南太平洋（2009）

受到周围海洋强浪的保护
Protected from the powerful waves of the surrounding ocean,
各种动物都在这片宁静的浅海里得到庇护
all kinds of animals take refuge in these calm, shallow waters.
有些从它们醒目的外表上得到宽心
Some take comfort in their bold appearance.
另一些在珊瑚里得到庇护
But others take shelter in the coral.
例如这些不爱动的 有个适当的名字 圣诞树管虫
Such as these sedentary and appropriately named Christmas tree worms,
从平缓的洋流中过滤食物
filtering food from the gentle currents.
对于大多数来说 整个一生都在珊瑚丛中度过
For many, entire lives are played out within the clumps of coral.
花斑连鳍
Mandarin fish.
它们中的一些居住在露岩
A dozen of them may inhabit one outcrop.
雄鱼总是在寻找雌鱼
Males are always on the hunt for a mate.
竞争是激烈的
And competition is fierce.
起初的争执是有礼貌地警告
Disputes start with a polite warning.
升起背鳍是后退的明确信♥号♥♥
The rising dorsal fin is a clear signal to back off.
有时攻击腹鳍是唯一的方法
But sometimes, going for the jugular is the only way.
战斗结束 到办正事的时候了
The fight over, it's time to get down to business.
产卵是短暂
Spawning is a brief affair.
然后卵就留给了宽容的水流
Then the eggs are left to the mercy of the current.
礁湖的生命依靠来自开阔海洋的 海水每日冲洗
Life in the lagoon depends on a daily flushing of water from the open ocean.
暗礁中天然缺口成了流经的通道
This flows in through channels formed by natural gaps in the reef.
每次潮汐更替 充满碎屑和养分的泥汤河
With each changing tide, a soupy river of debris and nutrients
从礁湖流到外面的大海里
flows out of the lagoon and into the blue.
吸引着各种各样的生命
This attracts all sorts of life.
一个定期访问通道的是轻缓滑行的蝠鲼
One regular visitor to the channels is the gently gliding manta ray.
过滤漂浮在洋流中的极小生物
It filters out minute creatures floating in the currents.
食物太多足够分配的
But there's more than enough to go around.
啮鱼群带头...
Schools of snapper take the lead...
一大群红梅鲷做着残羹的扫尾工作
..while a wall of fusiliers mops up the remains.
掠过南太平洋
Across the South Pacific,
时间不停地在岩石上施展着魔力
time continues to work its magic on rock.
数百万年的侵蚀和渗透已经将莫皮蒂火山
Millions of years of erosion and sinking have reduced
缩减成和小山冈差不多了
the volcanic mount of Maupiti to little more than a hill.
最终这个小山冈也会消失的
Eventually, this hill will disappear too.
到那时就会像这样...
And when it does, it will look like this...
马太瓦 一座珊瑚环岛
..Mataiva, a coral atoll.
升到海面上的珊瑚环岛暗礁包围着浅礁湖
Rising above the waves, a coral atoll's reef surrounds a shallow lagoon.
曾经强大的山峰如今只有了海水
Where there was once a mighty peak, now there is only water.
有数千座像马太瓦这样的珊瑚环岛 星罗棋布的点缀在南太平洋
There are thousands of atolls like Mataiva dotted around the South Pacific,
它们的规模和形状由起初的火山决定
their size and shape determined by the original volcano.
有些珊瑚环岛是圆的 它们的环形没有打破
Some atolls are round, their rings unbroken...
其余的已经被洋流和地震弄得弯曲走样了
..while others have been bent out of shape
by ocean currents and earthquakes.
有几个跨径距离巨大
And a few span huge distances,
实际证明了火山曾经的 规模和力量实在巨大
a testament to volcanoes whose size and power were once truly colossal.
法属玻利尼西亚的朗伊罗阿
Rangiroa in French Polynesia.
超过30哩宽
Over 30 miles wide,
如果你漂浮在巨大的礁湖中心
its lagoon is so large that if you were floating in its centre,
你看不到任何方向有陆地
you wouldn't see land in any direction.
南太平洋中岛屿产生的故事
The story of land building in the South Pacific
始于火山爆发
may start with volcanic eruptions...
但并不会这里结束
..but it doesn't end there.
这里曾经有一座形成岛屿的火山 但它沉回水下了
A volcano once formed an island here, but it sank back below the surface.
如今它又再次上升
Now it's on the rise again.
这是奇特的金曼礁
This is the extraordinary Kingman Reef.
离最近的大♥陆♥超过3000哩
Over 3,000 miles from the nearest continent,
这是世上留下最后的原始 状态的珊瑚礁之一
it is one of the last pristine coral reefs left in the world.
这里的旅游和捕鱼是禁止的
As tourism and fishing are banned here,
在人类到达之前
the reef is about as close as you'll get
暗礁就比你接触太平洋要近得多
to the Pacific as it used to be, before humans arrived.
这里发现的200种珊瑚中什么使金曼成为特别的角色
Part of what makes Kingman extraordinary
这里发现的200种珊瑚中什么使金曼成为特别的角色
is the 200 types of coral found here.
别的东西也同样
But there's also something else.
它有助产生暗礁
And it's helping to build the reef.
大蛤
Giant clams...
到处都是
everywhere.
比你地球上其它地方看到的多得多
More than you'll see on any other reef in the world.
当大蛤产卵时 它们向海水释放数百万颗卵
When giant clams spawn, they expel millions of eggs into the water.
