海岸线 陆地和海洋的边境 The coast - the frontier between land and sea
是海洋生态最富活力的地带 This is the most dynamic of all the ocean habitats
这里的挑战是战胜改变 The challenge here is to survive change
极端的改变 Extreme change
道格拉斯海角，位于加拉帕戈斯群岛的最西部 Cape Douglas, on the most westerly of the Galapagos islands,
受尽太平洋巨浪的侵袭 totally unprotected from the massive rollers of the Pacific Ocean
是世界上最崎岖的海岸线之一 and one of the roughest coastlines in the world
加拉帕戈斯群岛的海鬣蜥 是世上唯一谙水性的蜥蜴 The marine iguanas of the Galapagos are the world's only sea-going lizards
它们只以海藻为食 但这么做却是危险的 Seaweed is all they eat, but doing so is a dangerous business
当地的螃蟹特别的扁平 The local crabs have become specially flattened,
将海浪拍击的效果减到最低 minimising the effect of the pounding waves
海鬣蜥可以用爪子抓住石头 And the iguanas have huge claws to grip the rocks
海藻真可算是它们的速食 This seaweed really is fast food
因为它们只能在下个碎浪 There are only a few seconds in which to grab a few mouthfuls
拍击前的几秒内吃下几口 before the next breaker comes pounding in
母蜥蜴只在裸露的石块上觅食 Female iguanas feed only on the exposed rocks,
较大的公蜥蜴 则会潜入水中寻找海藻 but the males which are larger swim and dive beneath the surface to reach the weed
它们能潜至10公尺处 They go as deep as ten metres,
因为在不受海浪干扰的深处 有最可口的植物 for there beyond the destructive reach of the waves, they find the best fronds
属性冷血的它们必须于 10分钟内 Being cold-blooded they have to return to land
回陆地的阳光下取暖 after about ten minutes or so to warm up again in the sun
觅食并非海岸生物唯一的挑战 Finding food is not the only challenge for coastal residents
多岩的海岸并不是产卵的安全地点 These rocky shores are hardly a safe place to lay their eggs
每年海鬣蜥都需至内陆 and each year the marine iguanas have to journey inland
寻找较适合的地点 to find a more suitable one
母蜥蜴在洞穴中产卵 并将它们留在那里孵化 The females lay their eggs in burrows and leave them there to hatch,
因此需要找到细致柔软的沙 and to do that they need nice soft sand
在岸边 躲在石缝中能轻易的逃过危险 Down at the water edge, it was easy to escape danger in rocky crevices,
但母蜥蜴暴露在这里 却十分危险 but up here the females are dangerously exposed
加拉帕戈斯鹰 A Galapagos hawk
这只蜥蜴不会毫无反抗地 轻言放弃 The lizards don't give up without a struggle
这些飞鹰长年留在海岸 但它们十分特殊 These hawks stay on the coast all year But they are exceptional
经常出没于此边界的鸟 The majority of the birds that frequent this frontier
大多停留在别处 无论是海面上或海水中 spend most of their time elsewhere - in or above the open ocean
然而所有的海鸟 都必须上岸来产卵 However all seabirds have to come to land in order to lay their eggs
经过在海上觅食的漫长寂寞后 And after spending many lonely months searching the ocean for food,
它们必须重建社交关系 they have to re-establish their social relationships
军舰鸟会展示并交换筑巢材料 Frigate birds display and exchange nesting material
波浪信天翁会跳舞 Waved albatross dance
