它们是一个动物… -对
They are one animal. I– -Yep.
是一个动物
It’s one animal.
好，但它们不被认为是…
Okay, but they’re not considered…
我以为一个珊瑚虫是一个动物
I thought polyp was an animal…
并不是 由很多珊瑚虫所组成的动物
not a coral was an animal with lots of polyps.
这样合理吗？ -珊瑚是由很多珊瑚虫组成的动物
That make sense? -A coral is an animal with lots of polyps.
但是珊瑚虫不是动物？
But the polyp isn’t an animal?
可以说…是动物的一部分
Well… it’s part of the animal.
了解，因为这个…没有人解释过…
Right. ‘Cause this is a– No one’s ever explained…
珊瑚到底是什么 -所以你感到惊讶…
what a coral is. -Your amazement is,
为什么你都不知道？
why did you not know that?
我怎么会不知道？ -我很讶异
Why didn’t I know that? -I’m stunned.
这是… -你是聪明人
And it’s the– -You’re a smart guy.
你是怎么回事？
What’s wrong with you?
有时候我对水底的珊瑚礁非常赞叹
I get completely overwhelmed sometimes, underwater, on a reef.
（盖兹博士 珊瑚礁生物学家）
因为我不敢相信这些结构
Because I can’t believe that these structures
是由这些简单的有机体组成的
are sort of created by these simple organisms,
“看似”简单的有机体组成的
or “seemingly” simple organisms.
我对珊瑚有最大程度的敬畏 因为我认为它们把我们都骗过去了
I have the utmost respect for corals, ’cause I think they’ve got us all fooled.
外表简单不代表内在简单
Simplicity on the outside doesn’t mean simplicity on the inside.
我想我们真的是有很高的进化程度 因为我们是高复杂的生命
We think we’re really evolved ’cause we’re highly complex beings.
我们可以做很多事 我们有左右拇指
We can do lots of things. We have opposing thumbs.
但是珊瑚… 决定“别管外表的复杂程度”
But corals… they’ve decided, “Forget the external complexity.
“我们走精致沉默的路线”
Let’s just be really sophisticated in a quiet way.”
一个珊瑚本身是由…
A coral individual is really made up
上千只叫珊瑚虫的小结构组成的
of thousands of small structures called polyps.
（珊瑚虫 骨骼）
每一只珊瑚虫都是圆形的口
Each polyp is a circular mouth…
周围是触手
surrounded by tentacles…
（胃、口、触手）
它们可以结合在一起，在一只动物上聚集几百万只
and they can combine to be millions of them across a single animal.
它们的组织里有小型植物
They have, inside their tissues, small plants,
微型藻类
these microalgae…
每平方公分有一百万个
a million per centimeter squared.
住在其体内的植物行光合作用
The plants that live inside them photosynthesize,
珊瑚虫再从中获得养分
and the animal uses that for their food.
基本上就是体内有一座食物工厂
They essentially have food factories living inside of themselves.
随着动物长大
So, as the animal grows,
你会看到动物长出骨骼外
what you see is the animal is growing over the skeleton
将骨骼存在下方
and depositing the skeleton underneath it.
（骨骼生长）
它们在白天行光合作用
They photosynthesize during the day.
傍晚…
At night…
植物休眠，动物苏醒
the plant’s really essentially asleep and the animal comes active.
扩展珊瑚虫
They expand their polyps.
将触手伸出来
The tentacles come out.
任何游过去的生物
And now anything that swims by is caught
都被这些触手尖端的刺细胞捕捉
by these stinging cells that are on the tips of the tentacles.
珊瑚有非常多种
There are many different species of corals,
不同的珊瑚品种有不同的形状
and the different species of corals are different shapes.
有些看起来很无趣 就像是海底的一颗大石头
Some are very boring to look at. They look like big rocks on the bottom.
有些则是非常美丽
Some are incredibly beautiful to look at.
具有非常巨大的分枝型态 或是大型盘状
They have huge, huge branching patterns, or massive plates.
而有些看起来就像是花瓣
Some of them look like petals of a flower.
这些都是基本的珊瑚品种
These are foundation species.
有许多有机体依赖它们而生
They have all these other organisms that depend on them.
也因为它们 我们才有珊瑚礁
They are the reason we have reefs.
像这样有机体的集♥合♥…
A consortium of organisms that cooperate together…
汇集成巨大的结构
that now manifests in this massive structure
就连从太空都看得见
that can be seen from space.
（南太平洋，美属萨摩亚）
在美属萨摩亚有一种很有名的珊瑚礁 叫机场珊瑚礁
There’s a famous reef in American Samoa called Airport Reef.
我们听说有一区的珊瑚礁已经白化了
We heard that there was an area where the corals were turning white.
因为我们之前曾到那里做过调查
Because we’d been there previously to do a survey…
我们想回去拍下同个地点的照片
we wanted to go back and take the same images again.
