地球海洋中十大最強生物(3)

Shark

3.公牛鯊

A bull shark is related to the tiger and lemon shark, and all are smaller members of the shark family. They can grow to be up to 11.5 feet long and weigh between 200 and 500 pounds. They prefer shallow water, which is bad news for humans in coastal areas because bull sharks are also very aggressive. Bull sharks have even been found half way up the Amazon River because they don’t mind freshwater like other species. It is this that makes the bull shark the most dangerous shark in the world. A bull shark will eat anything it can catch, including other sharks. They frequent waters that are also frequented by humans, and while they do not attack humans to eat them, they have been known to attack people, possibly inadvertently.

公牛鯊與虎鯊、檸檬鯊是近親，它們都是鯊魚家族中較小的成員。它們可以長到11.5英尺長，體重在200到500噸之間。它們生性兇猛，且更喜歡在淺水域活動，這對於居住在沿海地區的人們來說是個不幸的消息。公牛鯊甚至出沒於亞馬遜河流，因爲它們可以像其它物種一樣，在淡水中生活。正是這一點習性，使公牛鯊成爲世界上最危險的鯊魚。公牛鯊捕食一切其可抓獲的生物，包括其它的鯊魚。它們經常出現在人類光顧的水域中，並不會爲了捕食而攻擊人類，雖然此類攻擊事件也偶有發生。

Even though they are smaller than other sharks, a bull shark can bite harder than other larger sharks, including its dangerous cousins the great white shark and the tiger shark. Bull sharks can bite with a force equivalent to 6,000 N. It is not understood why the bull shark has such a strong bite, as 6,000 N of force is much more than necessary to easily hunt and eat. A force of that strength is not needed for the type of prey a bull shark eats. It is thought, perhaps, to give the smaller shark a greater advantage earlier in life, as it allows it to eat more kinds of prey. It is also possible that it is an adaptation because visibility is often low in the water that bull sharks are found hunting in. No matter what the explanation is, one thing is certain and that is that you cannot tell a shark’s bite by its size.

雖然公牛鯊的體型不及其它鯊魚，但它們比其它大鯊魚更爲兇猛，包括它們危險的表兄弟——大白鯊和虎鯊。公牛鯊的咬合力可達6000牛頓，足以應付捕獵和進食，難以想象它們是如何練就了這副“好牙口”。以公牛鯊捕食的獵物類型來看，它們並不需要如此強大的咬合力。據猜測，也許先前賜予這類小鯊魚更大的優勢，是爲了讓它們捕食更多種類的獵物。另一種可能性是，公牛鯊的視力很差，所以爲了適應捕食環境，它們變得極具攻擊性。無論是什麼原因，有一點值得肯定的是，鯊魚也不可貌相呀。

Whale

2.藍鯨

The blue whale is the largest mammal to have ever lived on Earth, and it is still swims our oceans today despite being endangered. A blue whale’s tongue weighs as much as an elephant, and their hearts can weigh as much as a Volkswagen Beetle. It’s full body weight can be up to 200 tons, which is the approximate weight of 33 elephants. Blue whales often swim peacefully through the ocean at around five miles per hour. However, if a blue whale becomes agitated or threatened, it can swim up to 20 miles per hour. To put that into perspective, when Usain Bolt runs 100 m he runs it at an average of 23.35 miles per hour, and he definitely does not weigh 200 tons. Because of their swimming speed, blue whales are very strong. Blue whales also migrate from the polar waters in the summer down to the Equator in the winter. By pure brute strength alone, the blue whale is the strongest animal in the world. The blue whale is not only large, it is loud and it is able to make a sound of almost 190 decibels. 190 decibels is so loud that it is on the high side of noise level a gun might make and if humans were able to hear it it would cause immediate damage to our hearing. This level of sound also means that one whale can hear the sounds of another even as far as 1,600 kilometers away.

藍鯨是地球上體積最大的哺乳動物，雖說瀕臨滅絕，我們仍可以在大海之中看到它們暢遊的身影。藍鯨的一條舌頭就相當於一頭大象的重量，其心臟的重量堪比一輛金龜車（Volkswagen Beetle）。整體重量高達200噸，近乎33頭大象的重量！藍鯨通常以每小時5英里的速度在大海里悠哉地遊着。但如果它感覺受到了威脅， 前進時速則可達到20英里。形象地說，尤塞恩·博爾特(Usain Bolt，譯註：奧運會冠軍，男子100米、200米世界紀錄保持者)百米衝刺的速度爲每小時23.35英里，但他可沒有200噸的體重。鑑於它們的游泳速度，藍鯨也是不容小覷的海洋生物。藍鯨有季節性洄游的習性，夏季遊向兩極，冬季又游回赤道。單論蠻力，藍鯨是世界上最強壯的動物。它們不僅體型龐大，聲音也十分洪亮， 可以發出190分貝的叫聲。這一高分貝的聲音相當於噴射器飛行時發出的噪音，這一等級的聲音刺激會對人耳聽力造成直接損傷。這種分貝等級的聲音也意味着，兩頭鯨即便遠隔1600千米也能聽到對方的聲音。

Despite their size and power, blue whales are occasionally attacked by sharks and killer whales.

