方米有几万个发光体。
03:11
But I started to realize that I could actually identify animals
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后来我开始意识到，我能通过这些发光体所产生的不同类型的光
03:13
by the type of flashes they produced.
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去辨别这些生物的种类。
03:15
And so, here, in the Gulf of Maine
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然后我就这样做了，
03:18
at 740 feet,
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缅因湾海下740英尺，
03:20
I can name pretty much everything you're seeing there to the species level.
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你能看到的发光生物我差不多都能叫出它们的种类
03:23
Like those big explosions, sparks,
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比如这些大爆炸，蓝焰
03:25
are from a little comb jelly,
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都来自一种小栉水母。
03:27
and there's krill and other kinds of crustaceans,
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还有这些是磷虾，甲壳类动物
03:30
and jellyfish.
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以及水母，
03:32
There was another one of those comb jellies.
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这里看到的也是栉水母的一种。
03:34
And so I've worked with computer image analysis engineers
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接着我和计算机图形分析工程师合作，
03:37
to develop automatic recognition systems
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共同开发出一种自动识别系统，
03:40
that can identify these animals
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这个系统能够辨别出这些生物种类，
03:42
and then extract the XYZ coordinate of the initial impact point.
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并提取原始碰撞点的立体坐标。
03:45
And we can then do the kinds of things that ecologists do on land,
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然后就能和生态学家研究陆地生物一样（来研究海洋生物），
03:48
and do nearest neighbor distances.
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做最邻近搜索（NNS）。
03:51
But you don't always have to go down to the depths of the ocean
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但你不必为看这些灯展
03:53
to see a light show like this.
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而总潜到深海去。
03:55
You can actually see it in surface waters.
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实际上水面上就可以了。
03:57
This is some shot, by Dr. Mike Latz at Scripps Institution,
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这是由SCRIPPS机构的麦克 拉兹博士拍摄的一段
04:00
of a dolphin swimming through bioluminescent plankton.
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海豚在发光浮游生物间穿行的录像。
04:02
And this isn't someplace exotic
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而且拍摄地也不像PURTO RICO湾
04:04
like one of the bioluminescent bays in Puerto Rico,
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有那么多奇特怪异的发光体。
04:07
this was actually shot in San Diego Harbor.
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实际上这段录像拍摄于圣地亚哥港。
04:09
And sometimes you can see it even closer than that,
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其实你还可以更近距离地观察这种发光现象。
04:12
because the heads on ships --
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因为“船头”（heads on ships）
04:14
that's toilets, for any land lovers that are listening --
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对许多在听的不熟悉海上生活的人来说，其实就是厕所——
04:17
are flushed with unfiltered seawater
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是用未经过滤的海水来冲马桶的。里面通常
04:20
that often has bioluminescent plankton in it.
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都含有发光浮游生物。
04:22
So, if you stagger into the head late at night
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当某个晚上你跌撞的冲进厕所
04:24
and you're so toilet-hugging sick
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难受的太厉害，恨不得抱着马桶大吐。
04:26
that you forget to turn on the light,
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忘记了开灯，
04:28
you may think that you're having a religious experience. (Laughter)
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那是你也许会觉得自己看到了神明下凡呢。
04:31
So, how does a living creature make light?
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那么这些生物是怎么样发光的呢。
04:33
Well, that was the question that 19th century
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唔，这是十九世纪研究的问题。
04:35
French physiologist Raphael Dubois,
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法国生理学家Raphael Dubois
04:37
asked about this bioluminescent clam.
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对这些发光蛤进行了探索研究。
04:39
He ground it up and he managed to get out a couple of chemicals;
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他将这些蛤碾碎，并成功的从中提取出几种化学物质。
04:42
one, the enzyme, he called luciferase;
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其中之一是一种酶，Dubois命名为荧光素酶，
04:45
the substrate, he called luciferin
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依据素有“明亮之星”之称的金星，
04:47
after Lucifer the Lightbearer.