（美属萨摩亚，机场珊瑚礁）
我真的对眼前所见的 感到讶异
I was truly shocked by what I saw.
眼睛看得到的珊瑚都白化了
The reef was white as far as the eye could see.
老实说我不知道该怎么判断
To be honest, I didn’t have the knowledge to know how to process it.
它们是死了？
Was this dead?
还是活着？
Was it alive?
这是…机场珊瑚礁
This is… Airport Reef.
之前的照片，12月的时候
Before. So, this is in December.
这是现在的景象
And that’s it now.
（六个月后）
当理查看到白化珊瑚后
When Richard saw that white coral,
对他来说这是一个转捩点
it was a turning point for him.
我向他坦承我认为这…
I think I admitted to him that I thought this was far more deadly
（珊瑚礁学家）
比其他珊瑚面临的问题更致命
than some of the other things that are facing reefs.
我们看到 从1980年代早期开始
And so, what we’ve seen since the early 1980s
第一次发生这种情况开始
when this first occurs,
一直到现在 我们已经损失了大量珊瑚
we’ve actually lost an enormous amount of coral,
只因为这个现象
just due to this phenomenon alone.
我想那是他第一次看到问题的严重性
I think that was the first time that he saw the enormity of the issue.
这对全球的珊瑚礁都是一大威胁
That this was a threat across the planet to coral reefs,
因为这个现象会发生得很快 并且造成严重损害
which would happen very quickly and cause a lot of damage.
在80年代时 我们开始观察到这奇怪的现象
Back in the ’80s, we started looking at this weird phenomenon.
大♥片♥的珊瑚礁白化
Large sections of– of reefs were turning white,
只发生在短短几周内
literally over a couple of weeks.
而且没有人知道原因
And no one really knew why this was.
我们做了许多实验后
As we did more and more experiments,
发现这不是一种疾病
it turned out that it wasn’t a disease,
也不是光害
it wasn’t too much light.
在实验中唯一能导致珊瑚白化的…
And the only thing you could do in an experiment that would cause corals to go white
（常温）
就是升高摄氏两度
was to raise the temperature by two degrees Celsius.
（升高摄氏2度，华氏3.6度）
在我博士快毕业时…
By the end of my PhD,
我们在文献中提出警告
we were putting cautious words in the literature saying:
“也许是全球暖化造成的”
“Well, you know, maybe this is global warming,
“这是对珊瑚礁 早期的其中一个影响”
and this is one of the early impacts on reefs.”
我们似乎认为气候变迁尚未定论
We look at climate change as if it’s an issue in the air.
然后心想“摄氏一、两度？”
And you go, “One or two degrees Celsius?
“真的有差吗？”
Does that really matter?”
但是说到海洋
But when you talk about the ocean…
就像是你的体温改变
it’s like your body temperature changing.
想像你的体温上升摄氏一度…
And imagine your body temperature rises one degree centigrade
（平均体温）或是上升摄氏两度
or two degrees centigrade.
经过一段时间之后就会有生命危险
Over a period of time, that would be fatal.
那就是海洋面临的严重情况
And that’s the seriousness of the issue when you look at it in terms of the ocean.
珊瑚白化是一种压力反应
Coral bleaching itself is a stress response,
就像人体发烧是压力反应
much like a fever in humans is a stress response.
如果温度稍微高于正常范围
If the temperature spikes just a little bit above their normal range…
珊瑚就会开始白化
corals will start to bleach.
而它们体内的小型植物
The small plants that live inside their tissues,
行光合作用和提供动物养分的能力 就会受到影响
their ability to photosynthesize and feed the animal host is impaired.
然后动物就会察觉到…
The animal essentially senses that:
“我体内的植物没有发挥作用”
“I’ve got something inside of me that is not doing what I expect it to do,”
就跟我们的情况一样 当我们感染细菌
and as happens with us, with When we get a bacteria,
我们会想尽快摆脱它
we try to get rid of it as quickly as possible.
那就是这些动物的方法
That’s exactly what these animals do.
它们会想办法离开 这些无法发挥作用的植物
They try to get rid of those plants that are no longer functional…
留下透明裸♥露♥的组织
and leave behind the transparent, naked tissue.
它们失去了最重要的食物来源
They’ve lost the very most important food source that they have.
开始饿肚子
So, it’s starting to starve.
当珊瑚白化
When the coral bleaches,
珊瑚体就会变得清晰
the flesh becomes clear.
你会看到下方的骨骼露出来
And what you’re seeing is its skeleton underneath.
所以在照片上看到的白色部分
So, the bright whites that you see in the pictures…
就是散布各处的骨骼
is just the skeletons everywhere.
如果珊瑚外观非常干净洁白
If it’s a very clean white look about the coral…
它仍然是活着的
it will still be alive.
只是它不让任何东西在上面生长
It’s not allowing anything else to grow on it.