由于必需在稳固陆地产卵，信天翁离不开海岸 The need to lay their egg on firm ground ties the albatross to the coast
但它们会共同分担父母的责任 but parental responsibilities are shared
当其一负责看守卵 另外一个就会外出觅食 While one looks after the egg, ...the other can go off to feed
繁殖的需求使得每年会有 The need to breed brings many different animals
许多不同的动物到此停留数周 to the coast each year for a few weeks
雄海龟一生都留在海里 但雌海龟 Male sea turtles spend all their lives at sea, but the females,
需上岸产卵 like birds, must come to land to lay their eggs
为此，在巴西海岸生活及觅食的绿龟 To do that green turtles that live and feed off the coast of Brazil
会游1500英里 到位于大西洋 swim fifteen hundred miles to the tiny island of Ascension
中央的阿森松岛上 that lies bang in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean
至于它们如何精准的找到 Exactly how they manage to navigate with such accuracy
这个只有7里宽的小石台 仍旧是个谜 and find this tiny lump of rock, just seven miles wide is a mystery
但每年有约5千只海龟到此 But each year up to five thousand turtles manage to do so and then,
在靠近阿森松的海岸边交配 close to the coast of Ascension, they mate
往来阿森松并筑巢的过程 可花费6个月 Travelling to and from Ascension and nesting here can take up to six months
这段时间它们完全不进食 and throughout that entire time, none of them feed at all
交配后雌海龟会违反本能 After mating a female has to leave her natural element
将自己拖曳到陆地上 and haul herself up onto land
她会在夜间行动 在每次间隔15天的周期内 She does so at night, laying about three or four times
产卵3到4次 at around fifteen day intervals
之后她会游回巴西海边 After that she then swims all the way back to the seas off Brazil
她一生中会不断重回这个岛 She returns to this very same island throughout her life
值得注意的是 地球上所有的海龟都长年往返 Remarkably, all the world's sea turtles return year after year
几处惯例的繁殖地 to just a few traditional breeding sites
澳洲的螃蟹岛便是其中之一 Crab lsland, in Australia, is one of them
这个横躺在昆士兰北端几里处 This tiny two-mile long crescent of sand,
2里长的小新月形岛 lying a few miles off Queensland's northerly tip,
提供了世上最罕见海龟之一 provides nesting sites for half the entire population
其中半数的筑巢地点 of one of the world's rarest sea turtles
平背龟体型较大 超过1公尺长 Flat-backed turtles are large, over a metre long
的它们仍需小心 - but they have to be careful
这里还有其他巨大的爬虫类 There are other giant reptiles here too
盐水鳄鱼 Salt-water crocodiles
每天晚上 Every night throughout the year
都有平背龟 在这孤寂沙岸上埋藏它们的卵 there are flat-backs burying their eggs all along this lonely stretch of sand
九周后事情即将发生 Nine weeks later and things are about to happen
这些闪烁在黑夜中的眼睛 These eyes shining in the darkness belong to night herons
为夜苍鹭所有，上百只鸟 好像突然凭空出现在沙丘上 As if from nowhere, hundreds of birds suddenly appear on the sand dunes
鹈鹕耐心的等待着 Pelicans wait patiently
大鹳鸟来回踱步着 Jabiru storks pace up and down
很快的它们发现了 它们所殷切期盼的 Before long they see what they've been waiting for.
