这些远离陆地 These seas
千百里远的海洋 - thousands of miles from nearest land
是地球上最没有生机的地方 - are the most sterile on our planet.
是一片海洋沙漠 These are marine deserts.
但是这里也住了一群最敏捷 最强有力的海中猎人 But here live the swiftest and the most powerful of all ocean hunters
要找到它们就已是 一项艰巨的挑战 Simply finding them is an immense challenge
而现在我们要跟随它们 在这片尚不为人知 but we are about to follow them as they search for their food
的海洋觅食 这片辽阔的远洋 in this little known part of the seas - the open ocean.
红肉旗鱼是凶猛的肉食性动物 可以长到三公尺长 Striped marlin - voracious predators... that can grow to three metres long.
它们通常 They hunt mainly in daylight
在白天猎食 searching the tropical oceans from close
巡游在热带海域 从水面到100公尺深的水域 to the surface down to depths of a hundred metres or so.
通常它们的猎物范围 广泛分布 Normally the fish they feed on are widely dispersed
有时也会找上大量群聚的猎物 像是这些沙丁鱼 but sometimes their prey gathers in dense shoals, like these sardines.
这顿大餐够吃一个多小时 This feast may last for over an hour,
这段时间也足够 让其他猎人赶抵现场 time enough for other hunters to reach the scene.
小鲔鱼加入了抢食行动 Juvenile tuna join in the feeding frenzy.
这些噪音引来了一只庞然大物 是塞鲸 The noise attracts a giant - a sei whale.
身长14公尺重20公吨 lt's fourteen metres long and twenty tonnes in weight
食量与身形一样惊人 - and has an appetite to match.
很快地沙丁鱼存在的痕迹 Soon the only sign that the sardines ever existed are scales
只剩下这些沉入深海的鳞片 sinking down into the abyss.
这种大餐撑不了多久 Such feasts don't last long.
没几天这些曾经充满食物 Within a few short days, waters that once swarmed...
的海域就会被清空 with food will have been cleaned out.
这些猎食者一定要移动到别处 The hunters must move elsewhere and once again
重新开始在这 一片荒凉的汪洋寻找食物 start their search of the seemingly featureless open ocean.
巨大的鳐魟鱼 A manta ray - immense - five metres
两翼张开有5公尺长 它的活动非常省力 across from the tip of one wing-like fin to the tip of the other.
会在热带水域中滑行 lt's travelling economy, wasting as little energy as possible,
以减少热量的消耗 as it glides through the waters of the tropics.
搭便车跟着它移动的鲫鱼 The remora fish that accompany it travel
当然是更省力了 more economically still - by hitching a lift.
它们的宿主寻找着猎物 Their host is searching for food - plankton,
也就是浮在水面的微小鱼类 及无脊椎动物等浮游生物 the minute fish and invertebrates that float near the surface.
鳐魟鱼的需求量极大 可能会游好几天的时间 lt needs lots of them and may cruise for days before...
来寻找适合的进食地点 it finds a good feeding ground.
在太平洋小岛边缘的黄昏 Dusk, at the edge of a Pacific lsland
离最近的大陆有3000英里远 three thousand miles from the nearest continent.
这里有粗皮鲷群聚产卵 Here surgeon fish have assembled to spawn.
它们在表演求偶舞的同时 As they perform their nuptial dances
会释出烟雾一般的卵及精子 they discharge clouds of eggs and sperm into the water.
鳐魟鱼大概早已预知 产卵期的发生 The manta must have known this was about
所以在最重要的时刻抵达 to happen for it arrived at exactly this critical moment.
而且不只一只 And it is not the only one to do so.
其他的也来了 Others are here too.
现在只需将海水扫入口中 Now all they need to do is to sweep the water into their mouths
挑出里面的卵就可以了 and sieve out the eggs.
整个事件将在 一个小时以内结束 Within an hour, the whole event will be over...
所剩的卵散布海面 Any surviving eggs will be so dispersed
已不值得搜食 that they are not worth collecting.