儘管藍鯨體型龐大，力大無窮，但它們仍會偶爾遭到鯊魚或捕鯨手的襲擊。

water Crocodile

1.灣鱷

The saltwater crocodile is the largest living crocodile in the world reaching 17 feet and up to 1,000 pounds, but it is not unheard of to find a 23-foot crocodile weighing 2,000 pounds. Saltwater crocodiles are found mostly in the South Pacific in India, Asia and northern Australia. While they are happy to live in the sea, they are also spotted in fresh water. They are excellently camouflaged and will wait low in the water for prey to appear. They can reach speeds of 18 kilometers per hour over short distances in the water, but they are slow moving on land. Saltwater crocodiles will also swim across vast expanses of ocean to reach new territory. Saltwater crocodiles live very long lives, some live to be 100 years old.

灣鱷是世界上現存的最大型的鱷魚，身長可達17英尺，體重可達1000磅，但人們曾發現過長23英尺、重2000磅的巨型鱷。灣鱷常出沒於南太平洋沿岸的印度、東南亞地區及澳大利亞北部。儘管它們大都生活在淺海地區，但你也能在淡水域發現它們。灣鱷精於僞裝，它們會潛伏在水底，等待獵物出現。它們在水中短途行進的時速可達18公里，但在陸地上卻行動遲緩。灣鱷還會遊過浩瀚無垠的大海去開闢新領地。同時，灣鱷也相當長壽，有些可以活到100歲。

A saltwater crocodile will eat anything that comes too close, including humans. While humans aren’t usually on the menu, a human who gets too close to a crocodile risks becoming a main dish for a hungry croc. It may be easy to mistake a crocodile for a partially submerged log thanks to its natural camouflage and patient nature, but many attacks can be avoided if humans respect their natural habitats.A saltwater crocodile has the largest bite force that has ever been measured, and some scientists suggest that this may rival the extinct dinosaur the Tyrannosaurus rex. A crocodile has an extremely powerful bite, and it exerts pressure of 3,700 pounds per square inch. Scientists think that crocodiles have always had a powerful bite, and this is why they have survived so long. They are currently one of the most ancient reptiles still in existence. The extinct crocodile Deinosuchus has an estimated bite force of 23,100 pounds per square inch. When you think about that, maybe the ‘salties’ of northern Australia aren’t so bad after all.

灣鱷會捕食一切靠近它的東西，包括人類。雖然一般來說人類不在灣鱷的菜單之列，但一旦觸及“雷區”，也很容易成爲飢腸轆轆的灣鱷的腹中餐。由於它們天生的僞裝術和耐心，我們很容易把它誤以爲是浮在水面的一截木頭。但只要人們尊重它們的習性，很多襲擊事件都是可以避免的。現有的測量數據顯示，灣鱷具有最強的咬合力，一些科學家推測它們的咬合力都能同已滅絕了的雷克斯霸王龍（Tyrannosaurus rex）相媲美。其強悍的咬合力可達 3700磅/平方英尺。科學家們認爲，它們能存活如此之久得益於這副“好牙口”。毋庸置疑，灣鱷是現存最古老的爬行動物之一。而早已滅絕的恐鱷，據估計有每平方英尺23100磅的咬合力。對比之下，你就會發現，澳大利亞北部的“小鹹鹹”（指灣鱷，澳大利亞稱爲“salties”）並沒有那麼兇殘。

The animals of our oceans are varied and some poorly understood. They reach weights of thousands of tons, and some are the size of school busses. Even though some of the most powerful animals on Earth live in the dark depths of the sea, they may still be endangered. The greatest threat to the most powerful animals and fish on Earth isn’t their predators, but humans. Humans have been hunting whales and other sea animals for thousands of years. But recent poaching and overfishing has led to a serious decline in the populations of whales, sharks and other important sea animals. Despite being illegal, fisherman still kill 2,000 whales per year. Hollywood films portray some of these animals as blood thirsty creatures, but in reality, many of these animals would rather that humans respected their environment so that they would never meet us at all.

海洋中的動物種類繁多，有一些都鮮爲人知。它們可重達上千噸，有的體型堪比一輛校車。這些地球上最強大的動物儘管棲息在海洋深處，卻仍逃脫不了瀕臨滅絕的命運。對於地球上最厲害的動物和魚類來說，最大的威脅不是捕食者，而是人類。千百年來，人類一直在捕殺鯨和其它海洋生物。但是最近人類偷獵和過度捕撈越發猖狂，導致鯊魚和其它重要的海洋生物數量銳減。即使有法律明令禁止，漁民每年仍會獵殺2000頭鯨魚。好萊塢電影把一些動物描繪成了嗜血“殺手”，但是現實中，這些動物只希望人類可以尊重它們的棲息環境，互不侵犯，各自安好。

校對：莊粉玲 編輯：橘子