因为这些海龟经年都在产卵 每晚都有 Because these turtles lay their eggs throughout the year,
源源不绝的小海龟 成为鸟类的晚餐 the hatchlings emerge night after night in a steady trickle of beak sized meals
鹈鹕宽大的嘴让它们能在 Pelican's broad beaks allow them to dig out the hatchlings
苍鹭出击前将小海龟挖出 before the herons can spear them on the surface
海浪有几百米之遥 The surf may be hundreds of metres away
而至少有三分之一的小海龟 无法存活 and at least a third of the tiny turtles do not survive the journey
而将它们吞下的不只有鸟类 And its not just the birds that take them
鳄鱼，鲨鱼及饥饿的鱼 都在浅滩上等待 Crocodiles, sharks and hungry fish are all waiting in the shallows
事实上只有百分之一的小海龟 能存活到成年期 ln fact only one in every hundred hatchlings will survive to adulthood
在另一个海滩，另一洲 一个十分不一样的夜晚 Another beach, another continent, and a very special night
哥斯达黎加有一种海龟 找到了降低这些危险的办法 Here in Costa Rica there is a turtle which has found a way of reducing these dangers
当黎德利海龟上岸产卵时 When Ridley's turtles arrive to lay their eggs
它们不只出现十只或百只 它们为数上千 they don't come in tens or hundreds... but in thousands
接下来的6天会约有40万的 雌海龟造访这个海滩 Over the next six days around four hundred thousand females will visit this beach
尖峰时间每小时会有5千只 At the peak time, five thousand are coming and going each hour
海滩过度拥挤 于是它们必须爬过彼此 The beach gets so crowded that they have to clamber over one another
才能找到一块可挖洞的空地 to find a bare patch of sand where they can dig a nest hole
这数天内会产生4千万颗卵 Forty million eggs are laid in these few days
所以这些海龟可以确信六周后 So these turtles ensure that six weeks later
小海龟的出现不只是细水长流 when their hatchlings emerge it's not just a trickle
而是如泛滥的洪水 lt's a flood
有些夜晚，超过两百万的小海龟会一同急速奔向海洋 On some nights, over two million hatchlings race down to the sea together
小海龟数量可观的同时出现 With so many appearing simultaneously,
会震惊一旁的掠食者，大部分小海龟也能平安抵达海中 the predators are overwhelmed and most of the young turtles reach the sea safely
离开海水爬上陆地，对海龟来说已非易事 Leaving the sea and emerging onto land is hard enough for turtles
对鱼类更是艰难 lt'd even harder for fish
纽芬兰数百英里的海岸上 Each year for hundreds of miles along the Newfoundland coast,
每年都有胡瓜鱼 将自己甩到海滩上 capelin throw themselves onto the beaches
至少有百万吨的鱼挣扎出水面 At least a million tonnes of fish floundering out of the water
对秃鹰及海鸥来说 可谓是天赐的好礼 - a real gift for scavenging eagles and gulls
虽然对鱼类而言有些奇怪 但这些胡瓜鱼 Odd though it may seem for a fish, these capelin,
就像海龟一样 是离开海水来繁衍后代的 like the turtles, have also come out of the sea to breed
雄鱼正试着让 The males are trying to fertilise the eggs
雌鱼产在沙上的卵受精 that the females are depositing in the sand
如同黎德利海龟 Like the Ridley's turtles,
它们也配合潮汐大量的产卵 they have synchronised their mass laying with the tide
几天内一切都将结束 ln a few days it will be over
多数的胡瓜鱼会死去 但只会在它们在沙中产卵之后 Most of the capelin die but only after they've left their eggs in the sand
其他的胡瓜鱼在海中产卵 Other capelin populations lay their eggs
为何只有纽芬兰种会在陆地上 in the ocean so why do the Newfoundland fish spawn on land
原因似乎是产在海滩的卵 较易躲过掠食者的攻击， lt seems that eggs deposited in the beach may be safer
也比产在冰海水中的卵 更快速成长 from predators and develop faster than in colder waters out to sea
但无论以何种方式 广大的产卵浅滩 But wherever they do so, the huge spawning shoals
为到此繁殖的海鸟 提供了大量的食物 provide the concentration of food that seabirds need when they assemble to breed
地球上95%的海鸟群聚筑巢 Ninety five percent of the world's seabirds nest together,
而多数会形成庞大壮观的聚落 mostly in large spectacular colonies
