南太平洋（2009）

南太平洋有数千座岛屿
There are thousands of islands in the South Pacific.
许多岛屿极其偏远
Many are unbelievably remote.
有些离最近的大♥陆♥有数千哩远
Some are thousands of miles away from the nearest continent
与最近的邻居有数百哩
and hundreds of miles from their nearest neighbour.
把个岛想像成一座城♥堡♥
Imagine each island as a castle,
海洋就是延伸到地平线每个 方向的巨大护城河
and the ocean a giant moat stretching to the horizon in every direction,
你能领略到它们隔绝的实质
and you have captured the essence of their isolation.
真惊讶有些生命如何到达这些岛屿的
It's a wonder how any life reached these islands at all.
但不管岛如何的偏远和微小
But no matter how remote or small an island is,
动物们总有办法克服广阔海洋的障碍
animals have somehow conquered the massive ocean barrier
来到这些尘埃般的陆地斑点上
to reach these specks of land.
对于少数到达的幸运儿
For the lucky few that made it,
南太平洋群岛提供了很多的机会
South Pacific islands provided great opportunities.
一旦到这 它们有不同的自♥由♥
Once here, they had the freedom to be different.
蟹似乎并非不寻常
Crabs may not seem unusual,
但这里有一种与众不同
but there's one kind here that's like no other.
美托马岛
在瓦努阿图的这个小岛上 生活着一种真正的怪物
On this little island in Vanuatu lives a real oddity.
是地球上最大的陆栖无脊椎动物
It's the largest terrestrial invertebrate on Earth...
盗蟹
..the robber crab.
最大的体重超过4公斤
The biggest can weigh up to four kilograms -
像新出生婴儿般大小
the same as a newborn baby -
一腿能跨1米
and have a leg span of one metre.
象用了激素的寄生蟹
It's a hermit crab on steroids.
晚上大盗开始活跃起来
At night, the huge "robbers" really come alive.
虽然这种蟹在太平洋能到处找到
Although these crabs are found throughout the Pacific,
但只有在人迹罕至的岛屿上才能 看到它们数量如此众多
it's only on undisturbed islands that you can see them in such numbers.
为什么盗蟹长得如此之大是个谜团
Exactly why robber crabs have grown so big is a mystery,
只有少数的动物能到达这些偏远的岛屿
but with so few creatures making it to these remote islands,
大甲壳纲动物似乎填补了通常
the giant crustaceans
中型哺乳类动物的位置
seem to have filled a niche normally taken by medium-sized mammals.
几乎没有天敌的竞争
And with almost no competition from other native animals,
盗蟹的巨大体型让它们 充分利用另一块大领地
the crabs' huge size allows them to make the most of another great coloniser -
在这里能找到许多
something found here in abundance.
椰肉是它们最喜欢的食物
Coconuts are one of their favourite foods -
所以它们也叫椰子蟹
it's why they're also called "coconut crabs" -
已知它们能带着椰子跑回三哩外的穴居里
and they've been known to carry them as far as three miles
已知它们能带着椰子跑回三哩外的穴居里
to a favourite den.
盗蟹或许是地球上唯一能打破椰子的动物
Robber crabs are perhaps the only animals in the world
盗蟹或许是地球上唯一能打破椰子的动物
able to break into a coconut.
外壳被强力的钳子撕掉
The husk is ripped off by powerful pincers.
其它腿钻通椰子自身的芽眼
Other legs drill through the germinating holes on the seed itself
直到硬果最终破掉
until the nut finally cracks.
整个过程可能要数小时
The whole process can take several hours,
奖赏是一顿富含蛋白质的美餐
but the reward is a meal rich in protein.
盗蟹统治着陆地 却不是海洋的主人
Robber crabs may rule the land, but they're no masters of the sea.
成年蟹能下水数分钟
An adult crab would drown in a few minutes,
浮上来却是个问题
which raises the question -
这个怪物怎么到南太平洋 最孤立的岛有那么多？
how did these monsters get to so many of the South Pacific's most isolated islands?
雌性带来了答案
This female carries the answer -
有数千枚卵
thousands of eggs,
会从洋流中幸存下来
which will soon be left to the mercy of the ocean currents.
她摇动尾巴
A few shakes of her tail are all that's needed
把卵全部送上路
to send them on their way.
卵会立刻孵化
The eggs will hatch immediately.
幼体会在50天内找到新家摆脱困境
Then the larvae will have just 50 days to find a new home above the water.
对于漂流的动物来说
For animal castaways,
在广阔的海洋中找到新陆地的机会很小
finding new land in this vast ocean was a chance in a million.
THUNDER RUMBLES
更多的是运气而不是机会
To beat the odds, luck was needed,
有时候来自不太可能的原因
sometimes coming from an unlikely source...
龙♥卷♥风♥
cyclones.
WIND WHISTLES
每年这些强大的热带风暴 从广阔的海洋上空形成
Each year, these powerful tropical storms form over the huge ocean.
最大的龙♥卷♥风♥横跨600哩
The largest can span more than 600 miles.
THUNDER ROLLS
龙♥卷♥风♥是南太平洋最具破坏力的力量
Cyclones are one of the most destructive forces in the South Pacific.
令人惊讶的是它们扮演着使生命蔓延到
Yet surprisingly, they have played a critical role
与世隔绝岛屿的重要角色
in spreading life to the loneliest islands.