但是其他的危险正等着它们 But other perils await them as they join
它们渗入了一团 the clouds of eggs and larvae and tiny fish
飘过远洋海面的卵群与幼鱼中 that drift through the surface waters of the open ocean.
这些是黄鳍鲔的卵 These are the eggs of yellow fin tuna.
如果成功孵化 它们需要两年的时间长成成鱼 lf the hatchlings survive, it will take them two years to become adults.
三年内它们就会长到 2公尺长 ln three years, they could be nearly two metres long
重达200公斤 and weigh two hundred kilograms.
幼鱼要存活可能只有 百万分之一的机会 Perhaps only one in a million will live as long as that.
它们及其他 微生动植物等浮游生物 They and the other animals and microscopic plants of the plankton
是所有远洋中生命的基础 constitute the basis of all life out on the open ocean.
一只叉尾海燕在海面上跳舞 A storm petrel dancing on the water.
这不是可人的华尔兹 But this is no amiable waltz.
其实是在猎食 lt's a hunt.
当它们朝风翱翔时 As they hover facing into the wind,
会从水面附近撷取如鱼卵等碎食 they pick out morsels from near the surface, including eggs.
只有极小部分的卵 Only a tiny percentage of the developing eggs
能存活到孵化的时候 will survive long enough to hatch.
这些新生的鲔鱼 只有三公分长 These newly emerged tuna are only three millimetres long
虽然会游泳，但仍十分弱小 and although they can swim they're still very vulnerable.
它们需要好几个星期 lt will be many weeks before they can swim
才真正够强壮，能够游向大海 strongly enough to make any real headway in the ocean.
日落后其他的猎食者 After the sun goes down,
会从深海升起 攻击这些悬浮的鱼群 other predators rise from the depths to attack the floating multitudes.
黑夜为这一大群 危险猎食者的到来提供掩护 Darkness shrouds the arrival of battalions of dangerous drifting predators
这些闪亮的梳子水母 也就是海醋栗 These shimmering comb jellies - sea gooseberries
用网子一般的黏网捕捉猎物 - trap their prey with sticky net-like webs
如果拍打的时间不凑巧 可能就会使孵化中的幼鱼丧命 One ill-timed fin-stroke could bring certain death to a hatchling fish.
梳子水母种类极多 There are many kinds of these comb jellies
都是猎食的好手 - all of them very effective hunters.
大部分的夜行猎食者 By dawn, most of the nocturnal feeders
在日出前就会回到深海中 will have returned to the depths.
而存活下来的幼鱼 The surviving hatchlings,
已经开始了它们的旅程 however, have already started on their travels.
巨大的洋流系统 Vast current systems,
像广大的河流 载着它们在海洋盆地活动 like immense rivers, carry them around the ocean basins.
这些巨大暗流的边缘 The boundaries between these masses of moving water...
形成隐形的界线 form invisible barriers that can trap
可以困住从深海升起的 浮游生物及养分 both plankton and nutrients carried up from the depths.
所以海洋中某些海域 So parts of the ocean become rich
会有几天，甚至几星期的时间 食物充足 with food for days or even weeks at a time
这些海域吸引了以浮游生物为生的 鱼群前来，例如这群沙丁鱼 This attracts vast schools of plankton-feeding fish - like these sardine
它们从口部吸取海水 They take in water through their mouths
再从鳃中排出 and expel it through their gills
其中过滤出浮游生物 然后送到喉咙 sieving out the plankton which is then funnelled down their throats.
庞大的鱼群 跟着洋流的边缘行走 The immense schools travel along the boundaries of the currents
找寻浮游生物最浓密的区域 - seeking the spots where the plankton is thickest.
洋流的边缘位置经常改变 As the position of the current boundaries changes constantly,
所以浮游生物 及鱼群的数量也在改变 so does both the supply of plankton and the numbers of fish.
一小群热带斑海豚 A small pod of Pacific Spotted Dolphin
在离巴拿马海岸20里的海域 - twenty miles from the coast of Panama.