这是距纽芬兰海岸40里的 方克岛 This is Funk lsland forty miles off the coast of Newfoundland
一个挤满繁殖中海鸟的孤岛 - an isolated rock crammed with breeding sea-birds
这曾是无法飞行的大海雀的最后繁殖地，可惜它们已绝种 This was the last breeding ground for the flightless Great Auk, sadly now extinct
今日这里仍有最大的海鸠聚落 Today it's still the world's largest Guillemot colony
为数超过百万的它们，与25万只塘鹅共享拥挤的小岛 Over a million of them share the crowded island with 250,000 gannets
海鸟如此密集的群聚繁殖 lt's not the lack of suitable sites
并非是缺乏合适的地点 that causes the seabirds to breed in such densities
在北大西洋有许多 Here in the North Atlantic, there's a wide choice of
空旷的海岸线可供繁殖 empty coastline that the birds could use
局限海鸟聚落大小 及地点的关键 The key factor limiting the size and location of seabird colonies
似乎是邻近海洋里食物的多寡 seems to be the availability of food in the surrounding ocean
这里有太多等着进食的嘴 而对鱼类的需求也不间断 There are lots of hungry mouths to feed and a constant demand for fish
漫长的夏天在方克岛上 Throughout the long summer days at colonies like funk,
总有络绎不绝的鸟 飞向海上寻找食物 There's a continual stream of birds, heading out to the ocean to find food
并带着满满的收获 回来喂食它们的后代 and returning with full crops to feed their young
塘鹅会为一趟觅食之旅 Gannets will travel up to two hundred miles
飞上200里的航程 from the colony on a single foraging trip
它们并不挑剔，几乎无所不吃 They are not fussy eaters and will take everything
无论是小玉筋鱼还是鲱鱼 - from tiny sand eels to herring
而善知鸟便非如此 Puffins, on the other hand, are very particular about
它们对吃很谨慎 因为它们只能作短程飞行 what they eat and because they can only fly short distances,
所以它们都在 有适当食物的邻近处筑巢 they only nest where there's a good supply of suitable food close by
东俄罗斯的鄂霍次克海 就是适合的地点之一 One such place is the sea of Okhotsk in far eastern Russia
这是泰仑岛 This is the island of Talan
整个漫长的北极冬天 它一直被冰所环绕 Throughout the long arctic winter, it is encircled by ice
当春季来临，冰开始融化 But as spring approaches, that begins to break up
冬天在南方觅食的海鸟 开始回归 and seabirds that have spent the winter feeding out
它孤立的位置及悬崖峭壁 on the open ocean far to the south begin to return
使泰仑岛成为完美的筑巢地 lts isolated position and steep cliffs make Talan a perfect nesting site
穗饰善知鸟率先抵达 The Tufted Puffins arrive first
它们是较不华丽的大西洋品种的太平洋远亲 These are the Pacific cousins of our less spectacular Atlantic species
有角善知鸟紧跟在后 Horned puffins soon follow
每个春天有约14个不同的品种 ln all, fourteen different species return to Talan each spring
回到泰仑岛 and in just a few weeks the once silent cliffs
原本寂静的悬崖在数周内 因400万海鸟的到来而苏醒 come alive to the calls of 4 million breeding seabirds
这是个多层楼的鸟类城市 This is a multi-storey avian city
漫长的独立海上生活后 能加入稠密的聚落 Assembling in these dense colonies after having spent a largely solitary life
为这些鸟类提供了社交刺激 at sea provides the birds with the social stimulation
也是它们学习哺育后代的关键 that is the key to co-ordinating their breeding
同时筑巢产卵使它们确信 By nesting and laying together they ensure that
多数的小鸟会同时离巢 most of their chicks will leave the nest at exactly the same time
如同海龟一般 这是它们吓退掠食者的方法 Just like the turtles this is the way they spread the impact of predators
世界上最大的雕——虎头海雕 The world's largest eagle - Steller's sea eagle
比金雕大三分之一 A third as big again as a golden
整个夏季老鹰们 在泰仑岛密集的繁衍区狩猎 Throughout the summer, the eagles hunt in Talan's crowded colonies
乘着气流 它们在悬崖上盘旋 Riding on the updrafts, they patrol the top of the cliffs,
寻找离岩石太远的三趾鸥 looking out for any Kittiwake that ventures too far from the rock face
突然间大老鹰以猎鹰 灵敏的飞行技巧俯冲而下 Suddenly the huge eagle stoops with the aerial agility of a falcon
