VOA常速英语2014--海豹群在海上风力发电场享受盛宴（在线收听）

Seals Feast at Offshore Wind Farms 海豹群在海上风力发电场享受盛宴

Offshore wind farms are harnessing more than wind.Says study lead author Deborah Russell, with the University of St.Andrews in Scotland,and her colleagues monitored the location and behavior of 100 seals off the British and Dutch coastlines by tracking GPS tags glued to the animals' backs.

苏格兰圣安德鲁斯大学研究的带头人黛博拉·罗素表示海上风力发电场会借助更多风势。通过附着在背上的GPS标签，她和同事们监测离开英国和荷兰海岸线 100只海豹的位置和活动。

“It is actually quite interesting, the tags transmit that data through the mobile phone system.So they kind of send text messages about where the seals are and where they have been and information about their activity.”

“这相当有趣,标签通过移动电话系统传输数据。所以就好比发送短信告知海豹们在哪里,曾经到过哪些地方以及它们的活动信息。”

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The aim was to better understand the interaction between seals and wind turbines and underwater pipes. The scientists charted grid patterns with the GPS data that show seals visited the structures, sometimes repeatedly. Russell says expected increase in the number of these structures is certain to have consequences.

这项研究的目的是为了更好地理解之间海豹，风力涡轮机及水下管道之间的相互作用。科学家们依照GPS所显示海豹们时而反复到访这一结构的数据绘制了网格模式。罗素称这些结构预期数量的增加会必然造成某种结果。

“The presence of an operational wind farm may make the area less attractive to mammals due to an increase in noise because of operating wind turbines.

“风电场的存在由于操作风力涡轮机产生噪音的增加或许会使得这一地区对哺乳动物的吸引力降低。

However, conversely, they may make the habitat more attractive by increasing prey availability, by decreasing fishing activity or in this case we think it is actually that the anthropogenic structures can result in artificial reefs.”

然而,相反而言, 通过减少捕鱼活动或等等行为造成猎物的增加可以使得这片栖息地更具吸引力,我们认为实际上人为因素会带来人造礁。”

Russell says that artificial reef could set up a new dynamic in the food chain.

罗素表示人造礁可以建立食物链中新的形态。

“If the structures increase the overall abundance of prey in the environment, then they may provide the sustainable new foraging opportunities for these biotas.And in this case the structures should really be designed to maximize these ecological benefits.

“如果整体大环境中猎物大量增加,那它们就可以为生物种群提供可持续的新觅食机会。在这种情况下,这种结构应该设计成这些生态效益最大化。

However, in contrast if the prey, which were previously sparsely distributed, are simply concentrated at these structures, it makes them very vulnerable to be vacuumed up by marine predators such as seals.”

然而,相比之下,如果以前稀疏分布的猎物只是简单集中在这片区域,就会很容易被如海豹等的海洋食肉动物掠食殆尽。”

These are issues that Russell says must be examined in future studies, to better inform decision makers and the public about the best development practices for the mammals and the ocean environment.

罗素表示在未来的研究中这些问题一定会得到解决,以便为了更好地向决策者和公众展示对哺乳动物和海洋环境的最佳发展策略。

The study appears in the latest issue of the journal Current Biology.

这项研究已经在最新一期的《当代生物学》杂志上发表。