就像其他肉食动物一般 找寻海中 Like all predators, they seek parts of the ocean
食物最丰盛的地带 where their food is thickest.
它们一天可以游上100英里 They cover as much as hundred miles in a day.
一边行动一边嬉戏 And while they travel, they play.
它们察觉到在数百公尺外 鱼群的存在 They have detected the sound of schooling fish from hundreds of metres away
准备用声纳系统追踪鱼群 and start to track down the shoals using sonar
也离弃了它们的玩具 - leaving their toys behind them.
而猎物也无处可躲 For the hunted there are few places to hide.
一群鲭鱼 Schooling mackerel.
已经察觉到 逼近的海豚所发出的声纳 They have already sensed the sonar beams of approaching dolphin.
它们唯一的抵抗方式 就是聚集成一个球团 Their only defence is to gather into a ball.
任何脱队的小鱼 马上就会被吃掉 Any individual that stayed out of the shoal would be quickly picked off.
在群聚的球团中 还有些许生存的机会 Within it, there is at least some chance of survival.
攻击的噪音惊动了 另一只掠食者 The noise of the attack alerts another predator
旗鱼 海洋中游速最快的鱼类之一 - a sailfish, one of the fastest fish in the ocean.
它察觉到了水中的快速震动 lt has detected rapid vibrations in the water
正在寻找原因 and is searching for the cause.
旗鱼依赖眼力 Sailfish rely on eyesight
以作出最后一击 for their final approach
所以通常在白天行动 so they hunt mainly in daylight.
当旗鱼亢奋时，身体会变颜色 When sailfish become excited they change colour
出现蓝色的条纹 lighting up with bright blue stripes.
鲭鱼的眼睛对蓝色光 Since mackerel eyes are especially sensitive
及紫外线特别敏感 这些颜色使它们困惑 to blue and ultraviolet, these colours confuse them
变得更容易手到擒来 - making them easier to catch.
在更深的下方，一只蓝鲨 自一场位于300公尺深冷海水 Far below, a blue shark returns from a squid-hunting trip in the
的乌贼猎食行动返回 cold darkness three hundred metres down.
它正朝着水面前来 要让身体在暖水中回暖 lt's heading for the surface to reheat in the warmer water.
当它开始上浮时 察觉到了鲭鱼群 As it ascends, it detects the smell of oils
发出的蛋白质与脂肪的气味 and proteins shed into the water by the panicked mackerel.
气味引领鲨鱼 The trail leads both the shark
及它的领航鱼前来捡便宜 and its attendant pilot fish towards an easy meal.
碎片及鱼尸 Scraps and casualties float
浮在鲭鱼群四周 in the wake of the passing mackerel school
在海洋中猎食者及猎物 Throughout the ocean, predators and prey are locked
紧紧被锁在一个死亡的 三度空间捉迷藏游戏中 in a deadly three-dimensional contest of hide and seek
游戏的范围十分广大 played out over immense distances.
若要存活则必须迁徙 To survive they must travel.
4公尺长的巨大蓝鳍鲔 The huge four metre long blue-fin tuna
身上有特殊的血管 has special blood vessels that enable it
让它的体温可以保持在 比周身海水较高的温度 to keep its body temperature significantly warmer than the surrounding water.
所以它们可以在 比较寒冷的条件下生存 As a result, they can survive in much colder conditions
它们会离开 than any other tuna and they travel thousands of
在热带的出生地 miles away from their spawning grounds
旅行到数千英里以外 in the tropics to hunt in cold seas
食物最丰饶的冷水域 where the food supply is richest.
海洋中的旅行者有许多 Ocean travellers come in many guises
但是没有几个比它古怪 - and few are stranger than this...
一只大半辈子都漂浮着的螃蟹 crab that spends much of its life afloat.
对于有着细致脚指的鲣鸟来说 它可是个大麻烦 lt is a worrying passer-by for booby birds with delicate toes.
