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A map of the Earth, released by Nasa last year, revealed something fishy going on off the coast of Argentina. Around 300 miles offshore, a city of lights was appearing in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean. The strange lights were perplexing as there are no humans, fires or gas wells in that region. What is there however, according to Nasa, are fishing boats with lights powerful enough to be seen in space. The lights were spotted using Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite on the Suomi NPP satellite. According to Nasa, the night fishermen are hunting for Illex argentinus, a species of short-finned squid. The squid are found tens to hundreds of kilometres offshore from roughly Rio de Janeiro to Tierra del Fuego. They live 80 to 600 meters below the surface, feeding on shrimp, crabs, and fish. ‘In turn, Illex are consumed by larger finfish, whales, seals, sea birds, penguins ... and humans,’ said Nasa. Scientists first noted such night-lighting of the seas in the late 1970s and early 1980s, while compiling the first maps of the Earth at night. ‘Squid aggregate in high concentrations at the shelfbreak because it is a very productive area during austral spring and summer,’ explained Marina Marrari, a biological oceanographer with Argentina’s Servicio de Hidrografia Naval. At the shelfbreak front, microscopic plant-like organisms explode in population in various seasons. This ‘grass of the sea’ feeds zooplankton and fish, which then become food for Illex argentinus and other marine creatures. To draw the plankton and fish that the squid eat to the surface, fishermen use powerful lights, generating as much as 300 kilowatts per boat. Squid follow their prey toward the surface, where they are easier for fishermen to catch with jigging lines. For many squid, the zooplankton and fish they follow is the last meal they will eat. In the South Atlantic, Argentine and Falklands citizens have exclusive rights to fish out to 200 miles. As the map suggests, ships from other nations work as close to that border as they can to get a share of the squid fishing. |
去年，美国国家航空航天局（NASA）发布了一张地球卫星图，图片显示，在南大西洋中心，离阿根廷海岸300英里（约483公里）处有一些可疑的“城市灯光”出现，这令人十分费解，因为那片区域既没有人类居住，也不是起火，也没有天然气井。 这些神秘光点到底是什么呢？据《每日电讯报》10月25日报道，NASA称那些光其实来自渔船，由于光照很强，在太空都能看到，suomi npp卫星用可见红外成像辐射仪套件（viirs）捕捉到了它们。 这些晚上作业的渔船正在捕捞阿根廷滑柔鱼，这是一种短鳍鱿鱼，分布在巴西的里约热内卢到南美洲的火地岛一线离海岸数十到数百公里的海域。 滑柔鱼生活在海面以下80到600米，以虾类、蟹类和一些鱼类为食，而它本身则是较大的长须鲸、鲸鱼、海豹、海鸟、企鹅等海洋动物的食物，当然，也是人类的盘中餐。 阿根廷生物海洋学家玛丽娜·马拉里说：“滑柔鱼在陆架坡折区汇集，密度非常高，因为在南方的春季和夏季，这里很富饶。” 在陆架坡折向陆一侧，各个季节浮游植物都会呈爆炸式增长，这片“草的海洋”为浮游动物和鱼类提供了丰富的食饵，是滑柔鱼的捕食场。 渔民们用300千瓦的强灯光将滑柔鱼的猎物吸引至海面，当滑柔鱼追随猎物来到海面后，便成了“瓮中之鳖”，对大多数滑柔鱼来说，这将是最后的晚餐。 20世纪70年代末至80年底初，科学家在绘制第一张晚上的地球地图时，首次注意到这种“海上夜明灯”。 相关阅读 （译者 闻竹 编辑 Julie） |
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