Part A :

Good afternoon everyone.

大家下午好。

Well, with some of you about to go out on fieldwork it's timely that in this afternoon's session I'll be sharing some ideas about the reasons why groups of whales and dolphins sometimes swim ashore from the sea right onto the beach and, most often, die in what were known as "mass stranding".

嗯，对于你们中的一些人会外出野外工作，今天下午这个会议就变得很及时。因为我将分享一下为什么鲸鱼和海豚有时会从海上游到沙滩上的原因，通常，他们死于所谓的“大规模搁浅”。

Unfortunately, this type of event is a frequent occurrence in some of the locations that you'll be travelling to, when sometimes the tide goes out suddenly, confusing the animals.

不幸的是，这种类型的事件经常发生在一些你将要去的地方，有时潮汐会突然出现，混淆了动物。

However, there are many other theories about the causes of mass strandings.

然而，关于集体搁浅的原因，有许多其他理论。

The first is that the behavior is linked to parasites.

首先是与寄生虫有关的行为。

It's often found that stranded animals were infested with large numbers of parasites.

经常能发现，搁浅的动物有大量的寄生虫感染。

For instance, a type of worm is commonly found in the ears of dead whales.

例如，一种类型的蠕虫通常被在鲸鱼的耳朵里发现。

Since marine animals rely heavily on their hearing to navigate, this type of infestation has the potential to be very harmful.

由于海洋动物在很大程度上依赖于他们的听觉导航，这种类型的侵扰有可能是非常有害的。

Another theory is related to toxins, or poisons.

另一个理论与毒素，或者毒药有关。

These have also been found to contribute to the death of many marine animals.

这些也被发现导致了许多海洋动物的死亡。

Many toxins, as I'm sure you're aware, originate from plants, or animals.

许多毒素，像你知道的一样，来自植物，或动物。

The whale ingests these toxins in its normal feeding behavior but whether these poisons directly or indirectly lead to stranding and death, seems to depend upon the toxin involved.

鲸鱼在正常喂养的行为中摄取了这些毒素，但无论这些有毒物质直接或间接导致了搁浅死亡，似乎取决于所涉及的毒素。

In 1988, for example, fourteen humpback whales examined after stranding along the beaches of Cape Cod were found to have been poisoned after eating tuna that contained saxitoxin, the same toxin that can be fatal in humans.

在1988年，举个例子，十四头座头鲸沿着科德角海滩搁浅后，检查后发现，它们是在吃了含有毒素的金枪鱼后中毒的，相同的毒素，对人来讲是致命的。