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Oysters in Danger 幼牡蛎神秘死亡事件

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Is the Pacific Ocean’s chemistry killing sea life?  太平洋海水中所含的化学物质，会是杀死海中生物的元凶吗？

The collapse began rather unspectacularly. In 2005, when most of the millions of Pacific oysters in this estuary failed to reproduce, Washington State’s shellfish growers shrugged it off. In a region that provides one-sixth of America’s oysters, everyone knows nature can be fickle.

美国牡蛎数量骤减的情况最早开始发生时，其实完全没有引起人们的注意。在二００五年，这处海湾（译注：美国华盛顿州的Willapa Bay）数以百万计的太平洋牡蛎繁殖幼苗失败之际，华盛顿州的贝类养殖者当时并不以意。全美有六分之一牡蛎都产于华盛顿州，而在这个地区里，大家对于大自然的无常多变，早就习以为常，见怪不怪了。

But then the failure was repeated in 2006, 2007 and 2008. It spread to an Oregon hatchery that supplies baby oysters to shellfish nurseries. Eighty percent of that hatchery’s oyster larvae died, too.

不过，同样的问题又连续在二００六年、二００七年，和二００八年出现，而且还扩散到奥瑞冈州一处孵化场，导致八成的幼牡蛎纷纷死亡，而该孵化场专门供应幼牡蛎给贝类养殖户培育牡蛎之用。

Now, as the oyster industry heads into the fifth summer of its most unnerving crisis in decades, scientists are pondering a disturbing theory. They suspect water that rises from deep in the Pacific Ocean may be corrosive enough to kill baby oysters.

如今，牡蛎养殖业者面临数十年来最令人恐惧不安的危机，而且已经是连续第五年出现牡蛎在夏季养殖季（译注：夏季是太平洋牡蛎繁殖孵化的季节）大量死亡的现象，这导致科学家开始思索一个令人不安的理论，他们怀疑，从太平洋深海处汲取而来的海水，其腐蚀性可能大到足以杀死幼牡蛎。

If true, that could mean shifts in ocean chemistry associated with carbon-dioxide emissions from fossil fuels may be impairing sea life faster and more dramatically than expected. Scientists seeking to explain what’s plaguing these coastal oysters say the link to more corrosive water is strong but anecdotal. It could be just one of several factors.

如果这个理论最后证明果然属实，就可能代表化石燃料燃烧后所排放的二氧化碳，和海水的化学性质改变有关，而且海水的变化可能会超出预期地更快速、更严重地破坏海洋生物的生存（译注：人类排放出的二氧化碳，除了排放到大气中造成温室效应之外，也有部份二氧化碳被海洋所吸收，而导致原本pH值属碱性的海水逐渐酸化，该理论认为，海水的酸度甚至高到足以溶解牡蛎外壳的碳酸钙，造成幼牡蛎死亡）。想找出个中原因的科学家表示，虽然幼牡蛎死亡和海水变得更有腐蚀性之间的关连性，的确很强，但目前仍属于传闻轶事的阶段，而且也可能只是诸多原因之一而已。

But the possibility leaves some shellfish farmers uneasy about more than just their future business. Indications that ocean acidification may already play a role in the decline of oysters are a “sign of things being out of balance, and that scares the living daylights out of me,” said third-generation oysterman Brian Sheldon.

不过，这种可能性倒已经让一些贝类养殖户人心惶惶了，而他们担心的倒不只是自己未来的生计而已。第三代牡蛎养殖户布莱恩．薛尔登表示，海洋酸化可能是导致牡蛎骤减的元凶，而这就已经是「一种征兆，显示万物已经失衡了，而这点把我吓得心惊胆跳！」

Who is to blame?  谁才是元凶？

Normally, oysters spawn in the water, producing larvae that swim and eventually attach to a hard surface – typically other oyster shells. This creates oyster seed, called a “set.” These mollusks are then moved by hand throughout the bay and take two to five years to fatten up. But somewhere between the larval stage and settling on a shell, these embryonic oysters are dying.

一般而言，牡蛎都在水中产卵，孵出的幼牡蛎就会在水中游，最后附着在坚硬的表面上──通常是其他牡蛎的外壳（译注：称为母壳），而形成牡蛎苗，称为附苗（译注：亦即幼牡蛎附着在母壳上）。然后这些软件动物就被人工放置散布在海湾内，再等两到五年的时间把牠们养得更肥美。不过，在孵出幼牡蛎后，一直到在母壳上附苗的过程中，却发生了牡蛎幼苗纷纷死亡的现象。

Researchers at first blamed an explosion of Vibrio tubiashii, an ocean-borne, larvae-killing bacteria. When researchers sampled the marine waters that get sucked directly into the hatcheries from the sea, they found bacteria counts nearly 100 times above normal. Even after installing extensive water-treatment systems, larvae died.

