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。

Part B :

Alternatively, it has also been suggested that some animals strand accidentally by following their prey ashore in the confusion of the chase.

另外，也有人建议，一些动物链意外地被自己在岸上的猎物追逐。

In 1995 David Thurston monitored pilot whales that beached after following the squid ashore.

在1995年，戴维瑟斯顿监控到，领航鲸在追逐岸上的鱿鱼之后搁浅了。在1995年，戴维瑟斯顿监控到，领航鲸在追逐岸上的鱿鱼之后搁浅了。

However, this idea does not seem to hold true for the majority of mass strandings because examination of the animals' stomach contents reveal that most had not been feeding as they stranded.

然而，这一想法似乎并不适用于大多数大规模搁浅是因为动物们的胃内容物的检查表明，大多数鲸搁浅时是没有被喂食物的。

There are also some new theories, which link strandings to humans.

也有一些新的理论将搁浅与人类联系到了一起。

A growing concern is that loud noises in the ocean cause strandings.

更令人担心的是，海洋里的噪音导致了搁浅。

Noises such as these caused by military exercises are of particular concern and have been pinpointed as the cause of some strandings of late.

噪声如那些由军事演习引起特别关注的是，已被认定为搁浅的原因了。

One of these, a mass stranding of whales in 2000 in the Bahamas coincided closely with experiments using a new submarine detection system.

其中，集体搁浅的鲸鱼2000年时在巴哈马与使用新的潜艇探测系统实验吻合。

There were several factors that made this stranding stand out as different from previous strandings.

有一些因素导致了这次搁浅不同于以往的脱颖而出。

This led researchers to look for a new cause.

这导致了研究人员寻找一个新的原因。

For one, all the stranded animals were healthy.

一个是，所有的搁浅的动物都是健康的。

In addition, the animals were spread out along 38 kilometers of coast, whereas it's more common for the animals to be found in a group when mass strandings occur.

此外，动物都分布在38公里的海岸线，而当搁浅发生时，更普遍的是动物们多是以集体存在的。

A final theory is related to group behaviour, and suggests that sea mammals cannot distinguish between sick and healthy leaders and will follow sick leaders, even to an inevitable death.

最后一个理论是与群体行为有关的，这说明海洋哺乳动物不能区分生病和健康的领头鲸，并会跟随着生病了的领头鲸，甚至是不可避免的死亡。

This is a particularly interesting theory since the whales that are thought to be most social-the toothed whaled- are the group that strand the most frequently.

这是一个特别有趣的理论，因为这是被认为是最具群居性的鲸鱼一是最常见的搁浅的群体。

The theory is also supported by evidence from a dolphin stranding in 1994. Examination of the dead animals revealed that apart from the leader, all the others had been healthy at the time of their death.

这个理论也被一只在1994年搁浅的海豚身上所找到的证据所支持。死亡的动物的检查显示，除了领头鲸，所有其他的鲸在他们死亡的时间都是健康的。

Without one consistent theory however it is very hard for us to do anything about this phenomenon except to assist animal where and when we can.

如果没有一个一致的理论，我们很难对这种现象采取任何行动，除了当我们可以时去帮助那里的动物。

Stranding networks have been established around the world to aid in rescuing animals and collecting samples from those that could not be helped.

搁浅网络已经在世界范围内建立了，来援助拯救动物和从那些不需要帮助的鲸鱼身上收集样本。

I recommended John Connor's Marine Mammals ashore as an excellent starting point if you're interested in finding out more about there networks, or establishing one yourself.

我建议你们读一下约翰康纳的岸上的海洋哺乳动物，作为一个很好的起点，如果你对了解更多关于这些网络感兴趣的话，或建立一个自己的网络。