漂浮动物不只是水母 Many floaters are little more than jelly,
它们包在薄膜里 可以漂流极遥远的距离 enclosed in membranes, but they may drift for vast distances.
而乌龟们，像这只榄绿蠵龟 每年迁徙数千英里 And turtles, like these olive ridleys, migrate thousands of miles every year.
大海中充满了这些漫游者 The ocean is full of such wanderers,
乘着洋流，尽力躲避敌人 riding the currents, and doing their best
同时寻找食物 to avoid enemies while they search for food
及一个合适的生育地点 and a safe place to breed...
这也是这些魟鱼正在做的事 Which is exactly what these rays are doing
组成一个两英里长的团队 - forming the two-mile-high-club,
为了求爱一起聚在 gathering together for courtship on the wing,
离海床遥远的这里 far above the ocean floor.
其他的游牧民族-飞鱼 More nomads - flying fish.
列在所有大型 肉食动物的菜单上 They seem to be on every large predator's menu,
所以它们一辈子 都花在海中逃命 so their whole life is spent on the run in the open ocean.
它们不将卵打散 They don't scatter their eggs
而是将之产在漂浮物上 but lay them on pieces of flotsam like this palm frond.
就像这片棕榄叶 lf the quality of water is right,
如果水质适合 它们就会将卵附着在棕榄叶上 they will attach their eggs to the frond,
棕榄叶就变成 它们后代的救生筏 which will then serve as a kind of life-raft for their offspring.
寻求看护的不只是飞鱼 But it's not only flying fish that seek nurseries.
任何一片海上的漂浮物 对小鱼来说都是遮蔽 Any piece of floating debris can serve as a shelter under which baby fish can hide
唯一的坏处是有些猎食者 例如这只刺鰆鱼 The only draw back, is that predators
会查看是否有猎物 like this wahoo always check up on
躲在阴影底下 who's hanging about in the shadows.
刺鰆鱼会尾随漂浮物好几星期 The wahoo may trail the flotsam for weeks.
很少有漂浮物没有生物寄居 Few bits of flotsam are without their
就连人造的垃圾 都会吸引它们前来 quota of lodgers - even man-made junk attracts them.
有些鱼类 例如这只炮弹鱼 And some, like this oceanic trigger fish,
猛烈抵抗入侵者 defend their squatters rights with vigour
炮弹鱼事实上 会霸占所有的栖息地 The triggers, in fact, tend to claim all the prime residences.
在这里，就连废弃的渔网 Out here, even discarded netting can provide
都可以提供有用的栖居地 valuable shelter, so
这一团纠结 - in a bizarre twist
其实是废弃的拖网 在真正下沉海底前 - a wrecked trawl net like this can end up as a sanctuary for fish
可以是许多鱼类的避难所 - until such time as it finally sinks.
事实上 一片大的漂浮物可以是 lndeed, a single large piece of flotsam
这一片荒芜 好几平方英里的远洋 can be the reason why several square miles of open ocean,
居然可以供养 数百公吨鱼群的主因 instead of being empty, will support a fish population of hundreds of tonnes.
正如这片巨大的海草 This huge clump of seaweed is doing exactly that.
它是巨藻类的海草 从加州海岸的岩石上剥离 lt is a giant kelp plant, ripped from the rocks off the coast of California.
现在它靠着充满空气的气囊 Now, it's floating above thousands of metres of water,
悬浮在数千公尺深的海上 held up by its gas filled floats.
一群小魔鬼蓑 靠着它的庇荫成长 Clouds of young rockfish are growing up in the safety of its shadow.
也有大鱼来到这片悬浮海草 Giants also seek out this algal flotsam.
这是翻车鱼 This is a sunfish.
它的两翼张开距离可达4公尺 lt can measure as much as four metres from fin-tip to fin-tip.
但是出人意料地 它也是海中最重的有骨鱼 Rather surprisingly, it has the record as the heaviest bony fish in the sea.