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他将这种发现的酶作用物称之为“荧光素”。
04:49
That terminology has stuck, but it doesn't actually refer to specific chemicals
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这些化学术语沿用至今，但事实上由于这些荧光化学物质
04:52
because these chemicals come in a lot of different shapes and forms.
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种类繁多，形态各异，这个术语并不代表任何具体的化学物质。
04:55
In fact, most of the people
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其实，当代从事生物性光研究的学者
04:57
studying bioluminescence today
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都将化学性质作为研究重点。
04:59
are focused on the chemistry, because these chemicals
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因为这些化学性质
05:01
have proved so incredibly valuable
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在很多领域都有宝贵的应用。
05:03
for developing antibacterial agents,
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比如用此开发些抗病毒药剂，
05:06
cancer fighting drugs,
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抗癌药物，
05:08
testing for the presence of life on Mars,
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测试火星生命体迹象，
05:10
detecting pollutants in our waters --
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或测试生活用水中的污染物。
05:12
which is how we use it at ORCA.
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这项探测技术正用于ORCA。
05:14
In 2008,
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2008年，
05:16
the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
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诺贝尔化学奖
05:18
was awarded for work done
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的研究成果是一种
05:20
on a molecule called green fluorescent protein
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名为绿荧光蛋白的分子，
05:22
that was isolated from the bioluminescent chemistry
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这种分子是从
05:25
of a jellyfish,
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水母的发光物质里提取出来的。
05:27
and it's been equated to the invention of the microscope,
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从其对细胞生物学和基因工程
05:29
in terms of the impact that it has had
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的影响来看，
05:32
on cell biology and genetic engineering.
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这无异于显微镜的发明。
05:35
Another thing all these molecules are telling us
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所有的这些分子还告诉我们，
05:37
that, apparently, bioluminescence has evolved
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显然，发光性生物至少进化过40次。
05:40
at least 40 times, maybe as many as 50 separate times
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有可能进化了
05:43
in evolutionary history,
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50次也说不定。
05:45
which is a clear indication
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这也很清楚的表明，
05:47
of how spectacularly important
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这种发光能力，
05:50
this trait is for survival.
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对生存是及其重要的。
05:52
So, what is it about bioluminescence
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那么，究竟是什么，
05:54
that's so important to so many animals?
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使得这种生物性光对深海生物如此重要。
05:56
Well, for animals that are trying to avoid predators
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为了躲避捕食者，
05:59
by staying in the darkness,
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他们躲在黑暗里。
06:02
light can still be very useful
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然而为了生物体的存活，
06:04
for the three basic things that animals have to do to survive:
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光的重要性至少能体现在最基本的三件事上
06:07
and that's find food,
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那就是寻找食物，
06:09
attract a mate and avoid being eaten.
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吸引异性，以及躲避天敌。
06:11
So, for example, this fish
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请看，这条鱼眼背后
06:13
has a built-in headlight behind its eye
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有一个内嵌灯，
06:15
that it can use for finding food
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可以用来发现食物
06:17
or attracting a mate.
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或吸引异性。
06:19
And then when it's not using it, it actually can roll it down into its head
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当不需要光时，鱼就能将其翻向颅内
06:22
just like the headlights on your Lamborghini.
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类似你的兰博基尼汽车的车头灯。
06:25
This fish actually has high beams.
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再看这条鱼，装备的还是远光灯。
06:28
And this fish, which is one of my favorites,
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这条，也是我最喜欢的鱼之一，
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has three headlights on each side of its head.
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头的两侧各有三个灯。
06:33
Now, this one is blue,
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这个灯发蓝光，
06:35
and that's the color of most bioluminescence in the ocean
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蓝色也是深海生物性光最普遍的颜色。
06:37
because evolution has selected
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优胜劣汰，适者生存，
06:39
for the color that travels farthest through seawater
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蓝色是海水中传播最远的光束，
06:41
in order to optimize communication.
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也借此来优化深海信息传播。
06:43
So, most animals make blue light,
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大部分深海生物发蓝光，
06:45
and most animals can only see blue light,
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而且大多数只能看到蓝光。
06:48
but this fish is a really fascinating exception
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但这条鱼却异常奇特
06:50
because it has two red light organs.