要是一个开始了其它全部快速跟进
And when one starts, all the others quickly follow.
海中如云般的充斥着生命
The sea soon turns cloudy... with life.
大蛤能存活50年以上
Giant clams can live for over 50 years.
他们的死亡是金曼礁产生的关键
But it's their death that is crucial to the creation of land in Kingman Reef.
这里有几百米的珊瑚碎石和死去的蛤
These few hundred metres of coral rubble and dead clams
成为海面以上金曼唯一看点
are the only visible signs of Kingman above the water...
为过往的航行者提供一个 休息停留的地方
..providing a valuable rest stop to passing voyagers.
最终 被洋流和鸟类带来的种子
Eventually, seeds brought by ocean currents and birds
将使这里变成一个新岛
will turn it into a new island.
一旦草木扎根 野生动物来临也不远了
And once vegetation is established,
wildlife is never far behind.
善于长途旅行的白燕鸥用岛跃的方式
Being good long-distance travellers,
从这到法属玻利尼西亚
fairy terns island-hopped their way here to French Polynesia.
这些蓝色的长尾吸蜜鹦鹉的祖先
The ancestors of these blue lorikeets, however,
是被最早的玻利尼西亚人带来的
were brought here by some of the earliest Polynesians.
这里被称作最后的蜜月终点
It could be described as the ultimate honeymoon destination.
虽然这些海岸外的海域并不 总是太吸引人的
Though the waters off these shores don't always appear too inviting.
黑边鳍真鲨已经适应了在这种 不足一英尺深的水里游泳
Blacktip sharks have adapted to swim in less than a foot of water.
它们来到浅滩是为了捕食小型鱼类
They come to these shallows to hunt for smaller fish.
像金曼礁 岛的火山自从消失后
Like Kingman Reef, all signs of these islands' volcanic past
所有痕迹消失已久
have long since disappeared.
但要是没有它 陆地也不会在这里开始
But without it, land could never have got started here.
在太平洋西面
In the very west of the Pacific, however,
火山有个帮手
volcanoes have had a helping hand.
帕劳群岛 蜜克罗尼西亚的明珠
Palau - the jewel of Micronesia.
由于太平洋有许多岛屿 其中的火山山峰依旧存在的
As with many islands in the Pacific, its volcanic peaks still linger on.
海岸的远处是另一个熟悉的景致
Beyond their shores are other familiar scenes...
堤礁
..barrier reefs...
小型的珊瑚环礁
..and small coral atolls.
但这里 有些东西是不一样
But here, there's something different.
帕劳的暗礁从深处升起
The reefs of Palau have risen from the deep
不像金曼那么慢，但出奇不意
not slowly, like Kingman, but suddenly.
3500万年前 强大的地震迫使它们高高的伸出海面
35 million years ago, powerful earthquakes forced them high above the waves.
帕劳的岩岛诞生了
And Palau's rock islands were created.
有些高达200米以上
Some are up to 200 metres tall.
暴露的峭壁如今露出岩石真正的起源
Exposed cliffs now reveal their rock's true origins.
这是石灰岩 由压碎的珊瑚和古老的贝壳产生
It's limestone, created by crushed coral and ancient shells.
自从地震后 这里发生了另一个大变化
Since those earthquakes, there's been another big change here.
在最后冰川期的尾声
At the end of the last ice age,
这片景致的巨大领域淹没在冰雪融化中
large areas of this landscape became flooded as the ice melted.
在这个过程中 超过70个海湖产生
In the process, over 70 marine lakes were created.
与外面的世界隔断
Cut off from the outside world,
这些湖产生了一些独特的动物
these lakes produced some unique animals.
其中之一是带长触手的海洋掠食者
One of these was an ocean predator with long tentacles.
在这里它进化成了一个 无害的优雅的漫游者
But here, it evolved into a harmless, graceful wanderer.
水母通常以小鱼为食
Jellyfish normally feed on small fish.
但在湖里 猎物稀少
But in the lakes, there was little prey.
所以它们的钟形物成了数百万微小的 光合海藻的家
So their bells have become a home to millions of tiny photosynthesising algae.
暴露在太阳中的这些海藻会产生糖分
When exposed to sunlight, these algae produce sugars,
转而提供给它们的主人作为食物
which in turn provide their hosts, the jellyfish, with food.
如今，每天水母跟随着太阳在湖里穿梭
Now, each day, the jellyfish migrate across the lake,
如今，每天水母跟随着太阳在湖里穿梭
following the arc of the sun.
它们唯一的妨碍就是在游荡时偶尔银莲花会试图捕获它们
Their only obstacle, the occasional anemone that tries to catch them
as they float past.
有时会失败
And sometimes fails.
因为危险很少而食物无限供应
So with little danger, and a never-ending supply of food,
因而水母成倍...
the jellyfish have multiplied...
成倍...
..and multiplied...
成倍...增长
..and multiplied.
让人难以想到帕劳曾经是一望无际的海洋
It's strange to think that Palau was once just a piece of endless ocean.
但没有什么能到永远
But nothing lasts for ever.
在太平洋里不停地上升和下降的陆地
The never-ending rise and fall of land in the Pacific
将不断地♥产♥生像这里奇异而精彩的世界
will continue to produce strange and wonderful worlds like these.
这一切的起源都是起初产生这里陆地的那股惊人的自然力量
At the start of it all will always be the incredible natural force
这一切的起源都是起初产生这里陆地的那股惊人的自然力量
that created land here in the first place...
海洋火山