评论
打印
Coming up next on Jonathan Birds blue world, a look at the deadliest snakes in the world sea snakes
接下来是乔纳森·伯德的蓝色世界，来看看世界上最致命的海蛇
Hi, I'm Jonathan Bird and welcome to my world!
大家好，我是乔纳森·伯德，欢迎来到我的世界!
The sea snake is an animal surrounded in mystery—known for its incredibly powerful venom, but not much else.
海蛇是一种神秘的动物——以其剧毒而闻名，其它没有什么了。
Just how dangerous are these marine reptiles?
这些海洋爬行动物到底有多危险？
I have traveled to Queensland, Australia on a quest to learn about sea snakes.
我去了澳大利亚的昆士兰，去了解海蛇。
Here on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, sea snakes are fairly common. Lets go see if we can find one.
这里是澳大利亚大堡礁，在这里，海蛇相当常见。我们去看看能不能找到一只。
I hit the water, grab my camera and head towards the sea floor.
我跳进水里，拿起相机，朝海底游去。
Today I'm diving on a little seamount called a coral Bommie.
今天，我在一个叫波米珊瑚的小海底山潜水。
It's a mini-mountain of coral sticking up from the bottom, but not quite reaching the surface.
这是一座向上突起的微山瑚，但还没有完全露出水面。
Near the top of the Bommie, thousands of small fish feed on plankton passing by in the current, but they stay close to the reef,
在波米珊瑚的顶部附近，成千上万的小鱼以水流中经过的浮游生物为食，但它们都呆在珊瑚礁附近，
because they are being watched by a big school of jacks who are on the prowl for food themselves.
因为它们正被一大群四处觅食的杰克监视着。
The bommie is covered in healthy coral that provides lots of nooks and crannies for the fish to hide if they need cover.
波米覆盖着健康的珊瑚，为鱼类提供许多藏身之处。
On the other side of the bommie, a large school of snappers are also looking for something to eat, and keeping a safe distance from the jacks.
在波米的另一边，一大群鲷鱼也在寻找食物，与杰克保持着安全距离。
As I swim along at the base of the bommie, I'm keeping my eyes open for a snake-like animal.
当我在波米的底部游泳时，我一直在寻找一种蛇一样的动物。
The coral looks healthy and a Spinecheek anemonefish gives me a quick glance from the safety of her host anemone.
珊瑚看起来很健康，一条刺状海葵鱼从它的宿主海葵的安全处瞥了我一眼。
But I keep scanning the bottom and at last I have found my quarry: an olive sea snake, the most common species around the Great Barrier Reef.
但我一直在海底搜寻，终于找到了我的猎物：大堡礁最常见的物种——橄榄海蛇。
It's swimming along the bottom doing the same thing everything else is doing—looking for food.
它在海底游泳，和其他所有生物一样在寻找食物。
The sea snake is closely related to a land snake, except it has adapted for life underwater.
海蛇和陆地蛇有着亲密关系，不同的是，海蛇已经适应了水下的生活。
When a sea snake flicks its tongue, it's getting rid of excess salt secreted by special glands in its mouth.
海蛇轻弹舌头是在清除口腔中特殊腺体分泌的多余盐分。
Sea snakes live exclusively in the ocean, but since they're reptiles, their kidneys can't deal with too much excess salt in their blood.
海蛇只生活在海洋中，但由于是爬行动物，所以它们的肾脏无法处理血液中过多的盐分。
A sea snake gets around with a flattened section of tail that looks like an oar and serves as a fin.
海蛇有一段扁平的尾巴，看起来像桨，充当鱼鳍的功能。
It looks just like an eel when it swims, undulating its body and getting propulsion from that flattened tail.
海蛇游泳的时候就像一条鳗鱼，身体波动起伏，扁平的尾部提供动力。
Although sea snakes prefer to eat fish, eels and shrimp, these snappers aren't at all afraid of the sea snake,
虽然海蛇喜欢吃鱼、鳗鱼和虾，但这些鲷鱼一点也不怕海蛇。
because they are way too big for the sea snake to bite.
因为它们体型太大了，海蛇咬不动。
This snake is heading for the surface to grab a breath of air.
这条蛇正游向水面呼吸空气。
A sea snake, just like a land snake, has lungs and must breathe air to survive.
海蛇和陆地蛇一样，有肺，必须呼吸空气才能生存。
It can hold its breath up to 3 hours during a dive.
海蛇在潜水时可以屏住呼吸达3个小时。
Recent research has shown that some sea snakes also can absorb a little bit of oxygen directly from the water through their skin, which is probably why a breath can last so long.
最新研究表明，一些海蛇也可以通过皮肤直接从水中吸收少量的氧气，这可能就是为什么呼吸可以持续这么久的原因。
After spending a minute at the surface breathing, the sea snake comes back down to the bottom.
在水面呼吸了一分钟后，海蛇又回到了海底。
It's poking around, looking for holes where it might corner a fish or shrimp. It sticks its head into the holes, hoping to get lucky.
它四处徘徊，寻找可能会使鱼或虾陷入困境的洞。它把头伸进洞里，希望能获得好运。
The sea snake is most closely related to the Cobra on land, and its venom is quite similar to cobra venom, but considerably more potent.
海蛇与陆地上的眼镜蛇关系最为密切，海蛇的毒液与眼镜蛇毒液十分相似，但海蛇的毒性要大得多。
If it manages to grab a fish, the venom will kill it in seconds.
如果它抓到一条鱼，毒液会在几秒钟内将鱼杀死。
Sea snakes quite often take a rest on the bottom, sleeping as they hold their breath.
海蛇经常在海底休息，屏住呼吸睡觉。
I use the opportunity to sneak up on one. In spite of their fearsome venom, sea snakes are very timid and not particularly aggressive.
我借机偷偷接近一只。尽管海蛇有可怕的毒液，但它们非常胆小，并不是特别好斗。
Although this one is obviously not thrilled about being picked up, it doesn't try to bite me.
虽然这只显然对被捡起来并不兴奋，但它并没有试图咬我。
And when I let go, it just swims away.
当我放手的时候，它就游走了。
I find another one and can't resist the opportunity to show the flattened tail section to the camera.
我又找到一只，忍不住想在镜头前展示一下它扁平的尾部。
Swim, be free!
自由地遨游！
Although the sea snake is one of the most venomous animals in the world, you're not very likely to be bitten by one.
虽然海蛇是世界上毒性最强的动物之一，但你被咬伤的可能性很小。
There are 62 known species of sea snakes and they live all around the tropical Indo-Pacific.
已知的海蛇有62种，它们生活在印度太平洋的热带地区。
I found this banded sea snake in the Philippines. They like nice warm tropical water because they are cold-blooded, like all reptiles.
我在菲律宾发现了这种带条纹的海蛇。它们喜欢温暖的热带水域，它们和所有爬行动物一样是冷血动物。
If the water gets too cold, they get lethargic.
如果水太冷，它们就会昏昏欲睡。
So, no matter what you might think of snakes, sea snakes are timid and shy animals that represent almost no threat at all to people,
所以，不管你怎么看，海蛇是一种胆小害羞的动物，对人类几乎没有任何威胁，
even though they produce some of the most powerful venom in the world.
尽管海蛇含有剧毒。
