Thalassophile is a word you don't hear very often.

Thalassophile (愛海成癡) 是一個不常聽到的詞。

If you know what it means and, especially, if you happen to be one, you're gonna love this special edition of our show.

如果你知道這個詞是什麼意思，或甚至剛好就是個愛海成痴的人，你肯定會喜歡今天的特別節目。

Simply put, a thalassophile is someone who loves the sea, and the deep blue is where we're headed today, specifically the deepest known part of the ocean.

簡單來說，愛海成痴就是非常熱愛大海的意思，而我們今天就要往碧藍的大海一探究竟，更具體來說，往人類所知的海洋最深處邁進。

Start in the pacific.

先從太平洋開始。

If you can find the northern Mariana Islands on the eastern part of the Philippine Sea, you're only about 330 miles northeast of the Mariana Trench.

在菲律賓海的東部找到北馬里亞納群島後，馬里亞納海溝便位於該處西南方向 330 英里的位置。

It's located 7 miles beneath the ocean's surface.

它位於海面下 7 英里處。

It's what "National Geographic" describes as "a scar in the earth's crust".

《國家地理》雜誌將它描述為「地殼上的一道傷痕」。

This trench extends for more than 1,500 miles and it's 43 miles wide on average, so this is a pretty big gouge on the ocean floor.

這條海溝延伸了 1500 多英里，平均寬度為 43 英里，在海底留下了相當大的一個切口。

And if you go to the southern end of it, you'll find its deepest point.

往南端走去便會找到它最深入地層的地方。

This remote place is called the Challenger Deep.

這個遙遠的地方被稱為挑戰者深淵。

It takes patience to get there, even after you sail right over it.

要到達這個地方需要相當有耐心，就算直接開船到它的上面去也一樣。

The submersibles that can withstand the pressure take hours to dive this deep.

那些能夠承受該處壓力的潛水器需要花好幾個小時才能潛入這麼深的地方。

And even though thousands of people have climbed to the top of Mount Everest, which is 5-and-a-half miles higher than sea level, only a couple dozen have reached the 7-mile depth of the Challenger deep, so it's largely unexplored.

儘管有成千上萬的人爬上了比海平面高 5.5 英里的珠穆朗瑪峰頂，但只有幾十個人到達了挑戰者號深淵的 7 英里深度，所以它基本上沒有被探索過。

But we know someone who has been there: His name is Rob McCallum, he's from New Zealand.

但我們知道有誰到達過：那就是來自紐西蘭的 Rob McCallum。

Last April, he and Australian Tim Macdonald became the first people from their countries to dive this record depth.

去年 4 月，他和澳大利亞人 Tim Macdonald 成為了各自國家第一到達這個破紀錄深度的人。

They were kind enough to provide us with the video you're about to see, and I had the opportunity to interview Mr. McCallum about the experience not long after he hit rock bottom and then resurfaced in the Spring of 2021.

他們人很好地向我們提供了你等一下即將看到的影片，而且我之前有幸能在 McCallum 先生於 2021 年春天潛入谷底深處並重新上浮不久後採訪他。

So, hold your breath, and let's dive in.

深呼吸，準備好一起下潛吧。

It's the last, uh... unexplored frontier on Earth.

這是地球上最後一個未開發的疆域。

Um... we know very little about this... this region, what we call the Hadal Zone, which is that area of the ocean below 6,000 meters or 20,000 feet.

我們對這一地區知之甚少。我們把這個在 6 千公尺 (2 萬英呎) 以下的海洋地區稱為超深淵帶。

You can't just get there in a normal submarine; what sort of vehicle does it take to withstand the pressures there?

只用普通的潛水艇是到不了那裡的。要有怎麼樣的載具才能承受住如此巨大的壓力呢？

That's a very interesting question, because pressure is, uh, entirely relative.

這是一個非常有趣的問題，因為壓力其實完全是種相對的概念。

When a spacecraft goes up into space, uh, they're only experiencing a... a pressure change of one atmosphere between the inside of the, uh, spacecraft and the outside.

當太空船飛進太空時，太空船艙內與艙外僅承受了一個大氣壓力的變化。

We are dealing with a pressure diffe⏤differential of around 1,100 atmospheres.

