Sunlight streams between cracks in the ice. Thicker chunks glow emerald green, bejeweled by algae. The characters of this frosty realm begin to appear: a translucent, blue swimming snail, a pink fish with a tail like a geisha's fan, a bright orange lumpsucker that looks as if it leaped out of a Pokémon cartoon.
阳光在冰缝中穿流，更厚的冰块闪烁着鲜绿色，周围点缀着珠宝般的海藻。这片严寒区域的主角一一登场：一只蓝色透明的蜗牛在游动；一条粉红色的鱼拖着一条艺妓迷似的尾巴；橙黄色的圆鳍鱼看上去好似从某部动画片中跳出来的宠物小精灵。 This is the underwater world that awaits photographer Brian Skerry, who is lumbering across the beach near a fishing town called Rausu, in Japan's northeastern corner. Wearing a hooded dry suit and carrying an air tank, hoses, regulator, and 32 pounds of weights, he pulls on his fins and slowly submerges his face to get used to the 29°F water. His lips go numb. And then, camera in hand, Skerry dives between the ice floes into the waters of the Sea of Okhotsk, bordering the Shiretoko Peninsula. 这是日本东北角的水下世界，正准备迎接摄影师布莱恩·斯凯瑞。他穿着带头罩的潜水服，携带着空气罐、软管、较准器和32磅（约14.51公斤）的重量，吃力地走过罗臼町渔村附近的海滩。他拉上自己的鳍，慢慢浸没自己的脸以适应29°F的水温。他的嘴唇渐渐麻木了。接着，斯凯瑞拿着相机，从浮冰的间隙中潜入与知床半岛接壤的鄂霍次克海水域。 Most people think of Japan as a compact collection of large islands, but a map of the country shows otherwise. Japan stretches over 1,500 miles and includes more than 5,000 islands. As land mingles with sea over these vast distances, it embraces at least three distinct ecosystems. In the frigid north, sea-eagles, with their seven-foot wingspans, and king crabs frequent the ice-covered seas off the remote Shiretoko Peninsula. In the mild central waters of the Izu Peninsula and Toyama Bay, a few hours' drive from the skyscrapers of Tokyo, firefly squid swarm, and soft coral forests grow. In the balmy south, delicate butterflyfish and huge sand tiger sharks share coral reefs in the Bonin Islands, a collection of 30 or more islands about 500 miles south of Tokyo. 大多数人认为日本是由密集的大岛屿组成，而这个国家的地图显示出的是另一番景象。日本绵延1500英里（约2414公里），包含5000多个岛屿。在这么长的距离内，海陆交融，至少形成三个独特的生态系统。在寒冷的北方，翼幅达七英尺（约2.13米）的海雕和皇帝蟹时常出没于偏远的知床半岛外冰雪覆盖的海洋。在距东京摩天大楼几小时车程的伊豆半岛和富山湾温带洋面水域，萤火虫鱿鱼云集，软珊瑚森林丛生。在温暖的南方——东京以南约500英里（约804.67公里），由30或更多岛屿组成的小笠原群岛，纤巧的蝴蝶鱼和巨大的虎头鲨分享着珊瑚礁。 Ocean currents are key to the marine diversity, bathing Japan's shores in temperatures of water that range from around 30°F to 85°F. The currents also bring the country a couple of world records. The powerful Kuroshio shoots warm water northward, allowing coral reefs to thrive where they would not normally be found. The East Sakhalin Current draws cold water down toward Japan, helping make the Shiretoko Peninsula the southernmost spot with winter sea ice. 冲刷着日本海滨的洋流水温在 30°F 至 85°F之间，是生物多样性的关键。这些洋流也为日本创造了几项世界纪录。强大的黑潮向北发送暖流，使珊瑚能够在通常难以被发现的地方茁壮成长。东库页岛洋流将冷水引向日本，促成了知床半岛最南端的冬季海冰。 These currents control more than water temperature. They transport distant marine life as well. Inlets pockmark Japan's volcanic shoreline, explains Florida Institute of Technology professor Robert van Woesik. On islands surrounded by coral reefs, the lagoons "act like baseball mitts catching coral and fish larvae." 这些洋流不仅控制着水温，还运送着遥远的海洋生物。佛罗里达理工学院教授罗伯特·冯·沃斯纳解释说，水湾为日本留下了火山岩海岸。在珊瑚环绕的群岛上，泻湖“充当了棒球手套，捕捉着珊瑚和鱼苗。” As in so much of the world's oceans, these ecosystems are at risk. Japan is filling in lagoons to create more land to build upon. When this happens, fish, coral, and crab larvae glide past without settling down. 像世界大部分海洋一样，这些生态系统濒临危险。日本正在填充泻湖，希望形成更多的土地。这样一来，鱼、珊瑚和螃蟹的幼苗因无法定居而消失。 For now, the array of ocean life is thriving, as Brian Skerry's photographs show. When he surfaces from the frigid waters, he's grateful for the teahouse on the beach. Stripped of his gear, he warms up by sipping miso soup as he sits on the floor watching the snow fall. All the while, the orange lumpsucker swims, and the ice glows green undersea. 布莱恩·斯凯瑞的照片显示，目前，海洋生物的队伍正在蓬勃发展。他从寒冷的水域出来，愉快地来到海滨茶馆，脱去装备，坐在地板上，一边欣赏飘落的雪花，一边喝着酱汤暖着身子。橙色的圆鳍鱼始终在游动，海底的冰始终闪烁着绿光。 图： 日本海洋三级水域中的生物相关文章： |
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