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因为它有两个红光器官。
06:53
And I have no idea why there's two,
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我不知道为什么是两个，
06:55
and that's something I want to solve some day --
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这也是我将来想研究的问题。
06:57
but not only can it see blue light,
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这样看来，他们不仅能看到蓝光，
07:00
but it can see red light.
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还可以看见红光。
07:02
So it uses its red bioluminescence like a sniper's scope
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所以，这种生物性红光就像狙击手的瞄准仪
07:05
to be able to sneak up on animals
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让这类鱼偷偷靠近看不到红光的生物，
07:07
that are blind to red light
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在不被看见的情况下，
07:09
and be able to see them without being seen.
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看见其他生物。
07:11
It's also got a little chin barbel here
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在这，下巴须这还有一个蓝色诱饵，
07:13
with a blue luminescent lure on it
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在这，下巴须这还有一个蓝色诱饵，
07:15
that it can use to attract prey from a long way off.
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借此来吸引远距离猎物。
07:18
And a lot of animals will use their bioluminescence as a lure.
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其实很多生物都用它们的生物性光来吸引猎物。
07:22
This is another one of my favorite fish.
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这是另一条我喜欢的鱼。
07:24
This is a viperfish, and it's got a lure
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毒蛇鱼
07:26
on the end of a long fishing rod
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在它长长背鳍上有一个捕食诱饵，
07:28
that it arches in front of the toothy jaw
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这个诱饵从它长满牙的下巴拱起，
07:30
that gives the viperfish its name.
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这也是它名字的来源。
07:33
The teeth on this fish are so long
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这条鱼的牙齿很长，
07:35
that if they closed inside the mouth of the fish,
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如果这些牙齿合在这条鱼的嘴里，
07:37
it would actually impale its own brain.
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它会刺穿自己的脑袋。
07:40
So instead, it slides in grooves
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所以，它的牙齿
07:42
on the outside of the head.
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只能在头部外滑动。
07:44
This is a Christmas tree of a fish;
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这个毒蛇鱼像一棵圣诞树，
07:46
everything on this fish lights up,
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它身上的每处都会发光。
07:48
it's not just that lure.
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它不光是有那个会发光的捕食诱饵，
07:50
It's got a built-in flashlight.
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它（还在头上）长了个手电筒。
07:52
It's got these jewel-like light organs on its belly
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它(还)在腹部发出这些珠宝般的亮光，
07:54
that it uses for a type of camouflage
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来当作一种保护色，
07:57
that obliterates its shadow,
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因为这种亮光能使它的影子消失。
08:00
so when it's swimming around and there's a predator looking up from below,
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当有捕食者从下往上看这条游鱼时，
08:03
it makes itself disappear.
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它能(通过这种腹部的亮光)让自己消失。
08:05
It's got light organs in the mouth,
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在它的嘴内也有发光器官，
08:07
it's got light organs in every single scale, in the fins,
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它身上每处都有发光器官，
08:09
in a mucus layer on the back and the belly,
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鳍上，在背部的粘液层上，腹部等。
08:11
all used for different things --
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它们的作用都各不相同，
08:13
some of which we know about, some of which we don't.
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有些为我们所知，有些则不然。
08:15
And we know a little bit more about bioluminescence thanks to Pixar,
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对于在生物性光研究取得的进步，要归功于皮克斯公司，
08:18
and I'm very grateful to Pixar for sharing
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是皮克斯公司让我与大家分享我喜欢的主题。
08:20
my favorite topic with so many people.
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对此，我感激不尽。
08:22
I do wish, with their budget,
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我也希望，
08:24
that they might have spent just a tiny bit more money
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他们给研究生的预算可以多那么一点点。
08:27
to pay a consulting fee to some poor, starving graduate student,
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要知道，这些经费不足，求知欲强的大学生
08:30
who could have told them that those are the eyes
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本来可以向他们展示这些
08:32
of a fish that's been preserved in formalin.
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保存在福尔马林里的鱼眼。
08:35
These are the eyes of a living anglerfish.