翻车鱼大部分活在深海中 以水母为食 Sunfish spend much of their time at depth where they feed on jellyfish;
但是深海又黑又冷 but it is cold and dark down there so from time to time,
所以它们偶而会偷闲 到靠近水面的地方让身体回暖 they seek a little rest and recuperation and warm up near the surface.
它们也在找寻漂浮的海草 They too are looking for floating kelp plants.
不是为了寻找庇护 Not for shelter but because here they
而是找寻一种别处没有的鱼 can find a particular kind of fish that only lives in such places.
半月鱼 Half moon fish.
翻车鱼排好队形 The sunfish form up in an orderly queue.
它们身上有毛病 They have a problem.
寄生虫布满全身 Their skin is covered in parasites.
而饥饿的半月鱼可以帮它们 The hungry half-moons will help.
翻车鱼会将头部转向水面 The sunfish turn their heads towards
明示邀请专属的清洁专家上工 the surface as a clear invitation to their personal hygienists.
半月鱼开始工作 The half-moons nip off - and eat
吃下所有找得到的寄生虫 - every parasite they can find.
如果半月鱼无法办到 lf the half moons don't do the job
这里也有更激烈的方式 - there is another rather drastic treatment available here.
栖息在漂浮物上的海鸥 Gulls rest on the floating kelp.
如果翻车鱼发出邀请 And if the sunfish send the right signals...
海鸥就会出动 the gulls will investigate.
它们的喙可以 啄下最顽强的寄生虫 Their beaks can dig out the most stubborn parasites.
即使最好的健康中心 也只能做短暂交易 But even the very best of health clinics can only trade on a temporary basis.
这片海草不断在腐烂 The seaweed rafts are rotting
最后终将失去浮力 and will eventually lose their buoyancy.
所有的寄居者 都必须另觅新居 Then their lodgers will have to find a new home.
如果找不到 就会被吃掉 lf they can't, they will be eaten,
或死去，尸体沉入深海底 or die and sink down into the abyss.
但是远洋中 其实不乏永久栖息地 But the open ocean is not entirely devoid of permanent shelter.
一座火山在海床上爆发 而且还在成长之中 A volcano is erupting from the seafloor and it is still growing.
它在新西兰海岸 70英里远处形成小岛 lt has formed an island some seventy miles from the coast of New Zealand.
有些珊瑚礁鱼群的幼鱼 Some juvenile reef fish have already arrived,
已被一条幸运的洋流领至此处 carried here by a lucky current.
现正在岛岸边成长的 Now they are growing up in the shelter of
海草的庇荫之下成长 the weeds growing around the island's fringes.
有更多的浮游生物 及幼鱼 More plankton and juvenile fish
被洋流带到小岛上 are being swept by currents straight towards the island.
现在有支欢迎队伍在等着了 But now there is a welcoming committee.
几群鲹鱼及蓝帽 Schools of trevally and blue maomao
正在水面附近巡逻 are patrolling the surface water.
它们都在找东西吃 All are in search of a meal.
这些一公斤重的鱼 吃尽所有的浮游生物 These one kilo fish snap up every morsel of plankton they find.
有时候从远洋中 流过来的洋流 At times, the currents sweeping in from
会带来许多各式各样的小动物 the open ocean bring with them all kinds of small creatures in dense concentrations
这些是酱虾 These are mysid shrimps.
在这样的捕食行动过后 可食物质所剩不多 Very little that is edible is left after such feasts.
小岛不是浮游生物的安全之地 lslands are far from being safe havens for plankton.
太平洋中 The Pacific Ocean, however,
有超过2万3千个岛 is peppered with over twenty three thousand...
还有其他数不清 slands as well as countless other submerged mountains
顶端不露出水面的海洋山脉 - sea mounts - whose summits do not break the surface.
幼鱼在出生的数个月 Juvenile fish, for their first few months
如果能避开这里 就能顺利生长 would do well to avoid such places.