有几个岛甚至比这还遥远
And few islands are more remote than these.
夏威夷群岛
离最近的大♥陆♥2000哩远
Two thousand miles from the nearest continent,
夏威夷是世界上最隔绝的群岛
Hawaii is the world's most isolated archipelago.
它被抛得太远了
It is so far flung
至少500种动物定居在这里已3千万年
that less than 500 kinds of animal settled here in 30 million years.
非同寻常 许多开拓者都是被
Remarkably, many of these colonisers
接二连三的龙♥卷♥风♥带到夏威夷的
were carried to Hawaii on the back of cyclones.
对于一个被暴风吸入的动物来说 携跨过海洋
For an animal to be sucked up by storm winds, carried across the ocean
被抛弃在此仍活着够幸运的
and dumped here alive was a matter of extraordinary luck.
这只昆虫的祖先曾发生过什么
Yet that's what happened to the ancestor of this insect.
果蝇的一种
It's a kind of fruit fly...
但不是普通的
but no ordinary one.
夏威夷果蝇是昆虫世界的极乐鸟
Hawaii's fruit flies are the birds of paradise of the insect world.
它们用复杂的求爱仪式来吸引雌性
They attract females with elaborate courtship rituals
有严密的属地范围表现
and have a sophisticated range of territorial behaviour.
马累锤头蝇用它们的头部作为战斗工具
Male hammerhead flies use their heads as battering rams.
马累克莱佛塞铁果蝇从它们升起的腹部
A male clavisetae fruit fly
释放出性信息素
fans sex pheromones from his raised abdomen.
它伸出吻部以增加吸引力
His extended tongue is an added attraction.
自第一个开拓者起
Since that first coloniser,
它们进化出近1000个品种
they have evolved into nearly 1,000 species,
大部分都有独特的行为
many with their ownunique behaviour.
它来选择一位配偶 雌性非常挑剔
When it comes to choosing a mate, females are very fussy.
她的追求者一次错误的移♥动♥ 她就离开了
One wrong move by her suitor and she's off.
BUZZING
夏威夷的隔绝对某些其它野生动物
Hawaii's isolation has had a curious effect
同样有奇妙的效果
on the evolution of some of its other wildlife, too.
在羊齿植物周围爬行的是毛虫
Crawling around these ferns are caterpillars.
它们是蛾的幼体 外观够平常的
They're the larvae of a moth and look ordinary enough.
但这些微小的毛虫或许是世上 这品种中最强壮的
But these tiny caterpillars are perhaps the strangest of their kind in the world.
一旦找到适当的点 它就落下来嚼叶子
When one finds the right spot, it settles down to chew through a leaf.
到目前为止一切都正常
So far, so normal.
但实际上毛虫并没有咽上点叶子
But the caterpillar is not actually swallowing the bits of leaf.
它只是在叶片上开一个缝隙
It's channelling a gap between the segments.
完成后就将自己塞进去
When finished, it'll tuck itself into the space.
这个动物是不是太奇怪了？
So what is so strange about this animal?
这些并不是典型的毛虫脚
Well, those are not your typical caterpillar feet,
下述也没有典型的毛虫行为
and what follows is not your typical caterpillar behaviour.
这是条食肉毛虫...
This is a carnivorous caterpillar...
只要能较量就牢牢地抓住
..with a vice-like hold and a bite to match.
夏威夷有很多果蝇 机会多得可以忽略
Hawaii's numerous fruit flies were just too good an opportunity to ignore.
另一种食肉毛虫有着枝条般伪装
And the stick-like camouflage of another kind of meat-eating caterpillar
实际上用来伏击正好
is just as effective when ambushing prey.
没人知道为什么把夏威夷食肉毛虫 放在这种特别的生活方式上
Nobody knows what set Hawaii's carnivorous caterpillars on this extraordinary path,
但是那种快速演化在孤岛上很普遍
but it's the sort of quirky evolution that's common on isolated islands.
每个南太平洋岛都有自己独特的动物群落
Each South Pacific island has its own unique set of creatures.
由于岛太多 总计有几千种在地球上
With so many islands, this adds up to thousands of animals
其它地方找不到的动物
found nowhere else on Earth.
海洋隔绝起来毫不费力
Isolated by miles of ocean,
人类开拓者同样发展出不同的生活方式
human colonisers also developed different ways of life.
每个文明都有自己的习俗 有些真得很奇怪
Each culture has its own customs, and some are truly bizarre.
SINGING
彭特科斯特岛（五旬节岛）
土著人处在欢庆中
The locals are in celebratory mood.
THEY ARE SINGING
这个男人将要表演的是世上最奇怪的仪式
This man is about to perform one of the strangest rituals in the world.
这个传统是考验最勇敢男人的勇气
It's a tradition that tests the mettle of the most courageous men.
一头之高只是开始
Having a head for heights is only the start.
藤本植物系在他的脚踝上
Forest vines are tied around his ankles.
这也是他的保命索
They will be his lifeline.
LEAVES RUSTLE, TOWER CREAKS
数世纪来 五旬节岛的男人系着能终止他们坠落的藤索
For centuries, Pentecost men have been leaping head first
从木制脚手架上头向前跳下
from wooden scaffolds with only forest vines to break their fall...
一个让现代蹦极跳受到启发的风俗
..a tradition that inspired modern bungee jumping.
这种跳看起来像疯狂行为
The jumps may look like acts of madness,