美国国家公共电台 NPR How An Interview With A Shark Researcher Wound Up Starring A Shark

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We have a very close view this morning of the sharks that have been swarming¹ around some Southern California beaches. Why would dozens of sharks turn up there in recent weeks? Chris Lowe studies them. So we placed a call - or we tried. Mr. Lowe was offshore² shore on a boat, trapping sharks. So our producer, Justin Richmond, took a microphone to him on the boat. But at the appointed time for the interview, Lowe had his hands full of shark.

JUSTIN RICHMOND, BYLINE³: Dude, it's Justin. They're literally⁴ catching⁵ a shark right now. Hang on (laughter).

INSKEEP: Sure. Is Dr. Lowe available?

RICHMOND: He's struggling with this thing.

INSKEEP: Justin Richmond gave us the play by play as Lowe and two of his students from Cal State, Long Beach tugged⁷ on a net.

RICHMOND: They have a shark in a net...

CHRIS LOWE: All right. Let's get the sling⁸.

RICHMOND: ...That they just caught. It's struggling.

INSKEEP: A great white shark - although not a big one. It was a baby, about 6 feet long.

RICHMOND: Oh, he's got the tail. Dr. Lowe has the tail. The shark is - wow. Yeah, he does not want to come in (laughter). We're in about a 12-foot-long whaler right now.

INSKEEP: Justin, you better back up just a moment and describe the small boat you're in. Did you say a 12-foot boat?

RICHMOND: I'm in a 12-foot boat. And they're trying to pull in a 6-foot shark (laughter).

INSKEEP: You're going to need a bigger boat.

The idea was to tug⁶ the shark alongside that little boat and then hoist⁹ it up on the deck of a bigger boat. Yes, there was a bigger boat. And there, the researchers quickly performed surgery, implanting tracking devices on and in the baby shark so she could be studied later.

RICHMOND: I've got to say, too, I'm about 30 feet from my neighborhood. And so this is really disconcerting (laughter).

INSKEEP: Everything you've been describing has been happening, like, right on the beach.

RICHMOND: Right on the beach. I mean, as I look to my left, there's multimillion-dollar homes.

INSKEEP: I'm thinking you probably don't have one of the multimillion-dollar homes.

RICHMOND: No, no, no. I have a one-bedroom apartment. But, you know, I'm two blocks in. I'm surrounded by multimillion-dollar homes, Steve, and that's the way I like it.

INSKEEP: In that neighborhood, Justin said, everybody's been talking about the sharks right there in shallow water. Once researcher Chris Lowe had finished his work and gently lowered the baby shark back in the water, he was able to describe what he thinks is going on.

So how unusual is it to have so many sharks off of so many Los Angeles area beaches?

LOWE: Well, in a way, it's not that unusual. We know that these beaches have historically been hotspots for nurseries for white sharks. What is different is the number caused by global climate change. It's changing our ocean temperatures. It's changing our ocean currents. And as a result, it's making conditions more favorable for some of these babies.

INSKEEP: What is something you would like people on the beach watching you today to know about these sharks that you're tagging or other sharks they may encounter on a beach?

LOWE: Well, I think the most important part is that it's really cool to see these top predators¹⁰ come back. And we need those sharks. They're really important in keeping our oceans healthy. So while the public, you know, always has some, you know, concerns about the fact that there are white sharks off their beaches, what they have to remember is that these are babies. And they're coming to these beaches for the same reason they do. They want a safe place to hang out and enjoy life.

INSKEEP: Well, Chris Lowe, we'll let you get back to it then.

LOWE: All right. Thank you.

INSKEEP: And Chris Lowe says baby sharks are usually at least as afraid of people, as we may be of them. So while swimmers are being told to use caution, researchers who know what they're doing spent the day among them, in and out of the water, tagging sharks to study them as signs of a changing world.

(SOUNDBITE OF PEDRO SANTOS SONG, "AGUA VIVA")

1 swarming   

密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。
• The beach is swarming with bathers. 海滩满是海水浴的人。

2 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

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 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

5 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

6 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

7 tugged   

v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. 她拽了拽他的袖子引起他的注意。
• A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 他的嘴角带一丝苦笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 sling   

vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓

参考例句：

• The boy discharged a stone from a sling.这个男孩用弹弓射石头。
• By using a hoist the movers were able to sling the piano to the third floor.搬运工人用吊车才把钢琴吊到3楼。

9 hoist   

n.升高，起重机，推动；v.升起，升高，举起

参考例句：

• By using a hoist the movers were able to sling the piano to the third floor.搬运工人用吊车才把钢琴吊到3楼。
• Hoist the Chinese flag on the flagpole,please!请在旗杆上升起中国国旗！

10 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》