013 珊瑚礁

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John pulled the diving mask over his face and gave the boat's captain the thumbs-up

约翰把潜水面罩拉下来罩住脸，然后向船长竖起了大拇指。

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He held on tightly to his underwater camera, leaned back, and let his own weight carry him overboard

他紧紧抓着他的水下相机，身子向后一仰，让自己掉出船外。

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He began to descend to one of the earth's greatest natural wonders: the Great Australian Barrier Reef

他开始下潜，前往地球上最伟大的自然奇观之一：澳大利亚大堡礁。

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Slowly John's eyes adjusted to the reduced level of light underwater

慢慢地，约翰的眼睛适应了水下减弱的光线。

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He was amazed by what he saw

他看到的情景令他惊讶不已。

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Large groups of brightly colored fish swam past

一大群色彩鲜艳的鱼游了过去。

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One group was a brilliant yellow; the next striped with orange and black lines

一群是耀眼的黄色，紧接着游过的一群带着橙色和黑色的条纹。

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Each group was like a wonderful moving painting of amazing colors

每一群鱼都像是一幅由惊人色彩构成的、绝妙的流动画作。

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Everywhere he looked, he saw a different kind of marvelous fish, a different expression of nature's beauty

他目光所及之处，都能看到不同种类的奇妙鱼类，都是大自然之美的不同展现。

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Then the reef came into view. It looked like an underwater city

接着，珊瑚礁映入眼帘。它看起来就像一座水下城市。

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Most of the reef seemed to be covered with green algae

大堡礁的大部分似乎被绿色的藻类覆盖着。

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All around, however, the colorful animals and plants that clung to and swam near the coral reef stood out in sharp contrast

然而，四周那些附着在珊瑚礁上和在附近游动的色彩斑斓的动植物形成了鲜明的对比。

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Blue starfish crawled slowly over the reef

蓝色的海星在珊瑚礁上缓慢地爬行。

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Strange multicolored fish called flatworms performed an underwater ballet as they swam above it

被称为扁虫的奇异多色生物在礁石上方游动，上演了水下芭蕾。

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Overwhelmed by the beauty of the reef, minutes passed before John remembered that he had his camera; then, quickly, he began to take pictures

被珊瑚礁的美景所震撼，过了好几分钟约翰才想起来自己带着相机，于是他赶紧开始拍照。

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Australia's coral reef, at two thousand kilometers long, is the largest in the world and the one most visited by divers

澳大利亚的大堡礁长达两千公里，是世界上最大的珊瑚礁，也是潜水员到访最多的地方。

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But coral reefs are not well-understood

但人们对珊瑚礁的了解并不多。

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Many believe coral is a type of plant. It's not

许多人认为珊瑚是一种植物，其实不是。

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Corals are small animals that eat the tiniest shellfish

珊瑚是以最微小的贝类为食的小动物。

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Most corals swim through the ocean, but others called hard corals make a permanent home for themselves

大多数珊瑚在海洋中游动，但被称为硬珊瑚的种类会为自己营造一个永久的家。

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Hard corals take carbon and phosphates out of the water to make limestone

硬珊瑚从水中吸收碳和磷酸盐来制造石灰石。

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As the limestone structure where they live builds up, it becomes a coral reef

随着它们栖息的石灰石结构不断堆积，就形成了珊瑚礁。

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Each individual coral is known as a coral polyp and can be as small as five millimeters across

每个单独的珊瑚被称为珊瑚虫，直径可以小到五毫米。

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It takes millions of coral polyps, living side by side, to make a coral reef

需要数百万只珊瑚虫紧挨在一起生活，才能构成一个珊瑚礁。

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Each generation of hard corals builds on the remains of its ancestors, and over time, the reefs grow

每一代硬珊瑚都建造在祖先的遗骸上，久而久之，珊瑚礁便不断生长。

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But coral reefs would not be possible without the help of coral algae, a type of plant that lives with corals

但如果没有珊瑚藻的帮助，珊瑚礁就不可能存在。珊瑚藻是一种与珊瑚共生的植物。

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Coral algae produce the phosphates and carbon that the hard corals use to make limestone

珊瑚藻会产生磷酸盐和碳，供硬珊瑚用来制造石灰石。

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The limestone gives the algae a perfect home, safe from most predators

石灰石为藻类提供了一个完美的家，保护它们免受大多数捕食者的侵害。

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In return, the algae help the corals to speed up their production of limestone

作为回报，藻类帮助珊瑚加快了石灰石的生成。

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Coral algae, just like any other plant, need sunlight to live, and so coral reefs are almost always fifty meters or less from the surface of the ocean

珊瑚藻和其他植物一样，需要阳光才能生存，因此珊瑚礁几乎总是位于距海面五十米或更浅的地方。

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The algae and the corals both contribute to building the coral reef

藻类和珊瑚共同参与建造珊瑚礁。

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When two different types of life live together and help one another, we say they have a symbiotic relationship

当两种不同的生物生活在一起并互相帮助时，我们就说它们具有共生关系。

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Working together, coral polyps and coral algae create a coral reef

