北极熊在令人心碎的照片里玩塑料垃圾

北极熊在令人心碎的照片里玩塑料垃圾

Devastating photos of Alaskan polar bears gnawing on plastic waste is the latest harbinger of environmental demise caused by humans.

阿拉斯加北极熊啃塑料垃圾的可怕照片是人类造成环境恶化的最新预兆。

The heartbreaking photos show a family of polar bears on the bank of a waterway, and the two cubs play tug-of-war with a sludge-filled, plastic gallon container. Other images show the bears with plastic hanging from their mouths or attempting to eat the garbage.

这些令人心碎的照片显示了一个北极熊家庭在一条水道的岸边，两只小熊正在玩一场拔河比赛，用一个装满泥浆的塑料加仑容器。其他图片显示，这些熊嘴里挂着塑料或者试图吃掉垃圾。

Los Angeles-based photographer Danny Sullivan, who documented the gut-wrenching scene, says he hopes people will see his photos and think, “Wow, we really have to start changing the way we operate.”

洛杉矶的摄影师丹尼·沙利文(Danny Sullivan)记录了这一令人毛骨悚然的场景，他说他希望人们看到他的照片后会想，“哇，我们真的必须开始改变我们的经营方式。”

The 58-year-old says he was aiding his wife, Shayne McGuire, a photography tour guide, on a trip to Kaktovik, Alaska, in October. The trip, he says, opened his eyes to the far-reaching impact of plastic pollution as well as how climate change contributes to its spread.

现年58岁的他说，10月份，他在协助妻子——摄影导游肖恩•麦奎尔——阿拉斯加卡克托维克(Kaktovik)的一次旅行中拍到了这张照片。他说，这次旅行让他看到了塑料污染的深远影响，以及气候变化是如何导致塑料污染扩散的。

“In previous years, that whole area would have been 5 foot under [snow] by then,” explains Sullivan, who adds that the weather there was “a good 5 degrees warmer” than usual for that time of year. In the past, the plastic “would’ve been buried” where the bears couldn’t reach, he tells Media Drum.

沙利文解释说：“在过去的几年里，整个地区那时都要下雪5英尺了。”他补充说，那里的天气比往年同期“暖和了5度”。他对媒体鼓说，在过去，塑料“会被埋在”熊够不着的地方。

Polar bears are considered highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, according to the World Wildlife Federation, especially in terms of diet. While polar bears prey mostly on ringed and bearded seals, as well as fish, birds, whales and eggs, their options have become increasingly limited, so they sometimes resort to “animal carcasses … food waste from human settlements, and even other polar bears in a few instances.”

据世界野生动物联合会称，北极熊被认为极易受到气候变化的影响，特别是在饮食方面。虽然北极熊主要捕食环纹海豹和胡须海豹，以及鱼类、鸟类、鲸鱼和卵子，但它们的选择越来越有限，因此它们有时会求助于“动物尸体……人类住区的食物垃圾，甚至在少数情况下会求助于其他北极熊。”

But the plastic shouldn’t be there at all, Sullivan laments.

但是塑料根本不应该在那里，沙利文哀叹道。

“What was a plastic gallon jug doing out here in far-flung Alaska? It just goes to show that what we’re doing is having an effect everywhere,” he says. “Plastic floats. This could’ve come from anywhere, and now there’s every chance one of these young bears has ingested it.”

“在遥远的阿拉斯加，一个塑料加仑水壶在这里干什么?只能表明，我们所做的一切在任何地方都有影响，”他说。“塑料漂浮物。可能来自任何地方，现在这些小熊中的任何一只都有可能吞下了它。”

Sullivan says he normally would have picked up and properly discarded the rubbish, but approaching the bears would have been too dangerous: “You can’t put yourself in jeopardy.”

沙利文说，他通常会捡起并妥善丢弃垃圾，但接近熊会太危险：“你不能把自己置于危险之中。”

“It’s sad, and it’s not the only time we’ve seen litter in the most secluded, beautiful spots that are really in the middle of nowhere,” he says. “This is what we’ve done to the planet and although we have the power to change it, hemp-derived bottles and other plastic substitutions aren’t mainstream yet and the corporations aren’t doing enough.

他说:“这很可悲，这不是我们唯一一次在最偏僻、最美丽的地方看到垃圾。这就是我们对地球所做的，尽管我们有能力改变它，但由大麻制成的瓶子和其他塑料替代品还不是主流，公司做得还不够。”

“We really are on a path to destroy our planet.”

“我们真的走上了毁灭地球的道路。”