而我們要處理的是大約 1100 個大氣壓力的壓力差。

So, we dive in a titanium sphere, which is able to withstand 100,000 tons of pressure.

因此我們使用一個能夠承受 10 萬噸壓力的鈦合金球體中潛水。

Just on the hatch, uh, through which we get into the submarine, just the hatch alone, has 2,200 tons, or around 5 fully-laden Boeing 747s, pushing down on it.

光是我們走進潛水艇時經過的艙門，光是那個艙門上面就承受了 2200 公噸的壓力，相當於 5 架滿載乘客的波音 747 客機。

That's... that's incredible, I mean, somebody can't go out and... and buy that; how does one acquire a vehicle like that?

這真是太不可思議了。我的意思是，這可不是什麼可以直接在市面上買到的東西。你們是怎麼獲得這樣的載具的？

This vehicle was made for this specific purpose.

這個載具是完全為這個特定的目的所製造出來的。

It was designed and built by Triton Submarines in Florida, specifically to be able to voyage down through 7-and-a-half miles of, um, water column to get to the bottom.

它由佛羅里達州的 Triton 潛水艇公司專門設計和建造，能夠通過 7.5 英里深的水體向下航行，直達海底。

And that's why it's got kind of an interesting shape.

這就是為什麼它的形狀看起來有點逗趣。

It looks like a pillow that's on its side.

看起來像一個側著的枕頭。

And that's so that it can drop down through the water column very, very quickly.

如此一來它就可以非常、非常迅速地通過水體下降。

You said very quickly; how long does it take to get to that depth?

你說它非常快，所以要花多長時間才能達到這個深度？

It takes around 4-and-a-half hours to get to the deepest point of the world's ocean.

到達全世界海洋的最深處大約需要 4.5 小時。

We go down through the water at about 6 feet per second.

我們以每秒約 6 英尺的速度下潛。

And coming back?

那回程呢？

Uh, we release ballast weight on the bottom to, uh, to just spring us off the bottom and head for the surface, and so it's about a 3-and-a-half-hour ride home.

我們會把放掉壓艙物來讓我們彈回海面，所以回程大概是 3.5 個小時左右。

What are you seeing when you get to the ocean floor in the deepest part of it?

當你到了海底最深處之後，你看到了什麼？

This is the most fantastic part of, uh, what we're doing; it's true exploration.

這正是整件事情中最美妙的部分。這是場真正的探索旅程。

You know, we never know what we're going to see.

怎麼說呢，我們永遠不知道自己可能會看到什麼。

Uh, every dive has yielded something fascinating, often, something new to science.

每一次潛水都會有迷人的收穫，而且通常都是對科學界來說嶄新的事物。

Uh, we are seeing, uh, creatures for the first time; we are discovering entire landscapes which were previously unknown.

我們找到了首次發現的生物，我們還探索了從未有人知曉的地貌。

That's still a full day just in travel time.

我們剛只提到了一天中上升和下潛過程所需的時間。

So, how much time does that give you on the ocean's floor?

所以這讓你能在海床上待上多長的時間？

We tried to, uh, stay down for 3-5 hours on the bottom.

我們盡量試著在海底停留 3 到 5 個小時。

You know, it's a big investment of time and energy; it takes the entire team to get this vehicle prepared and get it down.

你知道，這得投資相當多的時間和精力。準備這台載具並將它送到海底，需要一整個團隊的努力。

And, so, we tried to use every minute possible on the bottom.

因此我們在海底時會儘量利用每一分鐘。

Our submersible has three view ports, one for each of the occupants, but also one central one that allows us to see down to the sea floor.

我們的潛水器有三個舷窗，每名乘客都有一個，但也有一個能讓我們能夠看到海底的中央舷窗。

But we're also surrounded by, uh, very high definition cameras that are all linked to a screen in front of us and we can look in any direction, uh, outside.

我們周圍也裝上了非常高清晰度的攝影機，而這些攝影機都與我們面前的螢幕相連，讓我們可以向外面的任何方向看去。

And that's important because we don't really know where we're going; we're almost always the very first humans that have ever been there.

而這相當重要，因為我們其實並不真正知道我們正在往哪裡去。我們算是最早到過那些地方的人類。

And, so, although we have a three-dimensional map that we've made the day before, we need a very, um, good view outside to see what's coming.