三趾鸥合群的恐慌 使侵犯者也乱了阵脚 Co-ordinated panic among the kittiwakes confuses their attacker
但老鹰并不就此罢休 But the eagle doesn't give up
它逮到了一只 And it has got one
另一种泰仑岛上的海鸟 Another kind of seabird on Talan has a particularly effective way
有一种特别有效的自卫方式 of defending itself against predators
但只有在太阳下山 前1小时才出现 - but it doesn't appear until an hour before sunset
成群的海鸟突然地出现在岸边 As if from nowhere, dense swarms of seabirds suddenly arrive off-shore
它们花了一整天时间 在已融冰的海上觅食 They're spent the day feeding far away, where the sea ice has already broken up
它们是冠小海雀，几乎与欧掠鸟同样大小 They are crested auklets, hardly bigger than starlings
每年有上百万的冠小海雀回到泰仑岛的卵石上筑巢 A million of them return to Talan each year to nest in its fields of boulders
日落的前一小时 庞大的海鸦群 For an hour before sunset, the hillsides comes alive
让山坡活了起来 它们很紧张 with huge flocks of circling auklets They're nervous
没有一只愿意率先登陆 No one wants to be the first to land
海鸦回到海岸时会十分热络 Auklets are very social when they are back together at the coast
筑巢在稠密的聚落中有个优点 One of the advantages of nesting in such densities
是能分享觅食圣地的讯息 may be the chance to share information on good feeding sites
同时也是求偶的好机会 lt also gives them the opportunity to court
但最重要的也许是 数量所带来的安全感 But perhaps most importantly, there is safety in numbers
乌鸦及游隼每天晚上 都盘旋在岩屑坡上 Ravens and peregrines circle above the scree slope every evening
海鸦希望它们的同时起飞 能困惑掠食者 By taking off together, the auklets hope to confuse the predators
它们的坚持终究得到代价 Eventually their persistence pays off
鸟类至海岸筑巢 The birds that face the greatest challenge in coming
面临最大挑战的非企鹅莫属 to the coast to nest are surely the penguins
无法飞行的它们 只能选择勇敢面对大海浪 Unable to fly, they have no alternative but to brave the immense waves
多数的企鹅居住在南方的海 Most penguins live in the southern ocean
它们必须接受浪花的袭击 and they have to accept being hurled about by the surf
无论天气如何，企鹅父母 都必须回去喂养小企鹅 Whatever the weather, the penguin parents have to come back to feed their chicks
这是南海狮牛 A southern sea lion bull
它知道企鹅总是 从同一个海滩登陆 - he knows the penguins always use the same traditional landing beach
穿越汹涌的海浪后 Having braved the thundering surf,
企鹅们必须通过空旷礁岩 急速回到巢穴 the penguins have to make a mad dash across open rock to get to their nests
仅管体型硕大及善于游泳的 Despite his massive size and a body adapted for swimming,
狮牛仍在陆地的岩石上 追逐了企鹅约四五十公尺 the bull chases the penguins for forty or fifty metres across the rocks
抓到企鹅后 海狮将它带到深海中 Having caught his penguin, the sea lion carries it out into deeper water where,
猛烈撞击那小身躯 它将它的食物剥了皮 by violently thrashing the little body, he skins his meal
福克兰群岛周围的海 是世上最崎岖不平的海岸之一 The seas around the Falklands are some of the roughest in the world
尽管如此 这里仍是数百万大小同于海燕 ln spite of that, the southern ocean is home to millions of tiny seabirds
的小海鸟的故乡 hardly bigger than swallows-petrels
娇小的体型 使它们容易受天气的灾害 Being so small they are very vulnerable to the bad weather
严重的风暴能将它们 A severe storm can blow them miles off course
吹离巢穴数天 and keep them away from their nests for days
但这些鸟儿已有 应对这问题的好方法 But these birds have developed a very effective solution to that problem
它们产的卵十分奇特 They lay a rather special egg
多数鸟类的卵暴露在外数小时 便会受寒而无法孵化 Most bird's eggs, left exposed for even a few hours, will chill and never hatch
但这些卵不同 But these eggs are different
当它们的父母 还在暴风中挣扎的时候 They can be left for several days without incubation and remain undamaged...
