【英语趣味课堂】海洋生物学-Marine Biology

Mike: So Dusty, we were talking earlier, and you're telling that you're into marine¹ biology, and that's kind of your background. So, tell me a little bit about why you like - what's your fascination² with marine biology?

Dusty: Well, the main thing is that there's no poop to clean up, which I kind of loved about it. The reason I wanted to do zoology³ in study, and work in a zoo, and I did try. I mean, I tried that and it was a bit - it was great, but it was really intensive work. But I'd also tried that in an aquarium⁴ for a few days. The aquarium was just so much more fun, and cleaning everything was flowing much better. I really enjoyed it.

 

Mike: You're in a naturally gigantic toilet, so you don't really have to worry about it.

 

Dusty: The water's always being cleaned and filtered, so it fit my nature quite well. The oceans, in general, are really interesting, you know. There's always stuff to be found. And as technology gets better, we'll just find more and more things. Even the way the ocean is set up is a bit different.

 

Mike: Right.

 

Dusty: Like you know, on land, you have this constant [unintelligible] of trophic levels. Think of it like the food chain in a way. When you see those pictures, and there's like one thing eating the next thing, eating the next thing, that's basically what a trophic level is.

 

Mike: So a trophic level - just to clarify - a trophic level is kind of like the chains in the sort of system of life, I guess. I don't know.

 

Dusty: Yeah. That's a perfect way of putting it, basically. So on land, you have maybe three trophic levels: you'll have plants, you'll have insects, you'll have animals that eat the insects, and in rare occasions, you'll have an animal that eat the animal. So you might have four. The oceans, in some areas, have seven or eight trophic levels at one time. So there's just so much more going on, and so much more interaction that it's really fascinating.

 

Mike: So I'm guessing, it's like the food chain, right?

 

Dusty: Yeah, it's like the food chain. There's a lot more links in the food chain in the ocean than you would see on land.

 

Mike: Wow! Okay. So whales, I'm assuming then, are probably near the top of that particular food chain. Is that right?

 

Dusty: Oddly, depending on the whale, they're either not that high up or very high up, you know.

 

Mike: Okay.

 

Dusty: So, if you have filter - like baleen⁵ whales or filter-feeding whales, they just eat lots of really, really small things like phytoplankton and zooplankton that's in the water.

 

Mike: Okay. Wow!

 

Dusty: So they're in there, but they're not as high up as you would expect. If you have things like killer⁶ whales, which eat whales, as well as fish or other creatures, then they're much higher up in the trophic levels there.

 

Mike: I'm guessing that probably, killer whales are at the top of that chain because they eat people, too, right?

 

Dusty: Well actually, there's never been a killer whale that's eaten a person.

 

Mike: Really?

 

Dusty: Yeah. The only danger has been when people fall off the whales during shows, so don't stand on one's head and jump out the water. That makes sense.

 

Mike: You're watching too much Hollywood. So do you still do any work with the sea turtles?

 

Dusty: Yeah. Most recently, about a year and a half or two years ago, I worked with the Japan Sea Turtle Protection Society for about a month and a half. That was great! Really good organization that works just outside of Osaka, an area called [Negal]. They have an office, and they're also working out of Kobe.

 

Mike: Wow!

 

Dusty: They just do nesting studies throughout many of the beaches, and trying to do more sea turtle awareness⁷ work, and things.

 

Mike: So what do you do to like protect the sea turtle eggs from, let's say, natural predators⁸?

 

Dusty: So it depends on which beach you're working out or where you are. In the States, they actually set up little nets over top of the nests, or little cages to stop animals from being able to dig in and get down. Some of the beaches I've been to in Japan do that, some don't.

 

Mike: What are some of the predators?

 

Dusty: Predators - well, it's weird⁹. Here, if we're talking about Japan, you've got natural predators, which are things like tanuki, which are like, you know, the raccoon dog that would come down and dig up the eggs. But they also have introduced predators like raccoons, just normal ones from the States -

 

Mike: Wow! Really?

 

Dusty: - which people brought over as pets, and they'll also attack the eggs. And that kind of upsets the balance. So again, things like bells, setting traps along the beach to capture them comes in handy. Doing nightly patrols, where you just walk up and down the beach will keep them stirred away.

 

Mike: Right.

 

Dusty: Things like that work well.

 

Mike: I guess you don't shoot the predators.

 

Dusty: Ah, no.

 

Mike: Just curious.

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

background

 

Marine biology is your background.

 

Our background is our education or work experience. Notice the following:

 

My background is in finance.

His resume contained detailed¹⁰ background information.

poop

 

There's no poop to clean up.

 

Poop is a cute, informal word that means bodily waste from animals or infant children. Notice the following:

 

The park has a problem with dog poop.

The young couple's house smelled like baby poop.

gigantic

 

It's like working in a gigantic toilet..

 

Gigantic means super big. It's a fun, informal word. Notice the following:

 

That was a gigantic mistake.

Wow, that's a gigantic hat you're wearing!

food chain

 

There are links in the food chain..

 

We use the term food chain to describe how larger, stronger and faster animals, eat smaller, weaker and slower animals. Notice the following:

 

Lions and tigers are at the top of the food chain.

Disruption of the food chain has become a major concern for biologists..

upset the balance

 

That upsets the balance.

 

Something that upsets the balance changes the way a group of things usually works. Notice the following:

 

Killing¹¹ the wolves will upset the balance of the food chain.

The rise of China has upset the global balance of power.

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

3 zoology   

n.动物学，生态

参考例句：

• I would like to brush up my zoology.我想重新温习一下动物学。
• The library didn't stock zoology textbooks.这家图书馆没有动物学教科书。

4 aquarium   

n.水族馆，养鱼池，玻璃缸

参考例句：

• The first time I saw seals was in an aquarium.我第一次看见海豹是在水族馆里。
• I'm going to the aquarium with my parents this Sunday.这个星期天，我要和父母一起到水族馆去。

5 baleen   

n.鲸须

参考例句：

• Other baleen whales have splash guards too,but not like this.一些须鲸物种头顶也有护住喷水孔的构造，但并不长成这样。
• Baleen whales often appear in this region. Be careful!这一带经常有须鲸出没，要注意安全啊。

6 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

7 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

8 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

10 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

11 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。