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  3. Until recently, scientists knew little about life in the deep sea, nor had t

Until recently, scientists knew little about life in the deep sea, nor had t

游客2023-12-28  21
问题     Until recently, scientists knew little about life in the deep sea, nor had they reason to believe that it was being threatened. Now, with the benefit of technology that allows for deeper exploration, researchers have uncovered a remarkable array of species inhabiting the ocean floor at depths of more than 660 feet, or about 200 meters. At the same time, however, technology has also enabled fishermen to reach far deeper than ever before, into areas where bottom trawls can destroy in minutes what has taken nature hundreds and in some cases thousands of years to build.
Many of the world’s coral species, for example, are found at depths of more than 200 meters. It is also estimated that roughly half of the world’s highest seamounts — areas that rise from the ocean floor and are particularly rich in marine life — are also found in the deep ocean.
    These deep sea ecosystems provide shelter, spawning and breeding areas for fish and other creatures, as well as protection from strong currents and predators. Moreover, they are believed to harbor some of the most extensive reservoirs of life on earth, with estimates ranging from 500,000 to 100 million species inhabiting these largely unexplored and highly fragile ecosystems.
    Yet just as we are beginning to recognize the tremendous diversity of life in these areas, along with the potential benefits newly found species may hold for human society in the form of potential food products and new medicines, they are at risk of being lost forever. With enhanced ability both to identify where these species-rich areas are located and to trawl in deeper water than before, commercial fishing vessels are now beginning to reach down with nets the size of football fields, catching everything in their path while simultaneously crushing fragile corals and breaking up the delicate structure of reefs and seamounts that provide critical habitat to the countless species of fish and other marine life that inhabit the deep ocean floor.
    Because deep sea bottom trawling is a recent phenomenon, the damage that has been done is still limited. If steps are taken quickly to prevent this kind of destructive activity from occurring on the high seas, the benefits both to the marine environment and to future generations are incalculable. And they far outweigh the short-term costs to the fishing industry.
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答案     前不久，科学家们对深海生物还知之甚少，也不太相信它们正受到威胁。现在，随着深海探测技术的发展，研究人员发现660多英尺，即200米深的海底生存着大量多种多样的物种。但与此同时，渔业人员也可以依靠技术到达比以前更深的地方，进行海底拖网捕捞，而此种深海捕捞则可在几分钟内就把大自然几百年乃至几千年产生的一切毁灭。
    例如，世界上的许多种珊瑚在二百多米深的海底才能找到。此外，据估计世界上一些最高的海底山约有一半位于深海海底。这些海底隆起的地方，海洋生物特别丰富。
    这些深海生态系统为鱼类和其它生物提供生存、产卵、繁殖的场所，也保护它们免遭强大海流和猎食者的侵袭。此外，据信这些深海生态系统蕴藏着世界上最丰富的生命宝库，估计有五十万至一亿种生物生活在这些大体上未经勘探且极脆弱的生态系统中。
    当我们现在刚刚开始认识这些地区极其丰富的生物多样性，并发现这些新物种可能为人类社会带来好处时一如新食品和新药品，这些地区却面临着永远消失的危险。由于确定物种丰富地区的能力增强，由于拖网捕捞能到达比过去更深的区域，商业渔船可把足球场大小的拖网撒入海中，碰上什么捕捞什么，同时损坏了脆弱的珊瑚，破坏礁石和海底山的脆弱的结构，而正是这些东西为生活在深海海底的无数鱼类和其它海洋生物提供了赖以生存的场所。
    因为深海海底拖网捕捞是最近才出现的一种现象，它所造成的损害还是有限的。如能赶紧采取措施防止这些在公海上的破坏活动，它为海洋环境和子孙后代带来的好处将是无法估量的。这些好处将远远超过渔业短期内需承担的花费。
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