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这是一条活琵琶鱼(安康鱼)的眼睛。
08:37
So, she's got a lure that she sticks out
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她有针尖的牙齿，
08:39
in front of this living mousetrap
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活像一个生物捕鼠器。
08:41
of needle-sharp teeth
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它的发光器官从牙齿上突出，
08:43
in order to attract in some unsuspecting prey.
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从而吸引这些未设防的猎物。
08:46
And this one has a lure
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这条鱼的发光器官
08:48
with all kinds of little interesting threads coming off it.
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是从这里穿出的针，相当有意思。
08:51
Now we used to think that the different shape of the lure
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我们过去认为这些形状各异的发光器光
08:54
was to attract different types of prey,
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是为吸引不同类型的猎物.
08:56
but then stomach content analyses on these fish
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但科学家，更多的是他们的研究生，
08:59
done by scientists, or more likely their graduate students,
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对这些鱼的内容物进行分析，
09:02
have revealed that
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发现
09:04
they all eat pretty much the same thing.
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他们吃的东西几乎一模一样。
09:06
So, now we believe that the different shape of the lure
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所以现在我们认为在琵琶鱼上这些不同类型的发光器官,
09:08
is how the male recognizes the female
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是为了让雄性鱼能够
09:10
in the anglerfish world,
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识别雌性鱼的。
09:12
because many of these males
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因为很多雄性鱼
09:14
are what are known as dwarf males.
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都有"侏儒男"之称。
09:16
This little guy
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这些小东西
09:18
has no visible means of self-support.
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没有可见的自给工具。
09:21
He has no lure for attracting food
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他们没有诱饵吸引食物，
09:23
and no teeth for eating it when it gets there.
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即使食物就在嘴边，他们也没牙去咬。
09:25
His only hope for existence on this planet
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在这种环境里，他的一线生机
09:28
is as a gigolo. (Laughter)
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就是吃软饭。
09:30
He's got to find himself a babe
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他要为自己找到一个
09:32
and then he's got to latch on for life.
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可以依附一生的伴侣。
09:35
So this little guy
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自然，
09:37
has found himself this babe,
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这个小东西找到了伴侣，
09:39
and you will note that he's had the good sense
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你会注意到，这条矮雄鱼还挺聪明的，“他“这么一粘上去，
09:41
to attach himself in a way that he doesn't actually have to look at her.
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这辈子“他“连瞅也不用瞅“她“了。
09:44
(Laughter)
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（笑）
09:46
But he still knows a good thing when he sees it,
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但当他看到雌鱼时，他还是挺积极的。
09:48
and so he seals the relationship with an eternal kiss.
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他通过给她一个永恒的“吻“，
09:51
His flesh fuses with her flesh,
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通过和她血肉相连，
09:53
her bloodstream grows into his body,
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巩固下它们之间的联系。
09:55
and he becomes nothing more than a little sperm sac.
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他现在活似一个精囊了。
09:58
(Laughter)
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（笑）
10:00
Well, this is a deep-sea version of Women's Lib.
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嗯，这是妇女解放运动的深海版。
10:02
She always knows where he is,
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雌鱼总知道雄鱼的所在，
10:04
and she doesn't have to be monogamous,
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而且她也不需要嫁夫随夫，
10:06
because some of these females
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因为很多雄鱼都会依附于
10:08
come up with multiple males attached.
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一条雌鱼。
10:10
So they can use it for finding food, for attracting mates.
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所以说，这些生物会利用发光特性来寻找食物，吸引异性。
10:13
They use it a lot for defense, many different ways.
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更多的是它们用发光特性来防御天敌，具体的方法多种多样。
10:16
A lot of them can release their luciferin or luferase in the water
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许多生物都能释放他们的荧光素，或者荧光酶
10:19
just the way a squid or an octopus will release an ink cloud.
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就好像乌贼或章鱼释放的墨团。
10:21
This shrimp is actually
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很神奇，这条虾
10:23
spewing light out of its mouth
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会从嘴里射出一道光，
10:25
like a fire breathing dragon
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像喷火龙一样，
10:27
in order to blind or distract this viperfish
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这样毒蛇鱼就看不见了，或者注意力被分散了。
10:29
so that the shrimp can swim away into the darkness.