它们可以几天不受照顾 也不会受任何损害 ...while the parents struggle home through the storm
水剃鸟也发展出一套 防范掠食者的办法 Prions have also come up with a good way to avoid most predators
它们只在入夜后才回到岸边 They never come back to the coast until after dark
它们是薄嘴水剃鸟 These are Thin-billed Prions
它们的洞穴让福克兰群岛 的山坡像是蜂窝 Their burrows honeycomb this hillside in the Falklands
白天时这里有如荒废 lt'd deserted throughout the daylight hours...
但天色一暗 ...but as soon as it's dark
飞行的掠食者狩猎困难时 and difficult for airborne predators to hunt...
剃鸟就回来了 ...the prions return
它们一着陆就开始叫 As soon as they land, they call
难题在于如何 The problem, of course...
在众多巢穴中如何找到自己的 ...is finding your burrow among all the others
它要找出伴侣的叫声 He's listening out for his mate's call...
随后钻进洞穴 ...and down he goes.
阿拉斯加海岸 The Alaskan coast
现在是春天 最后一场冬天的暴风正消退中 lt's spring and the last of the winter storms is subsiding
海中的浮游生物再度茂密 The plankton in this sea is in bloom again and just off shore,
座头鲸也回到海滨觅食 humpback whales have returned to feed
对这些大型动物而言 游进浅滩是极端危险的 For these huge animals, there is a real risk in coming into such shallow water
每年有众多鲸鱼得到教训 and each year a good number of them pay the price
对一只年长的鲸鱼来说 是个可耻的结束 lt is an ignominious ending for an ageing whale
但这么多的鱼肉不会被浪费 But so much flesh will not go to waste
一只黑熊小心翼翼地 从树林中出现 A black bear emerges cautiously from the woods
不为繁殖而来此的访客 通常都是来掠夺食物 Visitors to the coast that don't come to breed, have usually come to scavenge
为数众多的动物都意识到 A whole range of different animals have learnt to exploit
大量的食物 the enormous quantity of food...
每天被浪费在 地球不同的海岸上 .....that washes up everyday on coastlines around the world
但海岸上的状况不定 But like so much at the coast the quantity of flotsam
漂流物的数量是无法预估的 and jetsam is unpredictable
没有人可以只依赖这些 Nobody can rely on it alone
这些尸体甚至引来群害羞的狼 兴奋地 This carcass even attracted a shy pack of wolves only too happy
在身上沾上 to anoint themselves with the...
腐坏鲸鱼的味道 ...scent of rotting whale
这些食腐者耗费了 数个月的时间 lt was months before the scavengers finally
才将这个既大又难以意料的 cleaned up all the meat on this huge and...
海洋之礼清干净 ...unpredictable gift from the sea
鲸鱼在海水中产下后代 也在海中度过一生 Whales give birth to their young at sea and so can spend their entire lives there
其他的海洋哺乳动物 其中事实上属于熊的远亲者 Other marine mammals - one of that are in fact distant cousins of bears
每年则必须回到 它们祖先的陆上故乡 - have to return... each year to their ancestral home on land
北极圈顶端 这里有其中之一-海象 The high arctic Here lives one of them...the walrus
海象几乎一生都在海里 Walruses spend nearly all their lives at sea,
但每年只有几周 but each year for just a few weeks...
它们必须回到岸边 ...they have to return to the coast.
它们会找像罗德岛这样孤立 They seek out isolated beaches like this one on Round lsland in the...
并远离北太平洋的海滩 ...far northern Pacific
像这样没有熊的合适地点 非常稀少 Suitable sites like this, free from bears, are so scarce...
因此有时数量达1万4千的动物 ...that at times as many as fourteen thousand animals
会全部挤在 will cram themselves on to this...
