VOA科学技术2023 科学家试图找出海星死亡的原因（在线收听）

Scientists Learn about Sea Star Die-off

科学家试图找出海星死亡的原因

A sea creature known as the sunflower sea star was once plentiful in the Pacific Ocean along the coast of North America. They used to be found in the waters along the coast of Mexico's Baja peninsula all the way to Alaska.

一种被称为向日葵海星的海洋生物曾经在北美沿岸的太平洋上大量存在。它们曾经在墨西哥巴哈半岛沿岸一直到阿拉斯加的水域中被发现。

But in the last 10 years, about 90 percent of them have died.

但在过去10年中，大约90%的人已经死亡。

Scientists at the University of Washington are trying to understand why the sea stars died. To do so, they are growing them in a lab.

华盛顿大学的科学家正在试图了解海星死亡的原因。为此，他们在实验室里培育它们。

The sickness that killed them is known as sea star wasting syndrome.

导致他们死亡的疾病被称为海星消瘦综合症。

Jason Hodin is the top researcher at the Friday Harbor Marine Lab. He said the sickness might have happened because of warmer water caused by climate change.

杰森·霍丁（Jason Hodin）是周五港海洋实验室（Friday Harbor Marine Labs）的首席研究员。他表示，这种疾病可能是由于气候变化导致的水温升高所致。

The lab is on San Juan Island, northwest of Seattle. They have nearly 150 sea stars between the ages of one and three. They also have around 5,000 sea stars that are at the larvae stage. They also have 16 adult sea stars transferred from ocean waters.

实验室位于西雅图西北部的圣胡安岛。它们有将近150颗年龄在一岁到三岁之间的海星。它们还有大约5000颗处于幼虫阶段的海星。它们还有16颗从海洋中转移过来的成年海星。

Hodin called his lab the world's only "captive breeding program for the world's only endangered sea star." Endangered means at risk of dying out.

霍丁称他的实验室是世界上唯一的“世界上唯一濒危海星的圈养繁殖计划”。濒危意味着濒临灭绝。

The university's neuroscience department is also working on the study. They are trying to find out if warmer water changes the way the stars move.

该大学神经科学系也在进行这项研究。他们正试图找出更温暖的水是否会改变恒星的运动方式。

The group is using special cameras to see how the stars move and to create 3-dimensional pictures that can show differences. The pictures would show differences even with small changes to their environments – such as a small water temperature change.

该小组正在使用特殊的相机来观察恒星如何移动，并创建能够显示差异的三维图片。即使环境发生微小变化，如水温变化，图片也会显示出差异。

So far, researchers think the sea stars are able to survive in warmer water. That, Hodin said, is a good thing.

到目前为止，研究人员认为海星能够在温暖的水中生存。霍丁说，这是一件好事。

"If sunflower stars are going to recover in the wild with or without human assistance," Hodin said, "they're going to be doing so in a change in climate."

霍丁说：“如果向日葵明星在野外恢复，无论有没有人类的帮助，他们都会在气候变化的情况下恢复。”

Words in This Story

plentiful –adj. very many, a lot

peninsula –n. a piece of land surrounded by water on three sides

wasting –adj. to live badly or be unable to grow

syndrome –n. a disease or disorder

larvae –n. eggs of a type of animal

captive –adj. under the control of someone or something else

breed –v. to match one animal with another in hopes of creating babies