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然后这条虾就能蹿回黑暗里。
10:31
And there are a lot of different animals that can do this:
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很多种类各异的生物都有这种能力。
10:34
There's jellyfish, there's squid,
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水母，章鱼，
10:36
there's a whole lot of different crustaceans,
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以及各种各样的甲壳类生物。
10:38
there's even fish that can do this.
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甚至鱼类也有这种能力。
10:40
This fish is called the shining tubeshoulder
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这条鱼被称为“光亮肩管”鱼。
10:43
because it actually has a tube on its shoulder
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因为在它的肩上
10:45
that can squirt out light.
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有一个能喷光的管子。
10:47
And I was luck enough to capture one of these
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我很有幸能捕到这样一条鱼
10:49
when we were on a trawling expedition
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那是在非洲西北岸进行的一次捕捞作业，
10:51
off the northwest coast of Africa for "Blue Planet,"
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是为了（探索频道的）“蓝色星球”的节目做的。
10:54
for the deep portion of "Blue Planet."
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准确地说是“蓝色星球”节目的深海探险部分。
10:56
And we were using a special trawling net
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当时我们使用了一种特殊的捕捞网，
10:58
that we were able to bring these animals up alive.
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这些网可以把生物活着捞上来。
11:00
So we captured one of these, and I brought it into the lab.
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我们这样捕捞到了这条鱼。我把它带进了实验室。
11:03
So I'm holding it,
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这是我正捉着它，
11:05
and I'm about to touch that tube on its shoulder,
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我现在要触碰它肩上的管子，
11:07
and when I do, you'll see bioluminescence coming out.
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当碰到以后，大家就看到有生物光流出来。
11:11
But to me, what's shocking
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对我来说，让我惊讶的
11:13
is not just the amount of light,
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不只是有大量的光喷出，
11:15
but the fact that it's not just luciferin and luciferase.
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而是，这些光不仅仅是由荧光素和荧光素酶组成，
11:17
For this fish, it's actually whole cells
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这些鱼喷出的，
11:19
with nuclei and membranes.
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是具有细胞核和细胞膜的完整细胞。
11:21
It's energetically very costly for this fish to do this,
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这样看来，喷光对这条鱼来说是极其消耗能量的，
11:23
and we have no idea why it does it --
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我们也不明白为什么它要这样做，
11:26
another one of these great mysteries that needs to be solved.
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这也是需要解决的谜团之一。
11:31
Now, another form of defense
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另外，
11:33
is something called a burglar alarm --
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还有一种名为“防盗警钟”的防御模式。
11:35
same reason you have a burglar alarm on your car;
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因为它的原理同你私家车上的防盗报警器是一样的。
11:37
the honking horn and flashing lights
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鸣笛和闪灯，
11:39
are meant to attract the attention of, hopefully,
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满怀希望地想吸引警察的注意，
11:41
the police that will come and take the burglar away --
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警察来了就可以带走这个偷车贼。
11:43
when an animal's caught in the clutches of a predator,
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当一个生物落入它的天敌的魔爪中，
11:45
its only hope for escape may be
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这个生物唯一的潜逃机会
11:47
to attract the attention of something bigger and nastier
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就是去吸引更大的，更危险的，
11:49
that will attack their attacker,
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能够袭击自己天敌的生物，
11:51
thereby affording them a chance for escape.
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这样就能为他们提供潜逃机会。
11:54
This jellyfish, for example, has
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比如这条水母，
11:56
a spectacular bioluminescent display.
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上演了一场精彩的发光秀。
11:58
This is us chasing it in the submersible.
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这是我们在潜水器里的追捕画面，
12:00
That's not luminescence, that's reflected light from the gonads.
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这里（你看到）的光并不是生物性光，而是来自生殖腺的反射光。
12:03
We capture it in a very special device on the front of the submersible
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我们在潜水器前方安装了一种特殊的装置来捕捉水母，
12:06
that allows us to bring it up in really pristine condition,
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这个装置能让我们捕获最原始状态的水母，
12:09
bring it into the lab on the ship.