这些黄鳍鲔 These yellow-fin tuna, however,
现在已经超过六个月大 身长到了40公分 are now more than six months old and forty centimetres long
已经大到可以吃小鱼苗 - big enough to be able to eat fry,
所以海洋山脉对它们来说 - so sea mounts for them are promising
是很好的进食场所 它们可能会在这里 feeding grounds where they may hunt for several months.
待上好几个月 The base of a seamount.
海中洋流打中海洋山脉的底部时 会顺着山脉向上折流 As currents sweep towards it they are deflected up its towering walls.
来自深海的海水 The water, coming from the depths,
将浮游生物及养分带到水面 carries both nutrients and plankton to the surface.
为数众多的珊瑚礁鱼群 在此定居 Numerous reef fish take up permanent residence here,
在洋流最强 feeding where the currents are strongest
浮游生物最丰厚之处觅食 and the plankton most dense.
当暖流与冷流在水面处相遇 Where the cold water mixes with warmer water at the surface,
会产生一种奇怪的发光反应 there is a strange shimmering effect
是洋流强力流过的迹象 - a clear sign that the currents are running strongly.
这些洋流所吸引的 不只是沿岸的鱼群 But these currents attract more than just coastal fish.
许多大鱼从远洋赶来此地 Giants come here from the open ocean....
一大群的锤头鲨 Hammerhead sharks - and in great numbers.
白天它们会在 海洋山脉的边缘巡游寻找小鱼 During the day, they circle the sea mount looking for small fish at the reef edges.
但是不是为了吃掉它们 But not in order to eat them.
他们就像翻车鱼一样 They, like the sunfish,
寻找可以帮它们 清除身上寄生虫的清洁工 are looking for cleaners to rid them of their parasites.
三峰齿鲛也来到此处 White-tip reef sharks gather here too.
它们就会吃鱼了 They do eat reef fish.
但是它们比较喜欢在夜晚出动 But they prefer to hunt at night,
此时鱼群疲累，比较好捉 when the reef fish are sleepy and easier to catch.
最好是可以在白天休息 让清洁小鱼得以工作 Far better to rest by day and allow the cleaners to do their work...
就连一大群产卵中的炮弹鱼 都起不了太大的诱惑 Even swarms of breeding trigger aren't a serious temptation.
这些炮弹鱼大部分时间 都在远洋中生活 These triggers spend much of their time in open water,
它们到海洋山脉是为了产卵 but they have come to the seamount to spawn.
炮弹鱼卵是很好的食物 Trigger eggs are good food
以浮游生物为食的动物 过来在洋流将它们带走前抢食 and the plankton-feeders gather what they can before the current sweeps them away.
这一大群生物聚集在一起 This whole community is only here
只为了海洋山脉折射上来的 because of the nutrients and plankton
养分及浮游生物 that the seamount deflected into the surface waters.
但是大海中的旅行猎人 从来就不会离的太远 But ocean-going hunters are never far away.
丝鲨专门找受伤 Silky shark specialise in picking off
的鱼来吃，会常来查看 injured fish and constantly check over
海岸山脉的居民 the residents around the seamount.
在年中的某时 At some times of the year,
季节的变化 会使洋流养分特别充沛 seasonal changes make the currents especially rich in nutrients
海岸山脉附近的海水 and then the ocean around the seamount
成了浮游生物浓汤 becomes a virtual soup of plankton.
这种时候猎食的动物 以惊人的数量前来 At such times, hunters gather in astonishing numbers.
鲣鱼是鲔鱼体型较小的远亲 Bonito, smaller relatives of the tuna.
它们要找比自己更小 They are searching for still smaller plankton
被吸引来此 以浮游生物为食的动物 feeders that have been attracted by the bloom.
这些鲒也是一样 它们的猎物就在附近 So are these jacks - and their prey is nearby.
一群鳀鱼迷失在水面附近 A school of anchovetta has strayed up near the surface,
虽然是白天 even though it is broad daylight
但是猎食者仍在徘徊 and hunters are on the prowl.
