地球脉动（2006）

它们都是从一个数千年前 即被隔绝在此的祖先进化而来的
all of which evolved from just one single ancestor isolated here thousands of years ago.
这些2米宽的土丘是鱼儿们的杰作
These two-metre wide craters are fish-made.
雄鱼一丝不苟地维护着坑巢 因为这里正是求爱的场所
Fastidiously maintained by the males, these bowls are courtship arenas.
慈鲷是尽心尽职的父母
Cichlids are caring parents.
它们将鱼苗含在嘴里 这是一种保护它们的有效方法
Brooding young in the mouth is a very effective way of protecting them.
马拉维湖也是个危机四伏的地方
This lake can be a dangerous place.
到了晚上 掠食性的长颌鱼纷纷 游出它们白天潜伏的石缝
After dark, predatory dolphin fish emerge from their daytime lairs among the rocks.
它们像是一群鲨鱼 一边游一边寻找熟睡中的慈鲷
Like packs of sharks, they're on the prowl for sleeping cichlids.
这些鱼用电在黑暗中捕猎
In the darkness these electric fish hunt
它们在身体周围形成电场 并感知其变化
by detecting distortions in the electric field they create around their bodies.
一旦慈鲷切入电场 立刻就会成为捕食的对象
Any cichlid that trenches out will be snapped up.
马拉维湖底是一个深达700多米的深渊
The floor of Lake Malawi drops 700 metres into an abyss.
这个死亡地带成了 幽蚊幼虫躲避天敌的庇护所
Here, in this dead zone the larvae of lake fly midges hide out away from predators.
每到雨季 它们便充气浮上水面
In the rainy season they balloon up to the surface
然后经历一场不可思议的变化
and undergo a magical transformation.
黎明时分 第一只成蚊破蛹而出
At dawn the first adult midges start to break out.
不久 成百上千万只新羽化的幽蚊 全都扇动着翅膀飞到空中
Soon, millions upon millions of newly hatched lake flies are taking to the wing.
早期探险家看到这种湖面上“冒烟”的情景 还以为是湖底着了火
Early explorers told tales of lakes that smoked, as if on fire.
这些高达数百米的螺旋型“烟”柱
But these spiralling columns hundreds if metres high
其实是正在交♥配♥的幽蚊
are mating flies.
幽蚊完成交♥配♥之后
Once the flies have mated,
便会一起落到水面
they will all drop to the water surface,
产下卵 然后死去
release their eggs and die.
马拉维湖看起来像大海一样辽阔
Malawi may look like an inland sea,
但它远比不上世界上最大的湖泊
but it's dwarfed by the world's largest lake -
东西伯利亚的贝加尔湖
Baikal in Eastern Siberia.
贝加尔湖长400英里 深度超过1英里 其中淡水储量占到了全球江河湖泊淡水总量的1/5
400 miles long and over a mile deep, Baikal contains one fifth of all the fresh water found in our planet's lakes and rivers.
每年中总有5个月 湖面被1米厚的冰层覆盖
For five months of the year it's sealed by an ice sheet over a metre thick.
贝加尔湖是世界上最古老的湖泊
Baikal is the oldest lake in the world
尽管生存条件恶劣 生命仍在这个与世隔绝的地方得到了兴盛
and, despite the harsh conditions, life flourishes here in isolation.
湖里80%的物种 在地球上其它地方都不存在
80 percent of its species are found nowhere else on Earth,
包括世界上唯一的淡水海豹
including the world's only fresh water seal.
有了这种海豹
With this seal
再加上海底森林一般的海绵
and its marine-like forests of sponges
贝加尔湖看起来 更像是海洋 而不是湖泊
Baikal seems more like an ocean than a lake.
这种长得像虾一样的甲壳动物 是一种大型端足类动物 它有老鼠那么大
There are shrimp-like crustaceans - giant amphipods - as large as mice.
它们是湖里不可或缺的“清洁工”
They are the key scavengers in this lake.
由于湖水过于寒冷 分解尸体的细菌很难在此存活
The water here is just too cold for the bacteria that normally decompose the dead.
