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Scientists have discovered 1 78 different animals on a single whale vertebra, most of which have been found nowhere else.
科学家在一只鲸鱼的脊椎找到178种动物，大部分只有这里才找得到。
This whale, lying over a mile down was not filmed from a submersible with an acrylic sphere.
这只躺在超过一英里深海底的鲸鱼，不是用有压克力制观察箱的潜水艇所拍到的。
Such craft can't go as deep as this. To withstand the pressure here, you need a far stronger submersible.
那种潜水艇到不了这个深度。我们需要更强固的潜水艇才能受这里的压力。
This is Alvin, a two metre wide sphere with just enough room in it for a pilot and two observers.
这是艾文，装置有一个2公尺宽的观察室，里面只能容纳一名驾驶及两位观察员。
Its walls are made of titanium, the viewing ports have to be tiny.
它的外墙则是钛金属材质，所有观察窗都做得极小。
Any larger, and the submersible would implode under the enormous pressure down here.
如果做得再大一些，潜水艇就会被庞大的压力挤碎。
Alvin can dive to 4500 metres, three miles below the surface.
艾文的下潜深度是4500公尺，也就是3英里的水深。
Around 3000 metres, the Continental slope finally flattens out and joins the abyssal plain.
水深三千公尺处，大陆斜坡到了尽头，接上了大洋盆地。
This covers over half the earth's surface.
这个盆地涵盖了地球一半以上的地表。
Mostly it's completely flat, but in places it's gashed by massive trenches hundreds of miles wide.
盆地大部分地方是一片平坦，但是有些部分却裂出宽数百英里的巨大海沟。
The deepest of these is the Mariana trench which drops to over seven miles below sea level.
其中最深的是马里亚纳海沟，深度达海平面以下7英里。
There are just five manned submersibles world-wide that can reach the abyssal plain, and between them, so far, they have explored less than one per cent of it.
全世界只有5台潜水艇可以下潜到大洋盆地，到目前为止，它们总共也只探索了不到1%的区域。
There are a thousand times fewer large animals down here than on the Continental slope.
这里的动物比在大陆斜坡少了一千倍。
But in places hundreds of brittle stars march over the sea bed in search of food.
但是有些地方有数百只阳燧足在海床上行进，寻找食物。
Fish have been found right down to the bottom of the deepest trenches. Most come from one family: the aptly named rattails.
在最深的海沟底也曾发现鱼类的行踪。大部分是同一科的鼠尾鱼。
They forage near the sea floor and use their battery of sensory pits to follow odour trails from rotting carcasses.
它们在靠近海床的区域掠食，再用感应器追寻腐肉的味道。
Rattails can travel long distances across the abyssal plain in search of food, but others down here prefer to sit and wait.
鼠尾鱼可以在大洋盆地长距离游行觅食，但是这里也有喜欢静待食物出现的动物。
This is a tripod fish. It supports itself on two specially adapted fin rays and can sit motionless for hour after hour.
这是一只三脚架鱼。构造特别的鳍刺可以支撑身体，让它静坐不动好几个小时。
It does have tiny eyes, but it's almost totally blind. It locates potential prey with a pair of fins behind its head, which are sensitive to even tiny movements.
它的眼睛极小但接近全盲。它利用头部后方的两条鳍来感觉猎物的位置，高度敏感的鳍连最细微的动作也能察觉到。
We know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the abyssal plain.
我们对月表的了解都比对大洋盆地的了解还多。
Every dive still produces complete surprises.
每一次下潜都会发现新的惊喜。
This deep sea octopus is about the size of a beach ball, and has been nicknamed 'Dumbo'.
这只深海章鱼约是一个沙滩排球的大小，它有一个绰号叫小飞象。
An umbrella of skin between its tentacles and its extraordinary flapping ears allow Dumbo to hover effortlessly over the sea floor as it searches for food.
在触手间伞状的皮肤以及奇妙的大耳朵，让小飞象可以不费吹灰之力悠游过海床，寻找食物。
Right in the middle of the abyssal plain, lie the largest geological structures on our planet, the mid ocean ridges.
就在大洋盆地的正中央，存在着地球上最大的地理构造，那就是中洋脊。
Rising almost two miles off the sea floor, the ridges extend for over twenty eight thousand miles, the largest mountain chain on earth.
从海床以上骤起2英里，中洋脊绵延超过2万8千英里，是地球上最大的山脉。
When submersibles finally succeeded in reaching the ridges in the 1970's,
当潜水艇在1970年终于顺利抵达中洋脊时，
they found an extraordinary world with mile upon mile of once molten rock that had welled up from the deep in the past and had now solidified.
他们发现的是一个奇妙的世界，许久以前从地心涌起，现已凝固的熔岩绵延数里。
They discovered towering chimneys, pouring out water as hot as molten lead.
他们还发现高耸的烟囱，喷出如岩浆般炽热的海水。