这些小鱼可以感觉到水中 These small fish can already feel
因为掠食者接近而引起的震动 the vibrations of the approaching predators.
它们高速游行，形成一个球体 Swimming at speed, they have formed into a ball
等待接下来的命运 and now they must wait for whatever comes.
它们被发现了 They're been detected.
一开始猎物闪亮的鳞片 似乎唬过了掠食者 At first the sheer scale of the bait ball seems to daunt the predators.
但是鲣鱼到来 发动第一波攻击 But now the bonito arrive and launch the first attack.
这一团饵食仍维持队形不动 Still the bait ball holds together.
黄鳍鲔跟进 The young yellow fin tuna move in.
这波攻击速度之快 The speed of this attack is so great
让几群鳀鱼脱离主要球形队伍 that gradually groups of anchovetta are splintered from the main fish ball.
不久之后洋流转向 Before long the currents will shift
海洋就会又变成蓝色热带沙漠 完全没有浮游生物的踪迹 and the ocean will become once more a blue tropical desert, plankton free.
这些猎食者就必须离开 And the hunters will have to move on.
飞旋原海豚还在找食物 Spinner dolphins, still searching for food.
它们会飞旋跃水 似乎只是社交表现 Their twisting leaps are, apparently, purely social displays.
因为猎物颇丰 Since the hunting has been good
有数百只聚集在此 many hundred have gathered together in this exuberant super-pod.
但是现在飞旋原海豚 又开始在猎食了 But now the spinners are starting to hunt once more.
它们追踪食物的技巧 已经不是秘密 Their skill in tracking food is not a secret.
黄鳍鲔应该早就知道了 不然怎会常常尾随它们 Yellow-fin tuna must be aware of it for they regularly follow them.
但只有长到2到 But only adult tuna in their second
3岁的鲔鱼成鱼 才有足够的毅力 or third year of life have sufficient stamina
可以跟上这群 游速超快的飞旋原海豚 to keep up with the fast-moving spinners.
这又是另一种海豚了-真海豚 These are another kind - Common Dolphin.
它们一样也是在移动中 They too are on the move.
它们在行进的同时 As they travel - ever inquisitive
它们会呼叫 身形较大的远亲 they pay a call on one of their larger relations
领航鲸 - a pilot whale.
领航鲸不是来觅食 The whale is not hunting.
它正要前往在地中海的繁殖地 lt's on its way to its breeding grounds in the Mediterranean.
领航鲸通常以小家庭为一组觅食 但是在盛夏 Pilot whales normally hunt in small family groups but in mid-summer
它们会回到传统的社交场所 they head for traditional socialising grounds
在那里它们会盛大聚集 数量达数百只 where they will assemble in super herds several hundred strong.
已经有两个家庭汇聚一起了 Already two families have joined together.
雄鲸开始为雌鲸争风吃醋 The males are starting to compete for the favours of the females.
日子一天天过去它们之间的身体摩擦 会变得越来越有交配的意味 As the weeks pass by these group rubbing- sessions will become more overtly sexual.
但是现在只是 在阳光下调调情而已 But now - it's just flirting in the sun.
时机在海洋中可说异常重要 Timing in the ocean can be crucial.
在夏天的北大西洋海水 渐渐暖和起来 ln summer, the northern Atlantic waters are beginning to warm.
在这里猎食成果颇丰 到了六月 The hunting is good here and by June predators
来自南方水域的掠食者 会朝着亚速尔群岛前进 from southern waters are heading towards the Azores.
更多的真海豚 These are more Common Dolphin.
就像其他海洋中的海豚一样 Like most oceanic dolphins
它们也会大群群聚 好几个家庭一起行动 they too often travel in huge herds containing many different families.
很少单一地点能有足够的粮食 能喂饱这一大群 There is seldom enough prey in any one place to feed such numbers.
所以小团体离开大群体 开始短程猎食之旅 So small groups leave the super-pod and set off on hunting expeditions.
这些小团体会离开几个小时 This group will be away from the main herd for several hours.
