VOA慢速：科学家用“浪漫的方式”来帮助濒危物种
欢迎来到今天的VOA慢速专区。
今天为大家带来一篇关于生态的新闻。
White abalone are at risk of dying out.
白鲍鱼正面临灭绝的危险。
But scientists in California have developed a special way to help the sea snail population reproduce.
但是加州的科学家已经研究出一种特殊的方法来帮助鲍鱼繁殖。
Kristin Aquilino is lead scientist for the White Abalone Captive Breeding Program, based at the University of California, Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory.
克里斯汀·阿奎利诺是加州大学戴维斯博德加海洋实验室白鲍鱼圈养繁殖项目的首席科学家。
White abalone, in her words, "cannot come back without our help."
用她的话说，“没有我们的帮助，白鲍鱼是不会回来的。”
The creatures, once common in the coastal waters of Southern California and Mexico,
这种曾经在南加州和墨西哥沿海水域很常见的生物，
have been on the U.S. federal endangered species list since 2001.
自2001年以来一直在美国联邦濒危物种名单上。
Its population has been hurt by overfishing, low reproduction rates and disease.
过度捕捞、低繁殖率和疾病影响了它的数量。
After about ten years – a time in which no white abalone were produced - Aquilino's team increased their numbers by making up a special mixture.
大约十年之后——在这段时间里没有新的白鲍鱼繁殖出来——阿奎利诺的团队通过制造一种特殊的混合物来增加白鲍鱼的数量。
In the day-long process, the scientists soak the snails for hours in what they call a "chemical love potion."
在为期一天的过程中，科学家们将鲍鱼浸泡在他们所谓的“化学爱情药剂”中几个小时。
A potion is a liquid or drink that has a special or mysterious effect on something.
药剂是一种对某物有特殊或神秘作用的液体或饮料。
The scientists' potion has seawater and hydrogen peroxide.
科学家的药剂含有海水和过氧化氢。
It leads the creatures to release their sperm and eggs.
它引导生物释放精子和卵子。
Aquilino said, "The abalone are terrible at long-distance relationships … We're putting them in a really romantic solution."
阿奎利诺说:“鲍鱼很不擅长异地恋……我们给它们提供了一个真正浪漫的解决方案。”
She added the goal of the work was to create young "that will end up back out in the wild."
她补充说，这项工作的目标是创造“最终会回到野外”的幼鲍。
Numbers of young abalone, known as larvae, reached 25,000 in 2019,
2019年，幼鲍鱼的数量达到了2.5万头，
but dropped in 2020 as pandemic lockdowns limited the lab to just one event for the season.
但在2020年有所下降，因为疫情的封锁把实验室限制在了这个季节只能有一次这样的活动。
However, the larvae created then had among the highest survival rates so far, Aquilino said.
然而，阿奎利诺说，那时的幼鲍是迄今为止存活率最高的。
Failure to reproduce means another abalone mating takes place again several weeks later.
繁殖失败意味着数周后又会有再一次的鲍鱼交配。
"We want to make sure we're not stressing them out too much," Aquilino said.
阿奎利诺说:“我们希望确保不会给他们带来太多压力。”
"Hopefully that little bit of extra time gives them some more time to become very productive."
“希望这一点额外的时间能让它们有更多的时间变得更有成效。”
The young abalone formed are packed in bags and shipped to partner organizations in California.
形成的幼鲍鱼被装在袋子里，运到加利福尼亚的合作组织。
These young abalone have a better chance of survival with more space.
这些小鲍鱼在更大的空间里有更好的生存机会。
For Aquilino, the work is personal.
对阿奎利诺来说，这是一项私人的工作。
As a student, she met her husband on a dive that studied red abalone.
当她还是一名学生的时候，她在一次研究红鲍鱼的潜水中遇到了她的丈夫。
Aquilino's engagement ring also has an abalone pearl.
阿奎利诺的订婚戒指上也有一颗鲍鱼珍珠。
Her daughter plays with a fake abalone farm tank at home.
她的女儿在家玩一个假的鲍鱼养殖池。
"It has become a really important part of my identity and my family's identity," Aquilino said.
阿奎利诺说:“它已经成为我和我家庭身份中非常重要的一部分。”
I'm John Russell.
约翰·罗素报道。
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●奥黛丽·赫本颁奖礼上敬挚友 年过5旬，依旧风华绝代言语如诗
●“idiot girl”不是指“白痴女孩”，真正意思你绝对猜不到！
●water是水，work是工作，那waterworks是啥？你可能顶不住哦
●什么？“see you later”竟然不是“待会见”！这么多年都说错了！
●奥黛丽·赫本颁奖礼上敬挚友 年过5旬，依旧风华绝代言语如诗
●“idiot girl”不是指“白痴女孩”，真正意思你绝对猜不到！
●water是水，work是工作，那waterworks是啥？你可能顶不住哦
●什么？“see you later”竟然不是“待会见”！这么多年都说错了！
这里是 美国之音 频道