这一个岛上 ...one beach
海象一开始从海中出现时 颜色是白的 When they first emerge from the sea the walrus are white
这是由于生活在 冰冻海水中的温血动物 That's because being warm-blooded animals living in very cold ocean,
维持温度的方式 they conserve heat by...
是将血液保存在身体的中央 ...keeping their blood concentrated in the core of their bodies
陆地上温度够暖和 On land it's warm enough for them to allow their...
所以它们外围的血管扩张 而使皮肤由白转粉红 ...outer blood vessels to dilate and that turns their skin from white to pink
现在它们可以脱去外皮 Now they can moult the outer layers of their skin,
在岩石上摩擦身体 rubbing themselves up against the rocks
但登上陆地最值得的是 But more than anything else coming to land
它们可以不用再耗体力 brings the walrus relief from having to spend energy
来维持在冰水中的体温 maintaining their body temperature in an icy-cold ocean
温度的保持也许是 每年众多 Heat conservation, in fact, may well be the primary reason so many...
海洋哺乳类 被迫回到陆地的主要原因 ...sea mammals are forced to return to the land each year
地球上最冷的海在南极 The world's coldest seas are in Antarctica
每个春天半数的南方海象 Each spring, half the world's Southern Elephant seals
会回到南乔治亚岛 return to the island of South Georgia
海象有特别肥厚的脂肪 来帮助保暖 Elephant seals have particularly thick insulation of blubber that keeps them warm
繁殖是它们 离开海水的唯一理由 For them breeding is the only reason to leave the sea
当气温降到零下20度 With temperatures down to minus 20...
风速达每小时100里 海滩上绝不是舒服之处 ...and hundred mile an hour winds, it can't be comfortable out on the beach,
但热度在水中消失的速度 比空气中快 but heat dissipates more rapidly through water...
因此即使在这种状况下 ...than through air so even in these conditions...
没有肥厚脂肪的年轻海象 ...their young which at first don't have a thick coat
在陆地上会温暖许多 of blubber will be far warmer on the land
一旦雄性在海滩上站稳阵脚 母海象便随之跟进 Once the males are established on the beach the females soon follow
十天内空旷的海滩 顿时挤满了6千只海象 Within just ten days the empty beach fills up with six thousand elephant seals
母海象即刻产下 前一年所怀之胎儿 Almost immediately the females give birth to pups sired the previous year
它们有充足的奶水 而小海象的成长速度更是惊人 Their milk is very rich and the pups grow astonishingly quickly
它们在3周内从皮包骨 转而成为一团肉球 ln just three weeks they turn form thin bags of skin to fat balls of blubber
生产过后 As soon as they've given birth,
母海象即刻恢复性欲 在如此 the females become sexually receptive again...
密集聚落中繁衍的好处 ...and it's now that the advantages of breeding
此刻得到证实 in such dense colonies become clear
母海象能从众多异性中选对象 Females can make their choice from many males,
而厉害的公海象 则可同时有多个配偶 while successful males can have access to lots of females
但要掌控成群的母海象 But to gain that access and control a harem of females,
公海象必须准备好迎战 the bull must be prepared to fight
体积和吼声越大的 越有可能获胜 The larger the male, the louder the roar and the more likely he is to win
当两方势均力敌，血腥的争斗会持续 约20分钟或是更多 When males are well matched these bloody battles will last twenty minutes or more
战败者最后会退回 已被自己的血染红的水里 Eventually, the loser retreats into a stream already pink with his own blood
这些争斗有助于母海象 挑选最强壮的伴侣 These battles certainly help females select the strongest bulls...
但却为小海象带来极大的危险 ...but they bring great dangers for the pups.
在聚落较密集的地区 Each year, in the denser parts of the colony,
每年有5分之1的小海象被压死 a fifth of the pups are crushed to death
因此在海滩边缘处交配 This is why it may be better to mate
也许是较好的选择 at the edge of the beach close to the sea
较懦弱的雄性会躲在浪里 Less dominant males hide in the surf
它们等待也企图偷袭 They are waiting to try and steal an illicit mating...
