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Corals also reproduce sexually, but being fixed to the seabed, they can't move to find a mate.
珊瑚自己也是有性生殖，但是身体固定在海床上，不能移动寻找伴侣。
Somehow, they must synchronise their sexual activity, and they do so using the rising water temperatures of spring and the phases of the moon.
所以它们必须将交配的时间同步化，它们用春天上升的水温及月象来达到目的。
A few days after the full moon in late spring, when tidal currents are at their weakest, the corals of the Great Barrier Reef are ready to spawn.
在晚春满月过后几天，在潮汐的力量最微弱时，大堡礁的珊瑚准备好要产卵。
Some corals are male and release clouds of sperm. Nearby, a female will be releasing eggs.
有些珊瑚是雄性，所以释出精子雾。附近有一株雌珊瑚会释出卵子。
Other species of coral are both male and female. These release packages of eggs already pre-wrapped in sperm.
有些品种的珊瑚是雌雄同体。它们释出的是一团团有精子包住的卵子。
Bundles of eggs and sperm float to the surface to mix with others from further along the reef.
一团团卵子与精子浮到水面，与来自珊瑚礁其他部位的卵子与精子相互混合。
Each kind of coral times its release to a certain hour on a certain night. That maximises the chances of cross-fertilisation.
每一种珊瑚都会将交配的时间，精准算在某一个夜晚的某一时刻。以求达到最大数量的交互授精。
The fertilised eggs drift away from the reef.
受精的卵子漂离珊瑚礁。
The stormy season brings real danger to the animals of the reef.
暴风雨季为生活在珊瑚礁的动物带来真正的危险。
Lobsters in the Caribbean sense a change in the water. The temperature drops and powerful ocean swells disturb the sand.
住在加勒比海域的龙虾察觉到水中的改变。水温降低了，强烈的海浪侵袭沙岸。
Under the cover of darkness, they emerge to run before the storm and risk crossing the exposed sand flats to seek shelter in deeper water.
在黑夜的掩护下，它们现身，冒着穿越裸露浅滩的危险，要赶在暴风雨前离开在深水域找新的庇护所。
Every year they make this journey. From all over the reef lobsters come to join the march.
它们每年都会踏上这样的旅程。从珊瑚礁的各处前来的龙虾加入了行进队伍。
They conserve their energy by travelling in one another's slipstream.
它们走在彼此留下的痕迹中，以保存体力。
And there is the added benefit of safety in numbers. By daybreak, they've reached the edge of the deep reef and down they go.
群聚的数量也是额外的安全保障。在天亮前，它们已经抵达深水珊瑚的边缘，还要继续往下走。
For the rest of the stormy season, they will remain in the shelter of deep water out of harm's way.
在接下来的暴风季，它们会留在深海安全的怀抱，远离伤害。
Sometimes during the stormy season, a hurricane builds, and then the very structure of the reef itself is under threat.
有时在暴风季中，飓风形成，此时珊瑚礁本身的结构就有危险了。
An entire reef can be destroyed by just one big storm. Hundreds of years of growth gone in a few hours.
一场大暴风雨就能摧毁整个珊瑚礁。数百年的成果数小时内毁于一旦。
Out in the ocean, new life continues to develop. In time, coral larvae will return to colonise the rubble, and a new reef will grow on the wasteland.
在海洋中，新生命不断成长。珊瑚幼虫会逐渐回到这里，再度盘据这些粗石，新的珊瑚礁就会重生在这片废土上。
