自然世界：玛雅地下世界之谜（2005）

and explored over 550 kilometres of underground, underwater passageway
在100多个地下洞穴系统里
in over a hundred different cave systems.
开拓出总长550多公里的地下水管道
The promise of future exploration is high,
未来探索的前景一片光明
there is so much left that we still have yet to explore.
还有许多未知区域有待我们去探索
This may seem like nothing more than an elaborate game of join-the-dots,
这看似不过是个放大版的连点画游戏
but each time Sam and Steve go back underground,
但萨姆和斯蒂文每次潜水
they never lose sight of the potential dangers of their work.
都不会忘记其中潜在的危险
One of the truisms of cave diving
有个关于洞穴潜水的真理
is that 'complacency breeds death'.
"自满是死亡的温床"
And every single dive we approach
我们把每一次潜水
as if it's the first dive we had done.
都当做是第一次
And we have a ritual
下水前会做例行检查
that we go through of matching our gear, checking for leaks,
仔细检查设备连接 有无泄露
and making sure that everything is in optimal 100% condition for diving.
确保在100%理想的条件下潜水
Sam couldn't have a better dive buddy than Steve,
斯蒂文是萨姆的最佳潜水搭档
he is one of the region's most experienced cave divers
他是那片区域最有经验的洞穴潜水员之一
and a master technician.
也是位技术专家
He knows his equipment inside out.
他对自己的装备了如指掌
Everything's good here? Yep.
一切都没问题吗 没问题
Looks good. OK.
很好 好
OK, one of the first things you will notice
你们首先会留意到
is that we are actually taking two tanks with us, rather than one.
我们其实带了两个氧气罐 而非一个
That's because we are diving in an alien,
这是因为我们在陌生
potentially hostile environment,
险境迭起的环境中潜水
and we need redundancy in all our life-support equipment
需要备用的生命维持装置
and gas supply is obviously very very critical to us.
而氧气供应显然对我们至关重要
We also use a gas management planning rule
同时我们还要遵循氧气计划使用法则
know as a rule of thirds,
也就是三分之一法则
so we would use one third of ou gas swimming into the cave,
游入洞中使用1/3的氧气
one third swimming back out again,
回程也使用1/3的氧气
so that when we surface we have one third in reserve.
这样 回到水面还剩下1/3的氧气
And that is an emergency reserve,
这是紧急储备
should it take it us longer to exit than we anticipated
以防回程耗时多过预计时间
or if we needed to share air with a buddy.
或者我们需要共享氧气
A thin piece of white string,
把这根白色细线
carefully laid,
小心绑好
quite literally becomes their lifeline.
这就是他们的生命线
It may be the only way that they can find their way back
这也许是他们在水下迷宫中找到
out of the labyrinth.
出路的唯一方法
They mark it with arrows
他们以箭头标示
that always point back towards the entrance and safety.
入口和安全的方向
It is also a measuring tape regularly spaced knots
这也是打着规律的结的"卷尺"
tell Sam and Steve how far they have gone.
让萨姆和斯蒂夫得以知道自己潜行的距离
As we explore the cave systems,
我们探索沼穴系统时
we try to be smart as we can
会使尽浑身解数
and generally, we are trying to go in a particular direction.
通常我们都会努力朝一个特定方向潜行
And we have compasses that work under water and using those compasses,
利用水下作业的指南针
we are able to determine which route to take.
决定该走那条路
It is quite common to come up to a split in a passageway.
我们经常会遇到分岔口
We have to determine which is the best route to take.
这时就得做出抉择 走哪条路最好
In some cases, that will end up in a dead-end
我们有时会走进死胡同
and we turn around and come back out and try the other way.
这时就得退出来 尝试另一条路
Using spools of string, Yucatan's cave divers have
尤卡坦半岛的洞穴潜水员用几轴线
measured the longest underwater cave in the world
就测量了世界上最长的水下洞窟
over 133 kilometres long.
其总长超过133公里
Exploration wouldn't be exploration
如果一切都按计划进行
if everything always went to plan.
那探险就不叫探险了
This time, the divers have come to a passage
这次 潜水员来到了一处十分狭窄
too tight to squeeze through and they are forced to stop.
而无法通过的水道 被迫停止了探险
They follow their safety line back, and live to dive another day.
他们沿着保险缆返回 决定择日再潜
But explorers wouldn't be explorers
如果探险家遇到这些挫折就
if they let such setbacks discourage them.
知难而退 那就不是探险家了
There is always the thrill of the next dive.
下一次潜水总有下一次的刺♥激♥
It's pretty-much guaranteed that every time we go into a Cenote
我们每次潜入一个天然井里
it is going to be a different experience,
都绝对会有不同的体验
it's something new, it's something exciting,
新鲜又刺♥激♥
and that's what really draws me in.
