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The courageous fight to save Albania's endangered sharks  November 4, 2025

 

What's up, sunshine? Hope you're having a terrific Tuesday. I'm Coy Wire with your 10 Minutes of News. Now, today's election day in some states.

 

There are big races for governor in Virginia, a lot of people paying close attention to the mayor's race in New York City. Those of you who have a virtual learning day, thank you for joining us and watching from home. All right, let's get you your news.

 

We begin in Afghanistan, where a massive search and rescue operation is underway following a deadly earthquake in the country's northern region. The powerful 6.3 magnitude quake hit early Monday morning near Mazar-i-Sharif, one of the most populated cities in that part of the country.

 

As of this taping, government officials say at least 20 people have been killed and hundreds more have been injured.

 

But they expect those numbers to rise as recovery efforts continue. The powerful quake was felt in three neighboring countries and briefly closed a key passageway outside the capital of Kabul.

 

It also damaged the iconic Blue Mosque, one of Afghanistan's architectural treasures and a holy site of annual pilgrimage.

 

mosque [mɑsk] n. 清真寺，回教寺院

pilgrimage [ˋpɪlgrəmɪdʒ] n. 朝圣，朝觐

 

Afghanistan has endured a series of catastrophic earthquakes in recent years. Just over two months ago, a 6.0 magnitude quake killed more than 2,200 people in the country's eastern region.

 

Afghanistan lies at the collision boundary of two huge tectonic plates, the Indian plate, which moves northward, and the Eurasian plate, which has been mostly stable.

 

Pop quiz, hot shot.

 

The Adriatic Sea is known for its unusually high ___ compared to most seas.

 

Adriatic [͵edrɪˋætɪk] adj. 亚得里亚(海)的

 

Salinity or salt content, Clarity, Tides or Depth.

 

salinity [səˋlɪnətɪ] n. 盐性；盐度

 

If you said clarity, clearly you know your stuff.

 

Unlike most seas, which are bordered by muddy river deltas, much of the Adriatic coastline is rocky and limestone based.

 

delta [ˋdɛltə] n.（河口的）三角洲

 

This means less soil erosion and sediment runoff, so the water stays clear.

 

sediment [ˋsɛdəmənt] n. 沉积，沉淀；沉积物

 

The Adriatic Sea is home to one of the world's most diverse populations of aquatic wildlife.

 

The picturesque sea, which lies between Italy and the Balkans in Eastern Europe, is home to more than 7,000 native species.

 

Balkans [ˋbɔlkənz] n.巴尔干半岛(诸国)

 

But overfishing, pollution and habitat loss are putting some of its most unique species of sharks and rays at risk. Let's learn about a research group that's trying to change that in today's Call to Earth.

 

They're using cutting-edge technology to help save the unique deep-sea dwellers in the Adriatic Sea.

 

It's pitch-black and choppy beneath the Adriatic Sea at night, with only the moon above and a flashlight below to guide the way.

 

pitch-black [ˋpɪtʃˋblæk] adj. 漆黑的

choppy [ˋtʃɑpɪ] adj. 波浪起伏的

 

But these are ideal diving conditions for Bosnian marine biologist Andre Gaj, who searches for sharks who come to life after dark.

 

Bosnian [ˋbɑznɪən] adj. 波斯尼亚（人）的

come to life 变活泼; 苏醒过来

 

I think the biggest misconception is these are some kind of man-eating, bloodthirsty machines. The majority of the species grow less than a meter. They are small.

 

bloodthirsty [ˋblʌd͵θɝstɪ] adj. 嗜杀的；残忍的

 

They are terrified of humans. The more time I spend diving, I actually realise how fragile they are. My team and I decided to come here to conduct systematic research about the number of individuals, diversity of the species and their key habitats in this area before it's too late.

 

Andre runs SHARKLAB Adria, a research group in Albania working to protect some of the Mediterranean's most vulnerable marine life.

 

Albania [ælˋbenɪə] n. 阿尔巴尼亚

 

From documenting rare sharks to investigating causes of disease and death.

 

The majority of my career is dedicated to studying the deep sea.

 

There's the Angular roughshark that is particularly important for me. Diving with the roughsharks is like I meet some dinosaur from Jurassic or whatever.

 

angular [ˋæŋgjəlɚ] adj. 有角的；有尖角的

 

It's a critically endangered species we try to protect for the past 10 years, as well as the spiny butterfly rays.

 

Our team has rediscovered the population after no records in this century in the region.

 

His team spends about 160 days in the field each year, assessing marine animal health, behavior, environmental exposure and more.

 

We are now trying to understand the population better, the threats and what we can do to the fisheries is definitely one of the worst.

 

There's also pollution, there's also habitat loss. Climate change is a terrible issue.

 

After his night dive concludes at 2am, Andre is swapping his scuba gear for his lab scrubs.

 

conclude [kənˋklud] v. 结束

scrub [skrʌb] n.（医生在施行手术前）n. 擦洗，擦净

 

He will work through the night with his team, analyzing bycatch donated by a local fishery just hours earlier. This is a small juvenile.

 

bycatch [ˈbaɪkætʃ] n. 混获，副渔获物

 

We process a large amount of samples, that are always retrieved dead by the trawlers.

 

trawler [ˋtrɔlɚ] n. 拖网渔船；拖网捕鱼者；拖网渔民

 

Without their support, we won't be able to actually do this scientific research.