大部分河流并非止于湖泊
Most rivers do not end in lakes
而是一直奔向大海
but continue their journey to the sea.
地球上的超级大河 毫无疑问就是亚马逊河
The planet's indisputable super-river is the Amazon.
它的水量是世界十大江河中 其余9条大河的总和
It carries as much water as the next top-ten biggest rivers combined.
它发源于秘鲁安第斯山区 其干流穿越整个巴西
Rising in the Peruvian Andes, its main trunk flows eastwards across Brazil.
全部流域面♥积♥达到南美洲的1/3
On its way the system drains a third of South America.
最终 在经过4000英里的流程之后
Eventually, over 4,000 miles from its source,
亚马逊河汇入了大西洋
it empties into the Atlantic Ocean.
亚马逊河每年会带来10亿吨♥的泥沙
The Amazon transports a billion tonnes of sediment a year,
泥沙使得河水交汇成为一道显眼的风景
sediment clearly visible at the mixing of the waters
一条巨大的支流 ——内格罗河在此汇入干流
where one massive tributary, the Rio Negro, flows into the main river.
河水中的物种异常丰富
Its waters are wonderfully rich.
据统计 被命名的鱼类已达到3000多种
To date over 3,000 species of their fish have been described -
这比整个大西洋的鱼类种数还要多
more than in the whole of the Atlantic Ocean.
亚马逊河养育着丰富繁多的鱼类
The Amazon is so large and rich in fish
为淡水海豚提供了生存条件
that it can support fresh water dolphins.
这些亚马逊江豚体型巨大 身长达2.5米
These botos are huge - two and a half metres long.
它们利用回声定位 在昏暗的水中探路和捕食
In these murky waters they rely on sonar to navigate and hunt.
它们一起合作把鱼群赶到浅水区
They work together to drive shoals of fish into the shallows.
亚马逊江豚是高度社会型动物
Botos are highly social
在繁殖季节 会有一场激烈的求偶竞赛
and in the breeding season there is stiff competition for mates.
雄江豚会以独特的方式向雌江豚示爱
The males hold court in a unique way.
它们用长嘴捡起石块
They pick up rocks in their jaws
然后向自己的“心上人”炫耀
and flaunt them to their attending females.
这或许是雄江豚展示自己 强壮身体和敏捷身手的一种方式
Maybe each male is trying to show how strong and dexterous he is
以此来证明自己将是最好的父亲 雌江豚为了孩子就应该选它
and that he therefore is the best father a female could have for her young.
求爱成功后 它们便开始交♥配♥
Successful displays lead to mating.
即使像亚马逊河这般巨大的江河
Even for giant rivers like the Amazon
流向大海的过程也并非都是平缓连续的
the journey to the sea is not always smooth or uninterrupted.
位于巴西和阿根廷边境的伊瓜苏瀑布
Iguassu Falls on the border of Brazil and Argentina
是世界上最宽的瀑布之一
is one of the widest waterfalls in the world -
宽幅达1.5英里
one and a half miles across.
瀑布每秒的水流量达到3000万立方米
In flood 30 million litres of water spill over every second.
所有世界上最大的瀑布
All the world's great broad waterfalls:
维多利亚瀑布、尼亚加拉瀑布 还有这里的依瓜苏瀑布
Victoria, Niagara and here, Iguassu,
都是位于河流的下游地段
are only found in the lower courses of their rivers.
在旅途的最后阶段
In their final stages
河道变宽 河水缓缓流过 平坦辽阔的冲积平原
rivers broaden and flow wearily across their flat flood plains.
这里是巴西 每到雨季
Each wet season here, in Brazil,
巴拉那河都会泛滥
the Parana river overflows its banks
洪水淹没的地区相当于一个英格兰
and floods an area the size of England.
潘塔纳尔沼泽地
The Pantanal -
世界上最大的湿地
the world's largest wetland.
缓慢的流水中生长着茂盛的水生植物
In these slow-flowing waters aquatic plants flourish
譬如有着2米宽叶子的王莲
like the Victoria giant water lily with leaves two metres across.
这些水下森林正是 鱼类理想的“育婴”场所
These underwater forests are nursery grounds for fish.
