Helping the puffin make a comeback 英海岛研究助濒危物种海鹦鹉数量增加

英语大破解

Helping the puffin make a comeback 英海岛研究助濒危物种海鹦鹉数量增加

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How far do puffins travel each day to look for food?

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A thriving puffin population. Skomer Island is renowned for its wide range of seabirds. But the number of puffins breeding here is attracting international interest. They've been in decline in other parts of the UK and Europe for decades. So much so that the species is now endangered. Here scientists have found it's a different picture.

这里的海鹦鹉数量正蓬勃增长。英国斯科默岛上以有多种类海鸟而闻名。但近来在这里繁殖的海鹦鹉数量引起了国际社会的关注。几十年来，英国和欧洲其它地区的海鹦鹉总数持续下降。以至于该物种现已濒临灭绝。然而科学家却在这座岛上发现了另一番景象。

Dr Matt Wood, University of Gloucestershire
The population on Skomer Island has almost quadrupled in the last 30 years or so. That's great news for puffins in Wales and we're hoping to find out more about why those population changes are taking place, so that we can understand what might happen further into the future and maybe to help puffins more widely.

马特·伍德博士英国格鲁斯特大学
“斯科莫岛上的海鹦鹉数量在过去的30年来翻了近两番。这对生活在威尔士的海鹦鹉来说是个好消息。我们希望能找出该物种数量变化的原因，从而了解在更远的未来可能会发生什么，这样做也许还能帮助到更多的海鹦鹉。”

And to do that, researchers are exploring their feeding patterns.

为了实现这些目标，研究人员们在探究它们的喂养方式。

Annette Fayet, Oxford University
It's really new. No one's ever tracked the movements of puffins before in these places where I'm gonna go.

安奈特·费亚特英国牛津大学
“这项研究很新颖。此前，从来没有人在我要去的这些地方追踪过海鹦鹉的足迹。”

This tracking device is small enough to fix onto a puffin’s back. And already the team has found these tiny seabirds travel more than 90 miles (145km) a day to bring food back to the nest.

这个追踪装置小巧到可以绑到海鹦鹉的后背上。该团队已经发现，这些小海鸟每天要移动90多英里（约145公里）路，去觅食并把食物带回鸟巢。

Annette Fayet, Oxford University
We're not only looking at where they’re going, but with complex analytical technique we can also identify their behaviour. So we can say, OK, in this place they're feeding, in this place they're resting or flying, and so the feeding places are really the key ones here that we're interested in.

安奈特·费亚特英国牛津大学
“我们不光是在记录它们的行踪，而是利用复杂的分析技术来识别它们的行为。这样我们就能推断出，它们在这里进食，在这里休息或飞行，所以海鹦鹉的进食地是我们兴趣的关键。”

The team will carry out the same work in Norway and Iceland, where there are concerns about the poor survival rates of chicks and where the number of puffins is in serious decline.

该团队将在挪威和冰岛开展同样的研究工作，这两个国家存在幼鸟存活率低下和海鹦鹉数量急剧减少的担忧。

There are no such concerns on Skomer, where the chicks are being monitored daily, and a record of their weight is kept. But the work being carried out here could have a huge impact in helping scientists understand the threat these seabirds face.

在斯科莫岛就没有这种顾虑，每天都会有人密切关注这里幼鸟的生长情况，并记录它们的体重变化。在这里开展的研究工作可能对帮助科学家们弄清这些海鸟面临的威胁有重大的影响。