人造“虎鯨”被派來驅趕Astoria的海獅
Fake Orca Summoned To Scare Astoria's Sea Lions
人造“虎鯨”被派來驅趕Astoria的海獅
The Port of Astoria in Oregon is battling an unusual challenge - how to rid the area of the over 2,300 sealions that have taken up residence on the piers, without harming them.
俄勒岡州的Astoria港口正在經歷一場非同尋常的挑戰—在不傷害它們的情況下，怎樣把2300多頭佔用船塢爲家的海獅趕走。
The ever increasing population of the animals has caused 100,000 USD in damages to utilities and docks, just this year. However, the biggest issue with the sea lions is the rate at which they are consuming salmon. In addition to hurting local fisheries it could decimate the area's fish population if not stopped in time.
成羣結隊的海獅僅在今年對港口的設施和碼頭的損壞，造成了百萬美元的損失。然而，它們最大的威脅還是吃掉了大量村民賴以爲生的鮭魚，除了對當地漁業產生重創，如果不及時阻止的話，還可能讓所有的魚類都消失殆盡。
To persuade the unwelcome guests to leave, port officials have removed a few docks and strung brightly colored surveying tape to stop them from leaping onto the two that still have boats tied to them. Unfortunately, the mats that have been effective in scaring sea lions perched on ocean oil rigs did not work as well here.
爲了趕走這些“不速之客”，港口官員已移走了幾個碼頭，在仍有船隻停靠的兩個碼頭上裝上亮色條帶來阻止海獅跳過來。不幸的是，對棲息於海上油井的海獅有效的方法，在這卻不管用。
Astoria port officials are preparing to try a new low-tech technique - introducing a fake fiberglass "Willy" to scare the sea lions away. In a few weeks, a 16-ft-long remote-controlled orca will be spotted traversing the area of the Columbia River the sea lions have taken over.
Astoria港口的官員正打算換一個低技術含量的方法——搞一個仿真玻璃纖維製造的“鯨魚”來趕走它們。幾周之內，你就將看到一條長約16英尺，遠程控制的“虎鯨”穿梭在被海獅們侵佔的哥倫比亞河了。
This is not the first time a fake whale has been summoned for this job. In 1996, a similar one was anchored in the waters of Puget Sound to scare the sea lions that were devouring the already dwindling supply of steelhead at Seattle's Ballard Locks fish ladder. However, the wily animals were smart enough to realize that the fiberglass structure was an impersonator and refused to budge. Will a slightly more sophisticated version - one that moves and sings like the real whale be more effective? Astoria's officials and the fishermen and boat owners that reside in the region, sure hope so!
這不是第一例動用假鯨魚的事件了。1996年，普吉灣水域也用過同樣方法來驅趕那些在西雅圖百樂水閘魚梯，貪婪吞吃所剩無幾的硬頭鱒的海獅。然而，這些狡猾的小東西很快明白這是人造的，一步也不挪走。不知道下個會模擬真鯨魚遊動和叫聲，高級一點的人造虎鯨是否會有效呢？Astoria地區的的官員、漁民和船主希望答案是肯定的！
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