研究人员起初把矛头指向了名为Vibrio tubiashii的细菌数量暴增的缘故，因为这种生存在海中的细菌会杀死牡蛎幼苗。研究人员从孵化场自海里直接汲取上来的海水中取样，结果发现，这种细菌的含量超出正常含量近百倍之多。即使之后再装置大型净水处理系统，幼牡蛎照样纷纷死亡。

Then they noticed the water’s PH – the scale measuring acidity and alkalinity – sometimes dropped below normal, becoming more acidic. Seawater typically is slightly alkaline, but when oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – as they have by the hundreds of billions of tons since the Industrial Revolution – they become more corrosive.

然后，研究人员发现，水中的pH值──即衡量酸碱值浓度的标准──有时会低于正常值，而变得更酸化了。海水一般都是略呈碱性，但当海水吸收了大气中的二氧化碳之后──其实自工业革命后，海水已经吸收了数千亿公吨的二氧化碳──海水就变得更有腐蚀性了。

Researchers believe that might be what’s already happening on the Northwest coast. If oyster larvae are swimming in marine waters – whether pumped from the sea into a hatchery or in the bay – as deep, acidified water is pushed toward shore, that could be a problem.

研究人员认为，发生在美国西北海岸的牡蛎死亡现象，可能就和上述实验结果类似。如果深海的酸化海水被抽取上来，注入孵化场或养殖牡蛎的海湾中，而幼牡蛎却泡在这些酸化海水中，就可能导致问题发生。

Small improvements  小小的改良措施

In 2009, hatcheries have been able to improve production because of fewer upwelling events. Combined with new piping and technology, oyster production could stabilize before consumers notice a change.

在二００九年，由于涌升流的事件较少发生，因此孵化场的牡蛎产量也获得了改善。业者结合了新的汲水管线和先进科技，可望赶在消费者注意到牡蛎的变化之前，就先行让牡蛎产量更加稳定化。

But without major changes in the marine environment, small operators who count entirely on nature, like Sheldon, will likely continue to struggle.

只不过，如果海洋生态环境无法大幅改善，那么像薛尔登这类靠天吃饭的小规模业者可能还会持续面临困境。

−by Craig Welch

单词发音

More Information

unspectacularly [͵ʌnspɛkˋtækjəlɚlɪ] adv. 普通地；不引人注目地 not spectacularly

estuary [ˋɛstʃʊ͵ɛrɪ] n. 河口；海口湾 the wide part of a river at the place where it joins the sea

shellfish [ˋʃɛl͵fɪʃ] n. 贝；有壳的水生动物

shrug [ʃrʌg] v. 耸肩表示

fickle [ˋfɪk!] adj. 易变的，无常的

hatchery [ˋhætʃərɪ] n. 孵卵所; 孵化场 a place where large numbers of eggs, especially fish eggs, are hatched and the young are taken care of

nursery [ˋnɝsərɪ] n. 苗圃；养鱼场；动物繁殖场

larva [ˋlɑrvə] n.【动】幼虫；幼体 (名复: larvae, larvas) a form of an insect or an animal such as frog that has left its egg but is not yet completely developed

ponder [ˋpɑndɚ] v. 沉思，默想；仔细考虑

disturbing [dɪsˋtɝbɪŋ] adj. 令人不安的

impair [ɪmˋpɛr] v. 损害，损伤

plague [pleg] v. 使受灾祸; 使染瘟疫

say [se] v. 假定; 假设 to suppose; assume

anecdotal [͵ænɪkˋdot!] adj. 传闻的；轶事的 based on rumor; based on casual observations or indications rather than rigorous or scientific analysis

acidification [ə͵sɪdəfɪˋkeʃən] n. 酸化，成酸性

to scare the living daylights out of somebody 把某人吓得半死: 把某人吓的魂不附体 scare somebody to death

daylights [ˋde͵laɪts] n.【俚】生命；意识；理智；daylight的名词复数

mollusk [ˋmɑləsk] n.【美】软件动物

fatten up 使…长肥 make fat or plump

embryonic [͵ɛmbrɪˋɑnɪk] adj. 胚芽的；胎儿的; 初期的 relating to an animal that is developing either in an egg, or a plant that is developing in a seed

-borne [born] comb.（用于复合词）由…携带的，由…运载的

alkalinity [͵ælkəˋlɪnətɪ] n.【化】（含碱物质的）碱浓度；碱性 the degree to which something contains alkali, a substance that has the opposite effect of or chemical behavior to an acid

Industrial Revolution 工业革命 the period of time during which work began to be done more by machines in factories than by hand at home

单词发音

Vocabulary Focus

shrug (something) off 对…满不在乎; 对…不加理会 to not worry about something and treat it as unimportant

unnerving [͵ʌnˋnɝvɪŋ] adj. 使人胆怯的；使人紧张不安的 making someone feel less confident and slightly frightened

corrosive [kəˋrosɪv] adj. 腐蚀的；侵蚀性的 causing damage to something by a chemical action

spawn [spɔn] v. 产（卵）; 生育 to produce large numbers of eggs or young

upwelling [ʌp'wɛlɪŋ] n. 上涌，上升流（指海水由较深层上升到较浅层的过程）referring to a process by which warm surface water is drawn away from along a shore by offshore currents and replaced by cold, often nutrient-rich waters from the ocean depths

stabilize [ˋsteb!͵aɪz] v. 稳定；安定 to become fixed and stop changing before becoming worse

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