新奇事件簿 气球成海鸟死亡最致命塑料（在线收听）

Scientists have made an alarming discovery about what kinds of pollution are most harmful to seabirds. A study led by Australia's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies discovered that balloons were the deadliest kind of plastic for seabirds.The research team said balloons were 32 times more likely to kill seabirds than hard plastics. They found that while balloons and other soft plastics accounted for only 5 per cent of plastics ingested, they were responsible for more than 40 per cent of deaths among seabirds. Lead researcher Lauren Roman said: "Hard plastic fragments may pass quickly through the gut, but soft plastics are more likely to become compacted and cause fatal obstructions."

科学家发现了哪些种类的污染物对海鸟伤害最大，这一发现令人担忧。海洋与南极洲研究学院的一项研究发现气球是对海鸟最为致命的一种塑料。研究团队表示气球对海鸟的致命几率是硬塑料的32倍。他们发现虽然气球和其他软塑料仅占食入塑料的5%，却造成了40%多的海鸟死亡。首席研究员劳伦·罗曼称：“硬塑料碎片可以迅速通过内脏，但软塑料更有可能被压缩并造成致命障碍。”

The study examined 1,733 dead seabirds and found that more than a quarter of the deaths were attributed to eating plastic. Ms Roman explained that plastic is becoming an increasing threat to seabirds. She said: "Marine debris ingestion is now a globally recognized threat....We suggest that reducing the presence of balloons and balloon fragments in the ocean would directly reduce seabird mortalities." LiveScience.com said: "With an estimated 280,000 tons of floating marine debris worldwide, about half of all seabird species are thought to ingest plastic on a daily basis. Birds are especially likely to swallow dangerous balloons because they closely resemble squid, according to the study."

该研究对1733只死海鸟进行检查并发现超过四分之一的死亡归咎于吞食塑料。罗曼解释到塑料对海鸟的威胁与日俱增。她表示：“现在海洋废弃物摄入是一种全球公认的威胁...我们建议减少气球和气球碎片在海洋中的存在，这样将直接减少海鸟死亡。”LiveScience.com表示：“全球范围内预估有280000吨漂浮的海洋垃圾，据认为，约有一半的海鸟种群每天都会吞食塑料。研究称，鸟类可能尤其喜欢吞咽危险的气球，因为气球和鱿鱼长得很像。”