珊瑚虫和珊瑚藻共同协作，建造出珊瑚礁。

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But the coral reef is more than just a collection of corals and algae; thousands of species of animals and plants make coral reefs their home

但珊瑚礁不仅仅是珊瑚和藻类的聚集地；数千种动植物把珊瑚礁当作自己的家。

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Some scientists estimate that over 25 percent of all ocean life lives in or near a coral reef

一些科学家估计，超过25%的海洋生物生活在珊瑚礁内部或附近。

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Many other animals that live near coral reefs also enjoy symbiotic relationships

许多其他生活在珊瑚礁附近的动物也拥有共生关系。

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There are anemones that will sting, paralyze, and eat any fish that comes nearby

有些海葵会蜇伤、麻痹并吃掉任何靠近的鱼。

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But these anemones make an exception for the clown fish

但这些海葵对小丑鱼是个例外。

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Clown fish help keep the tentacles of the anemones clean, while the anemones provide the clown fish with a safe place to live and breed

小丑鱼帮助保持海葵触手的清洁，而海葵则为小丑鱼提供了安全的栖息和繁殖场所。

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They also share meals. Both animals eat fish, and each enjoys the leftovers that the other creature leaves behind

它们还分享食物。两种动物都吃鱼，而且彼此都享用对方留下的残羹剩饭。

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The coral reef is also home to both hunter and prey

珊瑚礁也是捕食者和猎物的家园。

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The parrot fish can take huge bites out of the coral reef, digesting both corals and algae

鹦嘴鱼能从珊瑚礁上大口啃食，消化珊瑚和藻类。

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The fish spits out the limestone. Perhaps the oddest predator of the reef is the crown-of-thorns starfish

鱼会吐出石灰石。珊瑚礁最奇特的捕食者也许是棘冠海星。

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It is strange and dangerous. It slowly moves over the coral reef digesting everything in its path

它既奇特又危险。它在珊瑚礁上缓慢移动，吞噬沿途的一切。

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Unlike most starfish, it has more than 5 limbs ( typically between 12 and 20 )

与大多数海星不同，它有超过5条腕足（通常12到20条），

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and is usually 25 to 30 centimeters wide, but some can grow up to 80 centimeters

通常宽25到30厘米，但有些能长到80厘米。

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It is bright red and has spines that can inject a poison that would make an unfortunate diver sick for days

它呈鲜红色，身上的刺能注入毒液，令不幸的潜水员难受好几天。

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Some fish use the coral reef to hide from predators

有些鱼利用珊瑚礁躲避捕食者。

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But predators hide inside the coral reef as well

但捕食者也会躲在珊瑚礁内部。

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The moray eel will suddenly leap out from its hiding place to eat a passing fish

海鳝会突然从藏身处跃出，吃掉路过的鱼。

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The octopus, too, can hide in the reef

章鱼也能在礁石中躲藏。

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It changes color like a chameleon, so that it looks like the surrounding coral reef

它像变色龙一样改变颜色，看起来和周围的珊瑚礁一样。

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It can squeeze itself into almost any opening and wait for prey to approach

它能挤进几乎任何缝隙，等待猎物靠近。

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A crab might be crawling near the reef, only to be captured by the octopus' eight tentacles and quickly eaten

一只螃蟹可能正在礁石附近爬行，结果却被章鱼的八条触手抓住，很快被吃掉。

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After taking many photographs, John surfaced. Every photograph of a coral reef is valuable, for there may come a time when coral reefs are extinct

拍了很多照片后，约翰浮出水面。珊瑚礁的每一张照片都很珍贵，因为也许有一天珊瑚礁会灭绝。

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Coral polyps and coral algae are sensitive to temperature, and global warming is heating the ocean, making it harder for reefs to grow

珊瑚虫和珊瑚藻对温度敏感，全球变暖使海洋升温，让珊瑚礁更难生长。

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Some divers chip off pieces of the reefs to take home

一些潜水员敲下珊瑚礁的碎块带回家。

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Some people poison the water near the reefs in order to collect the beautiful fish and sell them for aquariums

有些人在珊瑚礁附近的水域下毒，以便收集美丽的鱼卖给水族馆。

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The poison only paralyzes the fish, but it kills the corals

毒药只会麻痹鱼，却会杀死珊瑚。

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Even worse, some fishermen use dynamite near coral reefs

更糟糕的是，有些渔民在珊瑚礁附近使用炸药。

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The fish are killed and float to the surface, while huge parts of the coral reef are damaged

鱼被炸死浮出水面，而大片的珊瑚礁遭到破坏。

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Many coral reefs are shrinking; they are being damaged faster than they can grow

许多珊瑚礁正在缩小；它们被破坏的速度超过了生长的速度。

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John hopes that more people learn to appreciate the beauty and importance of coral reefs

约翰希望更多人学会欣赏珊瑚礁的美丽与重要性。

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Perhaps then, he thinks, more people will work to save the reefs

他想，也许到那时，会有更多人努力拯救珊瑚礁，

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and future generations will always be able to visit the marvelous underwater world of the ocean's coral reefs

子孙后代就能永远探访海洋珊瑚礁那奇妙的水下世界。