2022年11月06日 VOA慢速英语：蓝鲸每天吞下 1000 万件微塑料

 

Researchers have estimated that blue whales take in about 10 million pieces of microplastics each day.
研究人员估计，蓝鲸每天摄入约 1000 万片微塑料。
 
Microplastics are particles of plastic debris that are less than 5 millimeters long. They come from the breakdown of many kinds of plastic products and industrial waste. Particle levels have been building up in the world's oceans for many years. The possible health effects on whales from eating microplastics are still not well understood.
微塑料是长度小于 5 毫米的塑料碎片颗粒。它们来自多种塑料制品和工业废料的分解。多年来，世界海洋中的粒子水平一直在增加。食用微塑料对鲸鱼可能产生的健康影响仍不清楚。
 
Scientists studied three species of baleen whales – blue, fin and humpback. Baleen whales are born without teeth. But they have special plates in their mouths that filter food. They feed on very small animals, mainly the shrimp-like creatures called krill.
科学家们研究了三种须鲸——蓝鲸、长须鲸和座头鲸。须鲸出生时没有牙齿。但它们的嘴里有特殊的盘子，可以过滤食物。它们以非常小的动物为食，主要是一种叫做磷虾的类似虾的生物。
 
A study by the researchers says the estimated 10 million pieces of microplastics blue whales eat daily weigh about 44 kilograms.
研究人员的一项研究称，估计蓝鲸每天吃下的 1000 万片微塑料重约 44 公斤。
 
The whales were studied off America's Pacific coast. Research results were recently reported in the publication Nature Communications.
这些鲸鱼在美国太平洋沿岸进行了研究。研究结果最近发表在《自然通讯》杂志上。
 
The study found that fin whales may take in up to 6 million microplastic pieces a day. Humpbacks that mostly feed on krill likely eat about 4 million microplastic pieces daily, the researchers said. Humpbacks that favor fish may take in a much smaller amount, about 200,000 pieces a day.
研究发现，长须鲸每天可能摄入多达 600 万个微塑料碎片。研究人员说，主要以磷虾为食的座头鲸每天可能吃掉大约 400 万块微塑料。喜欢吃鱼的座头鲸可能会少得多，每天大约 200,000 只。
 
Matthew Savoca was a co-writer of the study. He told the Reuters news agency that about 99 percent of the plastic material came from other animals the whales eat -- not from the water they filter.
马修·萨沃卡是该研究的合著者。他告诉路透社，大约 99% 的塑料材料来自鲸鱼吃的其他动物，而不是它们过滤的水。
 
The study demonstrates the different reasons baleen whales may be at a heightened risk for taking in microplastics. These include the way they feed, the amount of food they eat and the fact that their environment is close to polluted areas.
该研究证明了须鲸摄入微塑料的风险增加的不同原因。这些包括他们的喂养方式、他们吃的食物量以及他们的环境靠近污染地区的事实。
 
Blue whales can grow up to 30 meters long. Fin whales can reach 24 meters, while humpbacks are generally about 15 meters.
蓝鲸可以长到30米长。长须鲸可以达到24米，而座头鲸一般在15米左右。
 
The researchers estimated the daily microplastic intake by examining the food search behavior of 126 blue whales, 65 humpbacks and 29 fins. They used measurements from electronic tag devices that they attached to the animals' backs. The device was equipped with a camera, microphone and a GPS tracker. They then considered levels of microplastics that exist in the travel path of the whales.
研究人员通过检查 126 只蓝鲸、65 只座头鲸和 29 条鳍的食物搜索行为来估计每日微塑料摄入量。他们使用贴在动物背上的电子标签设备进行测量。该设备配备了摄像头、麦克风和GPS 跟踪器。然后，他们考虑了鲸鱼行进路径中存在的微塑料水平。
 
A study published last year suggested that blue whales off the U.S. Pacific coast eat about 10 to 20 tons of krill daily. Fin whales eat an estimated 6 to 12 tons of krill a day, while humpbacks take in about 5 to 10 tons of krill or 2 to 3 tons of fish daily.
去年发表的一项研究表明，美国太平洋沿岸的蓝鲸每天吃掉大约 10 到 20 吨磷虾。长须鲸估计每天吃 6 到 12 吨磷虾，而座头鲸每天吃大约 5 到 10 吨磷虾或 2 到 3 吨鱼。
 
The new study found that the whales mainly feed at ocean depths of 50 to 250 meters. This is within the area with the highest measured microplastic levels in the open-ocean environment.
新研究发现，鲸鱼主要在 50 至 250 米的海洋深处觅食。这是在公海环境中测量到的微塑料水平最高的区域内。