
At an animal hospital in the Northeast United States, a biologist takes blood from a sick loggerhead sea turtle named Honey Bun. 在美国东北部的一家动物医院,一名生物学家从一只病态的Loggerhead海龟中取血,名为Honey Bun。
This is one of the first steps scientists must take before treating and rehabilitating the turtle so that it can be returned into the wild. 这是科学家在治疗和修复乌龟之前必须采取的第一步,以便它可以归还野外。
Cape Cod, in the state of Massachusetts, may have some of the largest numbers of turtle strandings in the world. 在马萨诸塞州,科德角(Cape Cod)可能拥有世界上最多的乌龟束缚。
The number of turtles that became trapped on Cape Cod beaches has risen over the past 10 years. That information comes from the Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. 在过去的10年中,被困在鳕鱼角海滩上的海龟数量增加了。 这些信息来自大众奥杜邦的Wellfleet Bay野生动物保护区。
This year, volunteers found 829 turtles washed up on the sand. About half of them were dead, including some that were frozen solid. That number is nearly twice what workers found in 2016 and nearly 10 times more than 2008. 今年,志愿者发现829只乌龟在沙滩上冲洗掉。 其中大约一半死了,其中包括一些冷冻固体。 这个数字几乎是工人在2016年发现的两倍,是2008年的几乎10倍。
Some experts think the number of washed up turtles is related to climate change. 一些专家认为被冲洗的海龟的数量与气候变化有关。
A paper published in PLOS ONE notes that there were more strandings of Kemp’s ridley sea turtles in years with warmer sea-surface temperatures. It added that of the threats to turtle populations, “climate change may present the broadest threat for sea turtle conservation.” PLOS在PLOS上发表的一篇论文指出,多年来,肯普的Ridley海龟的搁浅,海面温度更高。 它补充说,在对乌龟人群的威胁中,“气候变化可能对海龟保护构成最广泛的威胁”。
Over the past 10 years, many turtles have been moving north from the Gulf of Mexico into the warming waters of the Gulf of Maine. There, they feed on mussels, crabs and other sea creatures. 在过去的10年中,许多海龟从墨西哥湾向北移动到缅因州湾的温暖水域。 在那里,它们以贻贝,螃蟹和其他海洋生物为食。
Cape Cod extends into the Atlantic Ocean, serving as a kind of trap for turtles. When the waters cool there, the animals start to have health problems, like developing pneumonia. They have problems moving and eating. 科德角延伸到大西洋,是乌龟的陷阱。 当那里的水冷却时,动物开始存在健康问题,例如患肺炎。 他们在移动和饮食方面存在问题。
Bob Prescott is the director of Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and helped to prepare the PLOS ONE paper. He notes that the sea turtles “know how to leave, but the Cape is like a trap – a hook within a hook.” 鲍勃·普雷斯科特(Bob Prescott)是Wellfleet Bay野生动物保护区的董事,并帮助准备了PLOS One论文。 他指出,海龟“知道如何离开,但斗篷就像一个陷阱 - 钩子里的钩子。”
If the turtles survive, it can take months before they are fully recovered. Adam Kennedy is a biologist at New England Aquarium’s sea turtle hospital in Quincy, Massachusetts. He says that when the turtles arrive at the hospital “they look like they are dead, especially in December.” 如果海龟生存,可能需要几个月的时间才能完全恢复。 亚当·肯尼迪(Adam Kennedy)是马萨诸塞州昆西的新英格兰水族馆海龟医院的生物学家。 他说,当海龟到达医院时,“它们看起来好像已经死了,尤其是在十二月。”
Other experts argue that climate change alone cannot explain the increased number of turtle strandings. 其他专家认为,仅气候变化无法解释乌龟束缚的数量增加。
Jeffrey Seminoff heads the Marine Turtle Ecology and Assessment Program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service. He believes that the high number of strandings “probably results from the simple fact that there’s more turtles.” 杰弗里·塞诺夫(Jeffrey Seminoff)领导着国家海洋和大气管理局国家海洋渔业局的海龟生态和评估计划。 他认为,大量搁浅“可能是由于有更多海龟的简单事实而导致的。”
Seminoff said that the recovery of the turtle population and “success of conservation efforts at the nesting beaches” could explain the higher number of turtle strandings. Seminoff说,乌龟种群的恢复和“筑巢海滩的保护工作的成功”可以解释乌龟的数量更高。
Kennedy, the biologist, said that he has mixed feelings when the turtles are released back into the wild. “It’s bittersweet, because you spend so much time with them but ultimately every one of these guys getting back to the ocean helps the population.” 生物学家肯尼迪(Kennedy)说,当海龟被释放回野外时,他的感受也不同。 “这很苦乐参半,因为您花了很多时间与他们在一起,但最终,这些家伙回到海洋中的每个人都会帮助人口。”
Recently, Honey Bun – the turtle we met at the beginning of our report – and other turtles were taken to Florida. They were released into the water. 最近,蜂蜜面包 - 我们在报告开头遇到的乌龟 - 其他海龟被带到佛罗里达。 他们被释放到水中。
Kelly Shaffer is with National Aquarium Baltimore, which worked with four other groups to organize the turtles’ release. She noted that she feels a sense of “joy and accomplishment” at “being able to put them back out there.” 凯利·谢弗(Kelly Shaffer)与国家水族馆巴尔的摩(National Aquarium Baltimore)一起,该水族馆与其他四个团体合作组织了乌龟的释放。 她指出,她对“能够将它们放回那里”感到“喜悦和成就”感到“喜悦和成就”。
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