俄羅斯軍隊的一艘船被海象擊沉

In a kind of odd man-versus-nature moment, a Russian navy boat was attacked and sunk by a walrus during an expedition in the Arctic.

在一次北極探險中，俄羅斯海軍的一艘船遭到了海象的襲擊並被擊沉了，這有點像人與自然對抗的奇特時刻。

The Altai, a tugboat of the Russian navy's Northern Fleet, sailed to the Franz Josef Land archipelago in the Arctic carrying researchers from the Russian Geographical Society.

俄羅斯海軍北方艦隊的一艘拖船“阿爾泰”號載着俄羅斯地理學會的研究人員駛往北極的弗朗茨約瑟夫羣島。

"The polar latitudes are fraught with many dangers," the research group posted in a recent press update.

“極地緯度地區充斥着許多危險，”該研究小組在最近更新的新聞稿中寫道。

One of those dangers is apparently walruses, a monstrously large animal that can weigh up to a few thousand pounds and can be quite ferocious when threatened.

其中的一項危險顯然來自一種可怕的大型動物海象，其體重可達幾千磅，受到威脅時非常兇猛。

To get ashore from the Altai, the researchers and other expedition participants had to rely on smaller landing craft.

爲了從阿爾泰登陸，研究員和其他考察人員不得不使用更小的登陸艇。

During one landing, the "group of researchers had to flee from a female walrus, which, while protecting its cubs, attacked an expedition boat," the Northern Fleet said.

在一次登陸中，“一隊研究員不得不遠離一隻雌海象，這隻雌海象爲了保護幼崽而襲擊了一艘探險船，”北方艦隊說道。

The navy added that "serious troubles were avoided thanks to the clear and well-coordinated actions of the Northern Fleet service members, who were able to take the boat away from the animals without harming them."

俄羅斯海軍補充道，“多虧了北方艦隊服役人員清晰且協調一致的行動，才避免了嚴重的麻煩，得以在不傷害這些動物的情況下把船開走。”

The Barents Observer reports that a drone was being operated in close proximity to the walruses. It is unclear if this is what triggered the aggression.

據《巴倫支觀察者》報道，一架無人機在海象附近執行任務。目前尚不清楚這是否是引發此次攻擊的原因。

While the Russian military makes no mention of any equipment losses, the Geographical Society had a bit more to say on what happened.

雖然俄羅斯軍方沒有提及任何設備損失，但對於發生的事情，地理學會有很多話想說。

"Walruses attacked the participating boat," the research group explained. "The boat sank, but the tragedy was avoided thanks to the clear actions of the squad leader. All the landing participants safely reached the shore."

研究小組解釋道：“海象襲擊了參與者的船，那艘船沉沒了。不過，多虧了隊長明確的行動指令，才避免了悲劇，所有登陸者都安全上岸了。”

This wasn't the Russian navy's first run-in with walruses.

這不是俄羅斯海軍第一次與海象發生衝突。

This past May, photos believed to be from 2006 surfaced online of a large walrus napping on top of a Russian submarine.

今年5月，網上傳出了據說是2006年拍攝的一張照片，照片上一隻大海象正在一艘俄羅斯潛艇上打盹。