 

SharkLab Adria also runs an on-site rehabilitation program, where marine life are cared for and monitored before being released back into the wild.

 

on-site 就地的; 现场的

rehabilitation [͵rihə͵bɪləˋteʃən] n. 复原

 

We have a lot of Sharks, Skates, and Rays coming to rehabilitation after being landed or retrieved alive and most commonly we work with severe traumatic fractures caused by the poor handling and the hooking.

 

skate [sket] n.【鱼】鳐；灰鳐；魟鱼

 

Alongside his research, Andre works aboard commercial trawlers, collecting data on bycatch and teaching fishermen how to safely return live animals to the sea.

 

Being on the trawlers, it's a very eye-opening moment. You see the reality and this is why I tend to call our work being at the front lines of conservation.

 

I think over the past few decades, we somehow split from nature and I think this is the right time to take the responsibility for what we are doing to our home.

 

Call to Earth Day 2025 is this Thursday, November 6th, where we are embracing the theme, guard your green space. And urging individuals like yourselves, communities, nations to take bold collective action to protect the natural world that sustains us.

 

Sign up at CNN.com / calltoearthday and share how you are guarding your green space.

 

Have some sports news for you today. I had a chance to catch up with the newly crowned NASCAR Cup Series champ, Kyle Larson, who just won the season finale over the weekend in Phoenix.

 

finale [fɪˋnɑlɪ] n. 终曲；末乐章；终场；结尾

 

He's used to driving really fast, right? So I had some really fast rapid-fire questions for the now two-time Cup Series champ.

 

rapid-fire [ˋræpɪd͵faɪr] adj.（枪）速射的；连续发射的；一连串的

 

Hey, I'm two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson and you're watching CNN 10.

 

What's it like driving around off the track? Is it torture to drive the speed limit as a NASCAR champion? It's not.

 

That's a very frequent question that we get as drivers. And to me, a lot of times the interstate can feel just as fast as the track because you'll have people going at a lot, you know, different speeds. So that's where a lot of the sensation comes from too.

 

Is it weird making right-hand turns?

 

No, no, but I will definitely clip my fair share of curbs on right-handers.

 

right-hander 右转弯道(赛车界的惯用语)

 

So you are a mere mortal, just like all of us drivers. How do you feel about the driverless cars we're seeing pop up everywhere?

 

Yeah, so the only place I really ever see it is when I'm here in Scottsdale and I've yet to be in one, but I want to try it out.

 

So you'd be totally fine and open to like hopping in a Waymo and relinquishing your control of the vehicle?

 

relinquish [rɪˋlɪŋkwɪʃ] v. 放弃；撤出；弃绝；交出，让与

 

As I've been in Arizona here, I've not seen one, you know, stacked up in a telephone pole. So I think I could trust it.

 

stack up 迭放起来(refers to the severe damage and crumpled appearance)

 

Finally, all you've been through, all you've overcome, all you're doing, what's some advice you would give your younger self and all the next generation out there? What would you say to them?

 

I don't know. I think just continue to always, you know, treat people with respect and have fun, you know, have fun with what you're doing.

 

That's awesome, man.

 

Today's story, getting a 10 out of 10,someone overcoming adversity to achieve an historic feat.

 

adversity [ədˋvɝsətɪ] n. 逆境；厄运

 

Shannon Britt was born with a rare eye cancer that left her legally blind, but she's now preparing to represent Team USA in the first ever Women's Blind Cricket World Cup.

 

legally blind 法定盲人; 法律上的盲人

cricket [ˋkrɪkɪt] n. 【体】板球

 

I didn't think I was going to make the team. I was just going to try something new and I wound up being decent at it. So let's go USA.

 

decent [ˋdisnt] adj. 象样的；还不错的

 

Shannon does it all, batting, bowling, and fielding using a special ball that rattles like a maraca, allowing her to track it with her ears.

 

bowl [bol] v. 投（球）

field [fild] v.【棒】【板】接（球）

maraca [məˋrɑkə] n. 响葫芦

 

And get this, since the rest of her team is totally blind, she wears special goggles to completely black out her vision.

 

Shannon said she never expected to become an international sports star, but mom, oh, mom isn't surprised at all.

 

She's done a lot of amazing things in her life and this is cherry on top.

 

cherry on top 锦上添花

 

Shannon and her team will head to India and Sri Lanka to battle a host of other nations for the world title.

 

That is wickedly impressive.

 

All right, superstars, today's shout outs are going to some of you who decided to play Coy this Halloween. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so consider me flattered.

 

flattery [ˋflætərɪ] n. 谄媚；奉承

flatter [ˋflætɚ] v. 使高兴，使感到满意

 

Nathan Chung and Mr. Layman's class at Palo Verde Middle School in Phoenix, Arizona, I just want to be vesties with you. Rise up. And allow me to introduce you to Miss Lauren Ledford at Brookwood Christian School in Ackworth, Georgia.

 

Welcome back to CNN 10, your daily 10 minutes of news. You are absolutely coiffed. Please don't come for my job though.

 

Tomorrow is Your Word Wednesday, so don't forget to submit a vocabulary word and send it to me or our CNN 10 Instagram page, and we will work it into tomorrow's show. Remember, you are more powerful than you know, so go out there and make someone smile today. Make their day.

 

I'm Coy Wire. We are CNN 10.