显微镜下看亚马孙河 亚马孙河下游的木屋
时间：2019-01-08 03:25:39 来源：柠檬阅读网 本文已影响 人 
翻译：方嘉乐 We are off to the Amazon Basin to join Adrian Barnett, whose knowledge and experience make him an ideal guide to the wildlife treasures to be found along the mighty Amazon.
我们将与亚德里安・巴聂特同行前往亚马孙盆地，他的渊博学识与丰富经验使他成为我们的理想导游，可以带我们沿着宽阔的亚马孙河，寻找珍贵的野生动植物。 Adrian Barnett: Here we are, after a nice little walk through the Amazon Rainforest[雨林], about 90 kilometers outside Manaus[马瑙斯（巴西西北部城市）]. And Dr. Jenson Zunon has brought me along to one of his favorite research sites in the world, a place where there’s an extraordinary abundance[丰富] of fish. But the thing is that it’s not the River Amazon at all, it’s actually a tiny little stream. Now what’s so special about this place? Jenson Zunon: Well, this place holds a lot of fishes, maybe 40 species in a single stream, and very different species some odd catfishes[鲶鱼] that buries in the sand; some small night fishes almost transparent[透明的] that dives during the day (In one small backwater[回水], Adrian and Chris find a pool boiling with about 30 electric eels. With a special sensor dropped into the pool, Adrian is able to hear the electrical discharges[放电] being given off by these fish.) Adrian Barnett: This is, this is not the kind of thing you see every day, I imagine. Chris Adland: No, this is amazing. I’ve never seen so many electric eels in one place. And they’re all together. They seem to be in a large spawning aggregation[聚集], they’re very hungry. We’re just throwing a piece of fish in here and they’re just swarming[涌往] right up to us at the side of the bank. It’s absolutely an amazing thing. Adrian Barnett: This is lovely ause we didn’t actually come for these fish, but now, I mean, you’ve discovered a new research site. Chris Adland: Yeah, that’s the beauty of going out in the field here in the Amazon. It seems like every time you go out, you see, you find something new and fascinating to study. Adrian Barnett: I’ve just never seen so many electric eels. Chris Adland: Yeah, either have I. This is absolutely an area that, I think, we should protect. I’ve never seen an aggregation quite like this. It’s quite isolated[隔离的] and could easily be exploited[开发]. Adrian Barnett: They’re so beautiful. There’s one just came up with the most brilliant orange belly. Chris Adland: Yeah, they’re absolutely beautiful. They’re actually quite beautiful animals. Adrian Barnett: Well, we shall leave them to it, I think. We’re gonna toss a bit of fishing. �ause we wanna say thank-you to them for being wonderful. And tomorrow I’m off to Balbina Dam where I’m going to look for giant otters. (The Second Day) Adrian Barnett: We’ve just driven 200 kilometers out of Manaus to the north. This is the back end of the hydroelectric[水力发电的] dam called Balbina, which was constructed and was shortly recognized afterwards as a whopping[非常地] great big ecological[生态学的] mistake注. But some things have benefited. There’s been a lot of dolphins in here and a lot of fish. And one of the things that’s benefited most is in fact one of the animals that’s really really rare elsewhere in the Amazon. And that is the giant otter. And we’re about to get on a boat and see if we can see some. What do these eat? The boatman who you heard there, he was saying that they just eat basically the most common things the things that are most frequently encountered were the things they eat. One was a large freshwater[淡水] relative of the herring[鲱] and then there’s another one, which is a flattened version of a hatchet-fish; and then a number of other things as well. Also, some animals just seem to prefer eating the head of a small fish. So, uh...eah, it’s just the life of the otter. Unfortunately, the giant otter hasn’t appeared for us. It’s been a lovely trip through the Balbina Dam, even though it’s a kind of strange and weird[怪异的] and freaky place. All these looks like a wooden sculpture[雕塑] park. Lionel Kelleway (Presenter): We’ve only been able to troll[钓鱼] the surface of the wonderful and rich place that is the Amazon Basin and its waters. We explore this amazing and, as yet, largely unseen new and exciting world.