这才是真正吸引我的
One of many interesting things of diving here
在这里潜水的众多乐趣之一
is to watch all the wildlife
就是看所有野生生物
that thrives in the crystal clear water.
在湛蓝的水中繁衍生息
That includes sailfin mollies, small fish
其中有种小鱼 名叫帆鳍茉莉
that stick to the bright sunlit zones
被吸引到了阳光照射下的
in the open water pools of Cenotes.
天然井的露天水塘中
For a male, it is a hectic life.
雄鱼生活忙碌
He has a three-dimensional territory to patrol
它要在领地里三维立体全方位巡逻
and is constantly chasing other males out
不停地驱赶其它雄鱼
while trying to keep his harem of females in.
同时 还要尽力不让雌鱼溜走
In both cases, success depends
在这两种情形下 能否成功都取决于
on how effectively he displays his sail fin.
它是否有效地展示了自己的背鳍
It's a big job for a little fish.
对于小鱼而言 任务艰巨
Some fish, like these tetras,
事实证明 有些鱼
have proved to be real opportunists.
比如这些脂鲤 就是一群投机者
They have learnt to follow divers' torches
它们学会了借着潜水员手电筒的光线
into the dark to feed right inside the caves.
在黑暗的洞穴里进食
Our divers take care
我们的潜水员小心翼翼地
not to bring any uninvited guests with them,
以免给它们引来不速之客
because the underworld has its own unique creatures,
因为地下世界有自己独特的生物
an entire food chain of over 30 species
整条食物链中的30多种生物
that live out their lives in the pitch dark.
终生居住在这黑暗之中
Most cave animals are white,
大部分的穴居动物都是白色的
because in a world without light,
因为在一个没有光的世界里
colour is pointless.
颜色是毫无意义的
Even eyes are useless,
甚至连眼睛都是没用的
and many creatures just don't have them.
所以很多生物干脆就不长眼睛
Down here, touch and smell are all that matter.
在这里 触觉和嗅觉就是全部
Among the strangest and most ancient of cave beasts
最古老且最怪异的穴居怪物要数
is the remipede,
桨足虫
a sort of primitive centipede that is rarely seen
它是一种原始蜈蚣 相当罕见
found only in waters exceptionally low in oxygen.
只有氧含量极低的水域才有它们的踪影
Relics of one of the earliest chapters of life on Earth,
作为地球生命的序章之一 这些活化石
they are among the caves' top predators,
是洞穴中食肉动物的一员
coming the water for shrimps and isopods.
以水里的小虾和等足虫为食
If the remipede doesn't seem to know which way is up,
桨足虫似乎不知道如何正着爬
that's because,
这是因为
in the water and in the dark,
在黑暗的水底
up and down aren't so relevant.
正反没什么关系
In the underworld,
在地下世界
even the fish are surreal ghostly white,
即使是鱼也白得吓人
with blanks where eyes should be.
眼睛也是全白
There are other signs of life down here.
这里还有其他生命迹象
This is the perfectly preserved tooth of a Gomphotherium,
这是保存完整的嵌齿象的牙齿
a relative of the elephant
它是大象的近亲
that has been extinct for 10,000 years.
已经灭绝了1♥0♥0♥0♥0♥年
Ancient animal remains,
古生物的遗骸
and these stalactites and stalagmites
和这些只能在空气中形成的
only ever formed in air,
钟乳石和石笋
are hard evidence that these caves used to be dry.
完全可以证明这些洞穴原来很干燥
And Yucatan's history goes deeper still
但尤卡坦半岛的历史更加深远
the walls of these caves are made of soft limestone,
这些洞壁都是由柔软的石灰岩组成
telling us that this was once a huge coral reef.
由此可知 这曾是一块巨大的珊瑚礁
Some caves near the surface
有些靠近水面的洞穴
have air pockets and cracks in their ceilings
顶部有气穴和干裂
that allow bats to come and go. Cave swifts, too.
让蝙蝠以及洞穴雨燕得以自♥由♥来去
It's the perfect sheltered place to roost and nest.
这里是筑巢栖息的绝佳庇护所
No wonder the Maya thought that bats were from the underworld.
难怪玛雅人认为蝙蝠来自地下
They would have seen them flying
他们应该曾目睹这些蝙蝠
straight out of the ground, as night fell.
随着夜幕降临 径直从地下飞出
By exploring underground,
通过对地下世界的考察
Yucatan's divers are peeling back the many layers of the peninsula,
潜水员将半岛的神秘外衣层层剥去
and are slowly revealing
缓缓地揭示了