第2205期:Scientists Free Endangered Sea Turtles into the Wild

Scientists in Thailand have released a group of endangered sea turtles in an effort to save the wild population. 泰国科学家释放了一群濒临灭绝的海龟，以拯救野生种群。 A total of 11 baby leatherback sea turtles were recently released into the Indian Ocean from Thailand’s vacation island of Phuket. The researchers are hoping the one-year-old turtles will get strong in the wild and return in 20 years to reproduce. 最近，共有 11 只小棱皮龟从泰国度假岛普吉岛被释放到印度洋。研究人员希望一岁大的海龟能够在野外变得强壮，并在 20 年后返回繁殖。 The release follows an intense conservation effort in recent years that centered on improving longtime survival rates for the sea creatures. In 2018, scientists discovered that leatherback sea turtles had returned to lay eggs in southern Thailand. 此次释放是在近年来大力开展的保护工作之后进行的，重点是提高海洋生物的长期生存率。2018年，科学家发现棱皮海龟返回泰国南部产卵。 Some stronger members of that group successfully entered the ocean, but others died after hatching. So, a program was launched to help the weak baby leatherbacks grow, said Pinsak Suraswadi. He is the Director-General of Thailand's Department of Marine and Coastal Resources. 该群体中一些更强壮的成员成功进入海洋，但其他成员在孵化后死亡。平萨克·苏拉斯瓦迪 (Pinsak Suraswadi) 表示，因此启动了一项计划来帮助体弱的小棱皮龟成长。他是泰国海洋和沿海资源部部长。 Thailand is one of five countries – including Sri Lanka and Canada – that has been able to keep leatherback turtles in good health through their first year. Usually, a leatherback will lay eggs after 20 to 25 years. 泰国是能够让棱皮龟在第一年保持健康的五个国家之一，其中包括斯里兰卡和加拿大。通常，棱皮龟会在 20 至 25 年后产卵。The baby sea turtles, released last month, have satellite devices attached to them to follow their progress. The release was part of an international effort by the nonprofit conservation organization Upwell Turtles. 上个月释放的小海龟身上装有卫星设备，可以追踪它们的进展情况。这次释放是非营利保护组织 Upwell Turtles 的国际努力的一部分。Pinsak told Reuters news agency that it is necessary for researchers to study the animals’ travel path in order "to understand where they are going.” This helps the group know which measures to launch to protect the turtles’ hatching process. 平萨克告诉路透社，研究人员有必要研究这些动物的旅行路径，以便“了解它们要去哪里”。这有助于该小组了解采取哪些措施来保护海龟的孵化过程。 Leatherback sea turtles are believed to have developed more than 150 million years ago. But the animals are now extremely endangered in the Pacific area. The World Wildlife Fund estimates the current population in the Pacific to be fewer than 2,300 adult females. 据信棱皮龟是在 1.5 亿多年前就已经形成的。但这些动物现在在太平洋地区极度濒危。世界自然基金会估计太平洋地区目前的成年女性数量不足 2,300 名。 While in the ocean, the turtles face dangers from fishing equipment, eating plastic waste and coming in contact with poisonous substances. 在海洋中，海龟面临着捕鱼设备、吃塑料垃圾和接触有毒物质的危险。 "I'm happy to know whether our effort in nurturing the leatherback sea turtles for a year proves fruitful or not," said Hirun Kanghae. He is with Thailand’s Phuket Marine Biological Center. “我很高兴知道我们一年来培育棱皮龟的努力是否取得成果，”Hirun Kanghae 说。他在泰国普吉岛海洋生物中心工作。"If they survive it answers everything about the conservation and population restoration of the leatherback sea turtles in the best way possible," Hirun added. Hirun 补充道：“如果它们能够幸存下来，就能够以最好的方式解决有关棱皮海龟保护和种群恢复的所有问题。”