亚德里安・巴聂特：我们在离马瑙斯大约90公里以外的亚马孙雨林里舒适地走了一会儿后，就来到了目的地。詹森・祖侬博士把我带到世界上他最喜爱的研究场之一，这里有非常丰富的鱼类。但它并不是亚马孙河，实际上它只是一条小小的溪流。那么这个地方有什么特别之处呢？
詹森・祖侬：这里有许多鱼，可能在一条小溪里就有40种鱼类，而且种类不一――埋在沙堆里的是一些样子古怪的（在一个小小的回水处，亚德里安和克里斯发现了一个水塘，里面有大约30条电鳗在快活地游动着。把一个特制的传感器放进水塘后，亚德里安可以听见这些电鳗放电的声音。）
亚德里安・巴聂特：我想，这，这并不是你每天都可以看到的东西。
克里斯・艾伦德：是的，真的很令人吃惊。我从未见过在一个地方有这么多的电鳗。而且它们都聚在一起，像在大量产卵一样挤成一团。它们很饥饿。我们刚在这儿扔下一块鱼，它们马上就往堤岸这边向我们涌过来。这绝对是令人吃惊的场面。
亚德里安・巴聂特：这真有趣，我们本来并不是为这些鱼而来的。可是现在，我的意思是，你又找到了一个新的研究场了。
克里斯・艾伦德：是啊，这正是在亚马孙这里到野外逛逛的魅力所在。好像每次你外出，你都会发现某些新鲜而又迷人的东西来研究。
亚德里安・巴聂特：我真的从未见过这么多的电鳗。
克里斯・艾伦德：是的，我也是。我认为这里绝对应该受到保护。我从未见过鱼儿像这样聚拢在一起。这里挺偏僻的，很容易开发。
亚德里安・巴聂特：它们很漂亮。刚才有一条游了上来，它的肚皮呈最灿烂的亮桔色。
克里斯・艾伦德：是的，它们绝对是美丽的。实际上它们是很漂亮的动物。
亚德里安・巴聂特：我想我们该离开它们了，我们会再丢一点儿鱼饵下去，以感谢它们让我们大开眼界。明天我将前往巴尔比纳大坝，到那里寻找巨型水獭。
（第二天）
亚德里安・巴聂特：我们开车到了马瑙斯北面远达200公里的地方。这是一个叫巴尔比纳的水力发电大坝的后端。大坝在修建后不久就被公认为是一个非常巨大的生态学错误。但某些动物却受益不少。这里有很多海豚和鱼类。事实上受益最大的动物之一是一种在亚马孙其它地方极其罕见的动物，那就是巨型水獭。我们马上会上船去碰碰运气，看能否见到它们。
它们吃什么？那里的船夫说它们基本上吃最普通的食物――它们最常碰见的动物就是它们的食物。一种鱼体型很大，是鲱鱼的淡水亲戚，另一种则是斧鱼中的扁平类，还有许多其它生物。另外，一些水獭好像比较喜欢吃小鱼的鱼头。是啊，这就是水獭的生活。很不巧，我们没有遇见巨型水獭。尽管这个地方是那么陌生、神秘和怪异，但这趟穿越巴尔比纳大坝的旅程很有趣。这里的东西看起来就像一个木雕公园。
里昂纽・凯利威（节目主持人）：在亚马孙盆地及其水域这个奇妙无穷又资源充沛的地方，我们只是稍微涉猎其表面。我们会继续探索这个令人惊异，然而还有很大部分未被发现，但又令人兴奋的新世界。
注: 巴西政府耗费7.5亿美元的巨资，在亚马孙河上修建了巴尔比纳大坝（Balbina Dam），该水库淹没了2360平方公里的森林。被淹没的林木腐烂时使库水严重酸化、缺氧，并释放出大量有毒的硫化氢和甲烷气体。结果，污染的库水不仅腐蚀破坏水电站的涡轮机，而且造成大量的水生生物和鱼类死亡，使库内水质恶化发臭。
