美国国家公共电台 NPR After Maria, One Of The World's Best Bioluminescent Bays Slowly Begins To Glow Again

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

Before Hurricane Maria devastated¹ the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico, it was a big tourist destination. It was best known for its glowing bay. Mosquito Bay is home to one of the world's brightest bioluminescent bays. NPR's Merrit Kennedy took a trip there to look for signs of recovery.

MERRIT KENNEDY, BYLINE³: On a normal night, there would be dozens of tourists in this mangrove-lined cove² named after a legendary⁴ pirate ship. Tonight, it's just us.

ANGIE HERNANDEZ: Go ahead and look over on the right.

KENNEDY: We paddle out on kayaks with Angie Hernandez, a guide for the Vieques-based ecotourism company Black Beard Sports. The sky is filled with stars. Something streaks⁵ overhead.

HERNANDEZ: I saw that as well. It was really bright. It was a shooting star.

KENNEDY: But tonight we're looking down at the water for glowing creatures called dinoflagellates. These single-celled plankton⁶ light up when they're disturbed. Scientists think it's a defense⁷ mechanism⁸. The species found here glows blue-green, and it's called pyrodinium bahamense aka...

HERNANDEZ: The whirling fire of the Bahamas.

KENNEDY: When the hurricane hit, Maria doused⁹ the saltwater bay with freshwater, impacting its delicate chemistry. And the storm's winds were so strong they may have pushed water and the dinoflagellates out of the bay.

HERNANDEZ: We have there just sort of like the mechanical of whoosh¹⁰ (ph), you know, flushing.

KENNEDY: And it can take time for them to accumulate once again. Mark Martin-Bras is the director of research for the Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust, which takes weekly samples to monitor the bay. The situation provides an opportunity, he says, to learn more about how this ecosystem¹¹ deals with powerful hurricanes. And it's also a reminder¹².

MARK MARTIN-BRAS: The attraction of this island and the power of it comes from the natural things, and you want to protect them rather than exploit them.

KENNEDY: After other hurricanes, it reportedly took months before the bay started glowing again, Hernandez says. And for weeks after Maria, it was dark. But tonight, the bay is once again showing some light.

HERNANDEZ: Real quick. Look over your right-hand side and dip your paddle in.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Oh, it's a lot.

HERNANDEZ: It's a lot over here. It is a lot brighter. I'm pushing the paddle forward, and you're able to see a ball, like a formation of light.

KENNEDY: When you stick your hand in the water, it glitters and glows with tiny individual flickers¹³ of light like diamonds.

HERNANDEZ: (Singing) Dinoflagellates are a girl's best friend.

KENNEDY: Life after Maria has been extremely difficult. Hernandez went for weeks without regular running water. And she's only had a handful of tours come through. But tonight, she can see the bay is coming back.

HERNANDEZ: Seeing this now, you know, after seeing it diminish and seeing now - this gives me a lot of hope.

KENNEDY: It's at a fraction of its usual brightness, but there are definitely signs of life.

Merrit Kennedy, NPR News, Vieques, Puerto Rico.

(SOUNDBITE OF MELORMAN'S "FORGOTTEN PLACES")

1 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

2 cove   

n.小海湾，小峡谷

参考例句：

• The shore line is wooded,olive-green,a pristine cove.岸边一带林木蓊郁，嫩绿一片，好一个山外的小海湾。
• I saw two children were playing in a cove.我看到两个小孩正在一个小海湾里玩耍。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

5 streaks   

n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹

参考例句：

• streaks of grey in her hair 她头上的绺绺白发
• Bacon has streaks of fat and streaks of lean. 咸肉中有几层肥的和几层瘦的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 plankton   

n.浮游生物

参考例句：

• Plankton is at the bottom of the marine food chain.浮游生物处于海洋食物链的最底层。
• The plankton in the sea feeds many kinds of animals. 海的浮游生物成为很多种动物的食物。

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

9 doused   

v.浇水在…上( douse的过去式和过去分词 )；熄灯[火]

参考例句：

• The car was doused in petrol and set alight. 这辆汽车被浇上汽油点燃了。
• He doused the lamp,and we made our way back to the house. 他把灯熄掉，我们就回到屋子里去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 whoosh   

v.飞快地移动，呼

参考例句：

• It goes whoosh up and whoosh down.它呼一下上来了，呼一下又下去了。
• Whoosh!The straw house falls down.呼！稻草房子倒了。

11 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

12 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

13 flickers   

电影制片业； （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The fire flickers low. 炉火颤动欲灭。
• A strange idea flickers in my mind. 一种奇怪的思想又在我脑中燃烧了。