到了中午的时候 它们已接近亚速尔群岛 By mid-day they're nearing the lslands of the Azores
离葡萄牙海岸有900英里远 - nine hundred miles west of the Portuguese coast.
其他的猎食者 已经等候多时-水剃鸟 Other hunters are already here - Cory's Shearwaters.
50万只水剃鸟 每年在亚速尔群岛繁殖 Half a million of these birds breed on the Azores every year
并在附近水域搜寻食物 and scour the nearby ocean for food.
现在风力不足 Right now there is insufficient wind
它们不能滑翔 to support gliding flight and since flapping
拍打翅膀又太耗能 is a waste of energy they sit out the calm
所以它们安静地 群聚在水上随波摇摆 clustered in rafts and riding the gentle swells.
到了下午，海豚开始猛烈猎食 By mid-afternoon the dolphin are starting to hunt in earnest.
当海风开始增强 As the sea breeze picks up,
剃鸟再度起飞 the shearwaters take to the air once more.
海洋中海豚也找到猎物了 Out to sea, the dolphin have found prey....
它们正将一群鲭鱼 趋赶至水面附近 They are driving a shoal of small mackerel up towards the surface.
剃鸟布满了上方的天空 The shearwaters crowd the skies above,
追随海豚的每一次转向 following the dolphins' every turn.
鲭鱼还在水面下数公尺处 The mackerel are still some metres down.
当它们的饵食进入有效猎程 But when the baitfish come sufficiently close,
空中部队就会开始行动 the airborne division makes its move.
不再是旁观者 Far from being mere bystanders,
水剃鸟现在成了水中的掠食者 the shearwaters can now become underwater predators themselves.
它们可以下潜数公尺的深度 十分惊人 lncredibly they can dive down to depths of several metres.
猎食中的海豚 The hunting dolphin prevent the mackerel
不让鲭鱼往下逃 两位掠食者皆不忘饱餐一顿 from escaping downwards and both predators gorge themselves.
很快地水鸟的数量多过海豚 甚至开始将海豚驱离它们的大餐 Soon the diving birds outnumber the dolphin and even drive them away from their meal.
但是另一团掠食者到达 准备取代海豚的位置 But another squadron of predators arrives to replace the dolphin.
黄鳍鲔的成鱼 Adult yellow-fin tuna.
它们都是庞然大物 有两公尺长 These are giants - two metres long.
它们直冲着这一团饵食而来 They are heading directly for the bait ball.
虽然来的都是巨大的鱼类 Despite the arrival of the giant fish,
水剃鸟的攻击仍然不懈 the shearwater continue to press home their attack unfazed.
最后这些鲔鱼继续前进 留下水剃鸟自相残杀 Eventually the tuna move on, leaving the shearwaters to battle among themselves.
只要有只肉食鱼类 As long as a predatory fish or a dolphin
留在现场 鲭鱼就无法脱身 remains at the scene the mackerel can't escape to safety.
但是当小只的鲣鱼开始远离 But when the little skipjack tuna start to move away,
这一群饵食就会慢慢地 下潜到比较安全的深度 gradually the bait ball begins to sink in to the depths towards safety.
水剃鸟会跟着它们 下潜到自己闭气的极限 The shearwaters follow it down to the very limit of their breath-holding ability
大约是15公尺的深度 perhaps as deep as fifteen metres.
最后就连它们也必须离开 At last, even they are forced to leave their quarry.
无论夏日喂食季的结果如何 However good or bad this summer's feeding may be
再过三个月冬天就会到来 within three months winter will be
这里的水温会下降好几度 on its way and the temperature of these waters will drop by a few degrees.
海洋中的猎食者 就会再度离弃亚速尔群岛 Then the ocean hunters will abandon the Azores once more.
继续前行以寻找 其他进食的机会 As ever, they will move on - searching for another feeding opportunity,
寻找在广大远洋的 下一个生命停靠站 the next pulse of life in the distant reaches of the Open Ocean.