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并带到船上的实验室。
12:11
And then to generate the display you're about to see,
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然后就产生了大家即将看到的。
12:13
all I did was touch it once per second
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我用像鱼牙齿一样的尖状物，
12:15
on its nerve ring with a sharp pick
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以每秒一次的频率
12:17
that's sort of like the sharp tooth of a fish.
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去刺激它的神经环。
12:19
And once this display gets going, I'm not touching it anymore.
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开始发光之后，我就不再去刺激它了。
12:22
This is an unbelievable light show.
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这是一场难以置信的光展，
12:25
It's this pinwheel of light,
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这像是光做的风车。
12:27
and I've done calculations that show that this could be seen
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我曾经计算过，
12:29
from as much as 300 feet away by a predator.
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300英尺以外的捕食者也能看到这些光。
12:32
And I thought, "You know,
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所以我认为，
12:34
that might actually make a pretty good lure."
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这些光着实是相当不错的诱饵。
12:36
Because one of the things that's frustrated me
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因此，作为一名深海探索者，
12:39
as a deep-sea explorer
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有一个问题一直困扰着我，
12:41
is how many animals there probably are in the ocean that we know nothing about
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那就是，海洋里究竟有多少生物， 是由于我们的探索手段的问题，
12:44
because of the way we explore the ocean.
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而使我们对他们一无所知的？
12:47
The primary way that we know about what lives in the ocean
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我们认识了解海洋生物的主要方法就是
12:50
is we go out and drag nets behind ships.
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出海，撒网，
12:53
And I defy you to name any other branch of science
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我不认为任何其他的科学研究领域
12:55
that still depends on hundreds of year-old technology.
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还在使用这么老掉牙的技术。
12:58
The other primary way is we go down
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其它主要途径就是乘潜水器下海，
13:00
with submersibles and remote-operated vehicles.
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以及使用遥控的工具。
13:02
I've made hundreds of dives in submersibles.
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我曾随潜水器下水几百次，
13:05
When I'm sitting in a submersible though,
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即使当我只坐在潜水器里
13:07
I know that I'm not unobtrusive at all --
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什么都不干，我也是非常招摇的。
13:10
I've got bright lights and noisy thrusters --
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随我而来的是很亮的探照光，推进器产生的噪音。
13:12
any animal with any sense is going to be long gone.
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任何稍有知觉的生物都躲得远远的了。
13:15
So, I've wanted for a long time
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所以，很长一段时间内
13:18
to figure out a different way to explore.
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我一直想研究出一种别的探索方法。
13:20
And so, sometime ago, I got this idea for a camera system.
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接着，前不久，我想到了利用摄像系统来探索。
13:23
It's not exactly rocket science. We call this thing Eye-in-the-Sea.
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这其实并没那么复杂，我们称这个系统为“海洋之眼”。
13:26
And scientists have done this on land for years;
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科学家们多年来在陆地上已经用类似的手段，
13:28
we just use a color that the animals can't see
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我们只是换了一种深海生物看不到的，
13:31
and then a camera that can see that color.
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但摄像机却可以识别的颜色。
13:33
You can't use infrared in the sea.
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海洋里无法使用红外线，
13:35
We use far-red light, but even that's a problem
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因而我们使用的是远红光。但还有个问题就是，
13:37
because it gets absorbed so quickly.
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光被吸收的太快了。
13:39
Made an intensified camera,
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所以我们设计了高敏相机，
13:41
wanted to make this electronic jellyfish.
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来制造这只“电水母”。
13:43
Thing is, in science,
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问题是作科研，
13:46
you basically have to tell the funding agencies what you're going to discover
348
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你得告诉筹资机构你能发现什么，
13:49
before they'll give you the money.
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然后你才能得到科研资金。
13:51
And I didn't know what I was going to discover,
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我不知道我能发现什么，
13:53
so I couldn't get the funding for this.
