第1747期:Scientists Learn about Sea Star Die-off

A sea creature known as the sunflower sea star was once plentiful in the Pacific Ocean along the coast of North America. They used to be found in the waters along the coast of Mexico’s Baja peninsula all the way to Alaska. But in the last 10 years, about 90 percent of them have died. Scientists at the University of Washington are trying to understand why the sea stars died. To do so, they are growing them in a lab. The sickness that killed them is known as sea star wasting syndrome.

一种被称为向日葵海星的海洋生物曾经大量存在于北美沿岸的太平洋中。它们曾经在墨西哥巴哈半岛沿岸一直到阿拉斯加的水域被发现。但在过去 10 年中，其中约 90% 已经死亡。华盛顿大学的科学家们正试图了解海星死亡的原因。为此，他们在实验室中种植它们。导致他们死亡的疾病被称为海星消瘦综合症。

Jason Hodin is the top researcher at the Friday Harbor Marine Lab. He said the sickness might have happened because of warmer water caused by climate change. The lab is on San Juan Island, northwest of Seattle. They have nearly 150 sea stars between the ages of one and three. They also have around 5,000 sea stars that are at the larvae stage. They also have 16 adult sea stars transferred from ocean waters. Hodin called his lab the world’s only “captive breeding program for the world’s only endangered sea star.” Endangered means at risk of dying out. The university’s neuroscience department is also working on the study. They are trying to find out if warmer water changes the way the stars move.

Jason Hodin 是周五港海洋实验室的首席研究员。他说，这种疾病的发生可能是因为气候变化导致水温升高。该实验室位于西雅图西北部的圣胡安岛。他们拥有将近 150 颗年龄在 1 到 3 岁之间的海星。他们还有大约 5,000 颗处于幼虫阶段的海星。他们还有 16 颗从海水中转移过来的成年海星。霍丁称他的实验室是世界上唯一的“世界上唯一濒临灭绝的海星的圈养繁殖计划”。濒危意味着有灭绝的危险。该大学的神经科学系也在开展这项研究。他们正试图找出温暖的水是否会改变恒星移动的方式。

The group is using special cameras to see how the stars move and to create 3-dimensional pictures that can show differences. The pictures would show differences even with small changes to their environments – such as a small water temperature change. So far, researchers think the sea stars are able to survive in warmer water. That, Hodin said, is a good thing. “If sunflower stars are going to recover in the wild with or without human assistance,” Hodin said, “they're going to be doing so in a change in climate.”

该小组正在使用特殊相机观察星星如何移动并创建可以显示差异的 3 维图片。即使环境发生微小变化，例如水温发生微小变化，这些图片也会显示出差异。到目前为止，研究人员认为海星能够在温暖的水中生存。霍丁说，这是一件好事。 “如果向日葵星要在有或没有人类帮助的情况下在野外恢复，”霍丁说，“他们将在气候变化的情况下这样做。”