Earth｜红石蟹与捕食者的赛跑

Sally Lightfoot Crab' Race Against Hunters

A Sally Lightfoot crab, one of thousands of shore crabs just waiting for their moment. Every day, they gather on the tropical shores of Brazil, waiting for the tide to go out, which exposes their feeding grounds — seaweed-covered rocks, 100 metres from the shore.
一只红石蟹，成千上万只等待时机的滨蟹之一。每天，它们聚集在巴西的热带海岸，等待潮水退去，露出它们的觅食地——覆盖着海藻的岩石，距离海岸100米。

Getting there is a race against the tide. They leap from rock to rock.
到达那里是一场与潮水的赛跑。它们在岩石间跳跃前行。

These crabs seem to be afraid of the water. And for good reason. A moray eel. The chain moray is a specialist crab-hunter. Its blunt teeth can easily grip and crush a crab shell. It's the crabs' deadliest enemy.
这些螃蟹似乎很怕水。理由很充分。海鳗。尤其链蛇鳗，是捕蟹专家。它的钝牙可以轻易咬碎蟹壳。它是螃蟹最致命的敌人。

But the crabs' feeding grounds are still a long way off. They must press on. Halfway. But their enemy has other ideas. Crossing the land to reset the ambush.
但螃蟹离觅食地还很遥远。它们必须继续前进。还有一半。但是它们的敌人另有打算。即穿越陆地，重置埋伏。

To feed, the crabs must keep going. But nowhere is safe. An octopus. Also a crab killer. The crabs make a dash for it. Made it!
为了进食，螃蟹必须继续前进。但没有地方是安全的。章鱼。也是螃蟹杀手。螃蟹飞奔逃跑。成功了！

Risking life and limb to graze on these seaweed pastures. But in two hours' time, when the tide starts to turn, they will have to run the gauntlet all over again.
螃蟹冒着生命危险来到这些海藻牧场觅食。但在两小时后，当潮水开始上涨时，它们将不得不再次经受一次考验。

词汇表
Sally Lightfoot crab 红石蟹，萨莉轻足蟹：生活在潮间带岩石上，以鲜亮的红蓝色外壳和敏捷的移动能力闻名，以藻类和小型无脊椎动物为食。
shore crab 滨蟹（生活在海滨潮间带的小型蟹类）
feeding ground 觅食地
seaweed-covered rock 覆盖海藻的岩石
moray eel 海鳗（栖于热带水域岩礁间的鳗类）
chain moray 链蛇鳝：体型修长，带有黄色的链状线条，具有用于压碎蟹壳的钝圆形牙齿。
specialist 专家
blunt teeth 钝牙
grip and crush 咬碎，咬住并压碎
press on （不顾困难地）继续前进
reset the ambush 重置埋伏
octopus 章鱼
make a dash 飞奔，匆忙离开
risk life and limb 冒着生命危险
graze 觅食，吃草
pasture 牧场，草地（指覆盖海藻的岩石）
run the gauntlet 经受考验，接受挑战（原指受夹道鞭笞的刑罚）

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