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自然也没能得到资金。
13:55
So I kluged this together, I got the Harvey Mudd Engineering Clinic
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所以我就只好七拼八凑。起初我委托哈维姆德工程院
13:58
to actually do it as an undergraduate student project initially,
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将（这个假水母的研究）作为本科生的研究项目。
14:01
and then I kluged funding from a whole bunch of different sources.
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再后来，通过各种各样的渠道，我终于凑得了科研基金。
14:04
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
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蒙特利湾水族馆研究中心
14:06
gave me time with their ROV
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将他们的水下机器人给了我。
14:09
so that I could test it and we could figure out,
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然后我就能进行些测试和研究。
14:11
you know, for example, which colors of red light we had to use
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比如，应该用什么样的红光，使让我们看到海洋生物，
14:14
so that we could see the animals, but they couldn't see us --
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而他们看不到我们，
14:17
get the electronic jellyfish working.
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还得确保这台电水母顺利工作。
14:20
And you can see just what a shoestring operation this really was,
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大家可以看到我们的预算确实有限，
14:23
because we cast these 16 blue LEDs in epoxy
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因为，当我把这16个蓝色二极管粘到这个塑料圈上时——
14:26
and you can see in the epoxy mold that we used,
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这里你可以看见我们用的塑料模子，
14:28
the word Ziploc is still visible.
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你还看得见ZIPLOC（生产厨房用品的厂家）的字样。
14:31
Needless to say, when it's kluged together like this,
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不用说，在对各种光进行组合搭配时，
14:34
there were a lot of trials and tribulations getting this working.
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我们经历了许多尝试和失败，才得以研究出这种符合条件的光。
14:37
But there came a moment when it all came together,
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这样的时候，就是所有工作就绪，
14:39
and everything worked.
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所有设备都能投入使用，
14:41
And, remarkably, that moment got caught on film
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我们兴奋不已。而这弥足珍贵的一刻
14:43
by photographer Mark Richards,
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被刚好在那里的摄像师
14:45
who happened to be there at the precise moment
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马克 瑞查德拍摄了下来。
14:47
that we discovered that it all came together.
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这时刻我们知道整个事情成了。
14:50
That's me on the left,
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左边的是我，
14:52
my graduate student at the time, Erika Raymond,
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然后是我带的毕业生 艾丽卡 莱蒙德
14:54
and Lee Fry, who was the engineer on the project.
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以及该项目的工程师 李 弗莱
14:57
And we have this photograph posted in our lab in a place of honor
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我们把相片挂在实验室最显著的地方，
15:00
with the caption: "Engineer satisfying two women at once." (Laughter)
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图注为“工程师同时满足了两个女人”
15:04
And we were very, very happy.
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当时真的是太开心了。
15:06
So now we had a system
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现在终于有了能将我们带到
15:08
that we could actually take to some place
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海底天堂的设备了。
15:10
that was kind of like an oasis on the bottom of the ocean
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而这片海底天堂很可能是
15:12
that might be patrolled by large predators.
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大型捕食者的天下。
15:16
And so, the place that we took it to
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所以，我们将设备
15:18
was this place called a Brine Pool,
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安置在墨西哥湾北部的
15:20
which is in the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico.
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盐池区内。
15:22
It's a magical place.
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这个地方很神奇。
15:24
And I know this footage isn't going to look like anything to you --
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我猜这段录像不足以吸引大家的眼球，
15:26
we had a crummy camera at the time --
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鉴于那时逊色的摄像机
15:28
but I was ecstatic.
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但我却狂喜不已。
15:30
We're at the edge of the Brine Pool,
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这是在盐池边上，
15:32
there's a fish that's swimming towards the camera.
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有条鱼正向相机游来，
15:35
It's clearly undisturbed by us.
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显然，我们没打扰到它。
15:37
And I had my window into the deep sea.
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这样子我找到了通向深海的窗口。
15:40
I, for the first time, could see what animals were doing down there
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这是第一次。我看到这些不受任何人影响的
15:43
when we weren't down there disturbing them in some way.
