VOA慢速英语--新英格兰海滩上的海龟数量有所增加

New England Seeing a Rise in Beached Sea Turtles

At an animal hospital in the Northeast United States, a biologist takes blood from a sick loggerhead sea turtle named Honey Bun.

This is one of the first steps scientists must take before treating and rehabilitating¹ the turtle so that it can be returned into the wild.

Cape² Cod³, in the state of Massachusetts, may have some of the largest numbers of turtle strandings in the world.

The number of turtles that became trapped on Cape Cod beaches has risen over the past 10 years. That information comes from the Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary⁵.

This year, volunteers found 829 turtles washed up on the sand. About half of them were dead, including some that were frozen solid. That number is nearly twice what workers found in 2016 and nearly 10 times more than 2008.

Some experts think the number of washed up turtles is related to climate change.

A paper published in PLOS ONE notes that there were more strandings of Kemp’s ridley sea turtles in years with warmer sea-surface temperatures. It added that of the threats to turtle populations, “climate change may present the broadest threat for sea turtle conservation.”

Over the past 10 years, many turtles have been moving north from the Gulf⁶ of Mexico into the warming waters of the Gulf of Maine. There, they feed on mussels, crabs⁷ and other sea creatures.

Cape Cod extends into the Atlantic Ocean, serving as a kind of trap for turtles. When the waters cool there, the animals start to have health problems, like developing pneumonia⁸. They have problems moving and eating.

Bob Prescott is the director of Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and helped to prepare the PLOS ONE paper. He notes that the sea turtles “know how to leave, but the Cape is like a trap – a hook within a hook.”

If the turtles survive, it can take months before they are fully⁹ recovered. Adam Kennedy is a biologist at New England Aquarium¹⁰’s sea turtle hospital in Quincy, Massachusetts. He says that when the turtles arrive at the hospital “they look like they are dead, especially in December.”

Other experts argue that climate change alone cannot explain the increased number of turtle strandings.

Jeffrey Seminoff heads the Marine¹¹ Turtle Ecology and Assessment¹² Program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric¹³ Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service. He believes that the high number of strandings “probably results from the simple fact that there’s more turtles.”

Seminoff said that the recovery of the turtle population and “success of conservation efforts at the nesting beaches” could explain the higher number of turtle strandings.

Kennedy, the biologist, said that he has mixed feelings when the turtles are released back into the wild. “It’s bittersweet, because you spend so much time with them but ultimately every one of these guys getting back to the ocean helps the population.”

Recently, Honey Bun – the turtle we met at the beginning of our report – and other turtles were taken to Florida. They were released into the water.

Kelly Shaffer is with National Aquarium Baltimore, which worked with four other groups to organize the turtles’ release. She noted¹⁴ that she feels a sense of “joy and accomplishment” at “being able to put them back out there.”

I'm John Russell.

Words in This Story

rehabilitate¹⁵ – v. to bring something back to a normal, healthy condition after a disease, injury or drug problem

strand⁴ – v. to leave a person or animal in a place without a way to escape

beach – n. a seaside area covered by sand and larger rocks

conservation – n. careful protection of something

pneumonia – n. a disease that affects the lungs and makes it difficult to breathe

hook – n. a curved device used for catching¹⁶ or holding something

nest – n. the place where an animal lays its eggs and takes care of its young

bittersweet – adj. combining sadness and happiness

1 rehabilitating   

改造（罪犯等）( rehabilitate的现在分词 )； 使恢复正常生活； 使恢复原状； 修复

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• She was more concerned about protecting the public than rehabilitating the criminal. 她比较关心保护百姓，而不大关心改造罪犯。

2 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

3 cod   

n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗

参考例句：

• They salt down cod for winter use.他们腌鳕鱼留着冬天吃。
• Cod are found in the North Atlantic and the North Sea.北大西洋和北海有鳕鱼。

4 strand   

vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）

参考例句：

• She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
• The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。

5 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

6 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

7 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 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。

11 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。

12 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

13 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

14 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

15 rehabilitate   

vt.改造(罪犯)，修复；vi.复兴，(罪犯)经受改造

参考例句：

• There was no money to rehabilitate the tower.没有资金修复那座塔。
• He used exercise programmes to rehabilitate the patients.他采用体育锻炼疗法使患者恢复健康。

16 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。