来来往往的母海象 ...with females as they come and go
这只公海象知道自己 已被在此区称王的雄性盯上 This male knows he has been spotted by the big bull
在大团体中繁衍对幼儿 who claims all the females on this part of the beach
及成年者都有益处 Breeding in groups can bring advantages to pups as well as to adults
巴塔哥尼亚海岸的海狮 每年在数以百计的 Along the coast of Patagonia southern sea lions breed together each year
聚落中繁殖 in groups several hundred strong
对成长中的小海狮而言 这些聚落其实较像是学校 For the growing pups these colonies act rather like a school
它们在此学到的团结和关系 The bonds and relationships developed here on the beach
对一生来说有绝对的重要性 may be vital for the rest of their lives
海狮是交际频繁的动物 也因为年轻与年长者一同觅食 Sea lions are very social animals and as adults and young forage together,
它们大概会分享 they probably share...
觅食地点的讯息 ...information about the location of good feeding sites
这儿的状况 对成长中的幼儿来说实非恰当 Conditions here could hardly be better for the growing youngsters
潮水退去后 留下的是众多隐蔽的水池 As the tide goes out it leaves behind a selection of sheltered pools
也是学习游泳的绝佳地点 Perfect places for learning to swim
涨潮时 At high tide...
小海狮轻易地 就能尝试跳入浪中 ...it is easy for the pups to take their first experimental dips in the surf
杀人鲸 A killer whale
这些小海狮从未见过 如此庞大的东西 These young pups have never seen anything like it before
然而这些鲸鱼却已司空见惯 The Whales though are very experienced
每年这群鲸鱼准时在 Each year this same group turns up along the coast
小海狮开始游泳时出现 at precisely the same time as the pups are starting to swim
鲸鱼必须让小海狮出乎意料 The whales need to surprise the pups,
所以它们暂停对彼此的呼叫 以保持安静 so they have stopped calling to one another and keep silent
速度是致胜关键 Speed is everything
鲸鱼不会攻击 离开水面的小海狮 The whales do not take pups that are out of the water,
但有时冲力会将它们带到海滩 but sometimes their momentum drives them right up the beach
这时它们便会有搁浅的危险 and then there's real danger of getting stuck
这只鲸鱼须靠猛烈的拍击 从海滩上脱困 The whale has to thrash in this frenzied way to get off the beach
多数的小海狮被带入水中时 仍是活着的 Most of the pups are taken into deep water while they're still alive
在水中 显然鲸鱼们拿它们来把玩 And there the whales - apparently - play with them
通常幼鲸会加入 成年鲸鱼的游戏 Often an adult whale is joined in the game by a youngster
它可能在学会如何在 游上海滩前//就先学会抓住小海狮 lt may be learning how to grab a seal pup before it risks a drive up the beach
仍活着的小海狮无缘无故 Whatever the reason the seal pup - still alive
被丢来丢去超过半个小时 - is tossed back and forth for over half an hour
即使小海狮已经死了 鲸鱼们的游戏运动仍不结束 Even when the pup is dead, the whales' sport is not completely over
我们能做的只有推测 这种奇特行为背后的原因 We can only speculate at the real reasons behind this extraordinary behaviour
对鲸鱼来说 狩猎的季节很短 But for the whales, the hunting season is a short one
小海狮很快的学会远离海水 Before long the pups learn to stay well clear of the water
鲸鱼的成功率就渐渐降低了 and the whales become less and less successful
两周后，它们便离开了 After just two weeks, they move on
杀戮的季节结束 The killing season is over
这就是海岸的生态 That's how it often happens along the coast
事情不断在变化 Things are always changing
从来不曾始终如一 They're never the same for long in this,
就在这海洋生态中最多变的地方 the most dynamic of all the ocean's habitats