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深海生物究竟在干什么。
15:47
Four hours into the deployment,
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四个小时的准备工作之后，
15:49
we had programmed the electronic jellyfish
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我们第一次
15:51
to come on for the first time.
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将电水母投入使用
15:53
Eighty-six seconds after
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我们的电水母开始发光，（就像前面提到的真的水母所作的光风车一样，）86秒之后，
15:55
it went into its pinwheel display,
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我们拍摄到了
15:57
we recorded this:
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这个画面。
16:00
This is a squid, over six feet long,
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这是条章鱼，足有六英尺长。
16:02
that is so new to science,
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我们对它没有一点了解，
16:04
it cannot be placed in any known scientific family.
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所以不能将它归入任何现存的动物种类中去。
16:08
I could not have asked for a better proof of concept.
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这是我能得到的最好的证据，来说明我的研究方法是正确的。
16:11
And based on this, I went back to the National Science Foundation
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依靠拍摄到的内容，我又回头找到国家科学基金1，
16:13
and said, "This is what we will discover."
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并告诉他们，“（如果你们给我们资金）这就是我们会发现的”。
16:16
And they gave me enough money to do it right,
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他们就给了我足够的资金去更好地做这项研究，
16:18
which has involved developing the world's first deep-sea webcam --
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其中也包括开发第一架深海网络摄像头，
16:21
which has been installed in
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这个摄像头
16:23
the Monterey Canyon for the past year --
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去年被安装在蒙特利的海底峡谷。
16:25
and now, more recently,
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现在，也就是最近，
16:27
a modular form of this system,
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我们开发出了比这个摄像头
16:29
a much more mobile form
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更为灵活的模型。
16:31
that's a lot easier to launch and recover,
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这个模型更便于水下作业，而且能够再回收。
16:33
that I hope can be used on Sylvia's "hope spots"
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我希望这个装置可以用来
16:36
to help explore
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探索和保护
16:38
and protect these areas,
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西维亚所说的“希望之地”。
16:40
and, for me, learn more about
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同时让我加深对
16:42
the bioluminescence in these "hope spots."
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“希望之地”的更多生物性光的了解。
16:45
So one of these take-home messages here
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有一点需要指出的是
16:48
is, there is still a lot to explore in the oceans.
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海洋里我们需要探索的东西仍然很多。
16:51
And Sylvia has said
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西维亚曾说，
16:53
that we are destroying the oceans before we even know what's in them,
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我们尚未弄清海洋里究竟有些什么却已经在破坏它了。
16:56
and she's right.
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她说的很对。
16:58
So if you ever, ever get an opportunity
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如果你非常有幸
17:00
to take a dive in a submersible,
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可以乘潜水器下水，
17:02
say yes -- a thousand times, yes --
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请一定把握机会。就算你有一千次机会，每次都请下水。
17:05
and please turn out the lights.
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你会关上灯。
17:07
I promise, you'll love it.
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我保证，你会爱上那番景象。
17:09
Thank you.
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谢谢。
17:11
(Applause)
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鼓掌
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Edith Widder - Marine biologistEdith Widder combines her expertise in research and technological innovation with a commitment to stopping and reversing the degradation of our marine environment.
Why you should listen
A specialist in bioluminescence, Edith Widder helps design and invent new submersible instruments and equipment to study bioluminescence and enable unobtrusive observation of deep-sea environments. Her innovative tools for exploration have produced footage of rare and wonderful bioluminescent displays and never-before-seen denizens of the deep, including, most recently, the first video ever recorded of the giant squid, Architeuthis, in its natural habitat.
In 2005 she founded the Ocean Research & Conservation Association (ORCA), which is dedicated to protecting aquatic ecosystems and the species they sustain through the development of innovative technologies and science-based conservation action.; In an effort to protect and revitalize the ocean she loves she has been focusing on developing tools for finding and tracking pollution -- a major threat to all of our water ecosystems and ultimately to human health. She was awarded a MacArthur "genius" grant in 2006.
In 2012, Widder was among the team that filmed the giant squid (Architeuthis) for the first time in its home ocean.
Edith Widder | Speaker | TED.com