大约有300多种动物在此繁殖 其中包括红腹锯脂鲤
Over 300 species breed here, including red-bellied piranha
以及其它食肉动物 例如眼镜凯门鳄
and other predators, like the spectacle caiman.
水边生长着高大的无花果树
Ripening fig trees overhanging the water's edge
为饥饿的鱼群提供美味食物
provide welcome food for shoals of hungry fish.
骚动引来了麻哈脂鲤
The commotion attracts dorado,
当地人称之为“河中之虎”
known locally as the river tiger.
它们穿梭于觅食的鱼群中
They patrol the feeding shoals,
找准机会发动进攻
looking for a chance to strike.
有些鱼则守在一旁等待
And waiting in the wings,
时刻准备攻击任何受伤的鱼
ready to pick off any injured fish,
它们就是锯脂鲤
are the piranhas.
它们的进食速率极快
The feeding frenzy quickly develops.
锯脂鲤几分钟内便能 将一条活鱼啃得只剩下骨架
Piranha can strip a fish to the bone in minutes.
大量的鱼养活着大批聚集的水鸟
Great numbers of fish sustain vast flocks of water birds.
粉红琵鹭是潘塔纳尔沼泽地中的 650多种鸟类中的一种
The rose-eared spoonbill is just one of the 650 bird species found in the Pantanal.
它们将巢建在树干上 一群多达好几千只
They nest alongside wood stocks in colonies thousands strong.
眼镜凯门鳄在下面游荡
Spectacle caiman linger below,
等着食物从天而降
waiting for a meal to fall out of the sky.
当江河最终汇入大海时
When rivers finally reach the sea
水流减缓 留下大量泥沙 堆成了三角洲
they slow down, release their sediment and build deltas.
在孟加拉国 恒河与雅鲁藏布江的交汇处
In Bangladesh the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers join
形成了世界上最大的三角洲
to form the world's biggest.
每年大约有20亿吨♥泥沙在此沉淀
Every year almost 2 thousand million tonnes of sediment
从喜马拉雅山脉上 崩塌下来的土石最终归于♥大♥海♥
eroded from the Himalayas is delivered to the ocean.
三角洲河口地带有一片 世界上最大的红树林
At the delta's mouth - the largest mangrove forest in the world,
孙德尔本斯红树林
the Sundarbans.
这些特殊的树林遍及整个热带地区的潮间带 那里正是河流的入海口
These extraordinary forests spring up throughout the tropics in these tidal zones where rivers meet the sea.
食蟹猴是红树林的特有物种
Crab-eating macaques are mangrove specials.
在印度尼西亚 这些猴子 过着一种独特的双栖式生活
In Indonesia these monkeys have adopted a unique amphibious lifestyle -
它们拣食落在水中的食物
they fish out fallen food.
在白天酷热难耐之时 猴群会利用水来给身体降温
The troop also uses the waters to cool off during the heat of the day.
水道也是顽皮的小猴子们的游乐场
But the channels are also the playground for restless young macaques.
有的小猴甚至已经学会潜泳
Some of the young have even taken to underwater swimming.
它们能在水下呆30多秒
They can stay down for more than 30 seconds
而它们这么做似乎只是因为好玩
and appear to do this just for fun.
但是 这些在玩耍中学会的游泳本领
Yet these swimming skills acquired during play
将来会成为在红树林中 非常有用的生活技能
will certainly be useful later in life in these flooded mangrove forests.
在较冷的地区 沉积在入海口的泥沙
In cooler climes, mud, laid down in estuaries,
被大♥片♥盐沼水草覆盖
is colonised by salt marsh grasses
成为地球上一处 最肥沃的野生动物栖息地
and form one of the most productive habitats on the planet.
40万只大西洋雪雁成群飞往 美国大西洋海岸的河口地带
400,000 greater snow geese flock to the estuaries along the Atlantic coast of the United States
并在此休整 准备继续长途迁徙
to rest and refuel on their long migratory journeys.
这是淡水之旅的终点
This is the end of the river's journey.
它们共同抚平高山
Collectively they've worn down mountains
把它们带向大海
and carried them to the sea.
在整个行程中
And all along the way,