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17世紀時,美國東岸科德角灣存在大量露脊鯨,數量多到你能踩在牠們背上從海灣一端走到另一端。如今牠們只剩幾百隻,瀕臨滅絕。如同露脊鯨,許多種類的鯨魚數量急遽減少,因為兩百年來的捕鯨活動。為了取得鯨肉、鯨油和鯨骨,牠們遭受獵殺。今天我們的海洋中有鯨魚,只因為70年代的拯救鯨魚運動,它有效遏止了商業捕鯨,秉持的概念是:如果我們連鯨魚都救不了,還能拯救什麼?基本上這是對我們阻止環境遭受破壞之政治能力的考驗,因此這項運動的成果是,80年代初實施禁止商業捕鯨的規定。然而,我們海域中的鯨魚數量依然稀少,因為牠們確實面臨一系列人類造成的其他威脅。
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In the 1600s, there were so many right whales in Cape Cod Bay off the east coast of the U.S. that apparently you could walk across their backs from one end of the bay to the other. Today, they number in the hundreds, and they're endangered. Like them, many species of whales saw their numbers drastically reduced by 200 years of whaling, where they were hunted and killed for their whale meat, oil and whale bone. We only have whales in our waters today because of the Save the Whales movement of the '70s. It was instrumental in stopping commercial whaling, and was built on the idea that if we couldn't save whales, what could we save? It was ultimately a test of our political ability to halt environmental destruction. So in the early '80s, there was a ban on commercial whaling that came into force as a result of this campaign.Whales in our waters are still low in numbers, however, because they do face a range of other human-induced threats.
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不幸的是,許多人仍認為,像我這樣的鯨魚保育人士從事這種工作的原因僅在於欣賞這些生物的美麗和迷人之處,這確實會造成反效果。因為鯨魚是生態系統的工程師,牠們協助維護海洋的穩定和健康,甚至對人類社會有所貢獻。因此我們談談為何拯救鯨魚對於海洋的恢復力十分重要。這歸因於兩項主要因素:鯨魚糞便和腐爛的遺骸。
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Unfortunately, many people still think that whale conservationists like myself do what we do only because these creatures are charismatic and beautiful. This is actually a disservice, because whales are ecosystem engineers. They help maintain the stability and health of the oceans, and even provide services to human society. So let's talk about why saving whales is critical to the resiliency of the oceans. It boils down to two main things: whale poop and rotting carcasses.
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當鯨魚潛入深海捕食,然後浮上海面呼吸時,牠們會排放出大量糞便流,這種所謂的鯨泵能將重要的限制性營養物從深海帶至海洋表面,促進浮游生物生長。浮游生物是構成整個海洋食物鏈的基礎,因此使更多鯨魚在海洋中排泄對整個生態系統相當有益。鯨魚也是遷徙距離最長的哺乳動物之一。美國海岸外的灰鯨每年遷徙1萬6千公里,在營養物豐富的捕食水域和營養物缺乏的繁殖水域之間來回移動。在這個過程中,牠們以糞便的形式將養分從原本的所在地運輸到欠缺養分的地方,因此顯然鯨魚對海洋的養分循環來說相當重要,無論是縱向或橫向循環。
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As whales dive to the depths to feed and come up to the surface to breathe, they actually release these enormous fecal plumes. This whale pump, as it's called, actually brings essential limiting nutrients from the depths to the surface waters where they stimulate the growth of phytoplankton, which forms the base of all marine food chains. So really, having more whales in the oceans pooping is really beneficial to the entire ecosystem. Whales are also known to undertake some of the longest migrations of all mammals. Gray whales off America migrate 16,000 kilometersbetween productive feeding areas and less productive calving, or birthing, areas and back every year. As they do so, they transport fertilizer in the form of their feces from places that have it to places that need it. So clearly, whales are really important in nutrient cycling, both horizontally and vertically, through the oceans.
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但相當酷的是,牠們死後也十分重要。鯨魚遺骸是從海面落下最大的腐質之一,被稱為「鯨落」。當遺骸下沉時,為大約400個物種提供了盛宴,包括鰻魚狀、會分泌粘液的盲鰻。因此在200多年的捕鯨期間,當我們忙著獵殺及從海洋中移走這些遺骸時,我們很可能改變了這些應下沉至深海的鯨落之產率和地理分布,很可能導致一些專門仰賴這些遺骸為生之物種的滅絕。鯨魚遺骸也能運輸約19萬噸的碳,相當於8萬輛汽車一年從大氣到深海的碳排放。深海即所謂的「碳匯」,因為它能捕捉及儲存大氣中多餘的碳,藉此幫助減緩全球暖化。有時這些遺骸也會被沖上岸,為陸地上一些獵食物種提供食物。
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But what's really cool is that they're also really important after they're dead. Whale carcasses are some of the largest form of detritus to fall from the ocean's surface, and they're called whale fall. As these carcasses sink, they provide a feast to some 400-odd species, including the eel-shaped, slime-producing hagfish. So over the 200 years of whaling, when we were busy killing and removing these carcasses from the oceans, we likely altered the rate and geographic distribution of these whale falls that would descend into deep oceans, and as a result, probably led to a number of extinctions of species that were most specialized and dependent on these carcasses for their survival. Whale carcasses are also known to transport about 190,000 tons of carbon, which is the equivalent of that produced by 80,000 cars per yearfrom the atmosphere to the deep oceans, and the deep oceans are what we call "carbon sinks," because they trap and hold excess carbon from the atmosphere, and therefore help to delay global warming. Sometimes these carcasses also wash up on beaches and provide a meal to a number of predatory species on land.
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二百年來的捕鯨活動顯然造成巨大傷害,導致鯨魚數量減少60%至90%。確實,拯救鯨魚行動在遏止商業捕鯨中起了關鍵作用,但我們必須進一步修訂,我們需要解決當今水域中鯨魚面臨的更現代化、更緊迫的問題。此外,我們必須防止牠們在捕食水域中遭貨輪撞擊,防止牠們在海面遨遊時被漁網纏住。我們也需要學習將保育資訊具體化,以便人們能確實瞭解這些生物的真正生態價值。因此讓我們再次拯救鯨魚,但這次不僅是為了鯨魚,也是為了我們自己。謝謝。
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The 200 years of whaling was clearly detrimental and caused a reduction in the populations of whales between 60 to 90 percent. Clearly, the Save the Whales movement was instrumental in preventing commercial whaling from going on, but we need to revise this. We need to address the more modern, pressing problems that these whales face in our waters today. Amongst other things, we need to stop them from getting plowed down by container ships when they're in their feeding areas, and stop them from getting entangled in fishing nets as they float around in the ocean. We also need to learn to contextualize our conservation messages, so people really understand the true ecosystem value of these creatures. So, let's save the whales again, but this time, let's not just do it for their sake. Let's also do it for ours. Thank you.