因此儘管我們有一張前一天製作的3D立體地圖，但我們需要一個非常好的外部視野來觀察外面的狀況。

You know, for humans, we don't really fear what we can't, uh, sense.

你知道，對於人類來說，我們其實並不會害怕我們無法感知的東西。

And, so, when you're in an airliner and you're looking out, you don't naturally think of the wind going past at 500 miles per hour and it's minus 50 out there and there's not enough air to breathe.

因此當你坐在一架客機上看著外面時，你不會自然地想到外面的風速超過每小時 500 英里，溫度是零下 50 度，而且沒有足夠的空氣可供你呼吸。

You just... I can see a town or I can see a truck.

你只會... 覺得「哇下面有個城鎮耶！」，或是「下面有輛卡車！」。

And the same in the sub; there's no sensation of movement, there's no sensation of sound, um, you can't hear or feel anything from outside.

在潛艇裡也是一樣的。你不會覺得自己在動，也沒有聲音。你聽不到，也感覺不到外面的動靜。

It's just a very peaceful, relaxing cruise, uh, into the unknown.

這只是一場進入未知的世界中，非常平和、放鬆的巡航。

I think that we know so little about, uh, the ocean that we barely understand what questions to ask, let alone, um, have the ability to... to understand the answers.

我認為我們對海洋的瞭解太少了，我們幾乎不明白應該問什麼問題，更不用說真正能理解答案的能力。

My role and the role of... of the team that I work with is to simply open the door.

我和與我一起工作的團隊的作用僅僅只是把這扇大門打開。

This is the first vehicle in all of human history that has the ability to reach the deep ocean, uh, in any ocean at any depth at any time.

這是人類歷史上第一輛有能力在任何時間、任一海洋的任何深度到達深海的交通工具。

It's... it's... it's... a... akin to the Wright Brothers with the first flying machine.

這就好比萊特兄弟的第一臺飛行器。

This is just the first baby steps.

這還只是剛開始的初試啼聲而已。

I know the technology might be a way away from creating a sort of ocean exploration station that can withstand depths like that.

我知道我們可能還離能夠建造出可以承受這種深度，永久的海洋探索站點的科技還很遠。

But we have reported on⏤there... there is more funding and investment in underwater exploration stations.

但我們過去有報導過，現在對這種水下探索站點的資金與投資越來越多了。

I mean, how important would you feel those would be as contrasted with, let's say, the International Space Station?

我的意思是，這種站點的重要性和，例如國際太空站好了，相比之下有多重要？

Both are important, don't get me wrong; I'm... I'm not taking a shot at space travel

兩者都很重要，別誤會了，我不是說太空旅行就不重要，

But, you know, space is a vast void, a vacuum, uh, that so far has proved to be lifeless.

但你知道，太空就是一個廣大的虛空，一大片真空，而且目前為止還沒找到任何其他的生命。

The ocean is nothing like that.

海洋則完全不同。

The ocean is full of life, you know, right from the surface all the way down to the very, very bottom.

海洋充滿了生命，從表面一直到非常非常深的底部。

I think, before we leave home and start exploring the heavens, we should at least, uh, explore our own backyard more thoroughly.

我想在我們離開家鄉並開始探索天堂之前，我們至少應該更徹底地探索我們自己的後院。

I think that many of the answers to our collective future are going to be found in the ocean, and some of those in the deep ocean.

我認為，人類作為一個群體的未來有許多答案能在海洋中找到，而其中一些就在深海中。

The answers to how we're going to handle all the carbon in the atmosphere.

例如我們該拿大氣中的碳如何是好的答案。

The answers to, uh, the dynamics of our ocean and how we can arrest, uh, the decline of the ocean.

對我們海洋動態機制的答案，以及我們該如何挽救海洋的答案。

But also the things that we might discover in terms of, um, valuable compounds for medicines and that sort of thing.

但也包含了我們可能發現的事物，例如醫學上珍貴的化合物等等。

So, why do you think there's so much interest in space exploration when we could be exploring what we have right here?

那麼你覺得為什麼我們明明在深海中還有那麼多可以探索的事物，卻對太空探索有這麼大的興趣？

I think it's as simple as when we gaze up at the heavens, we are⏤we have a sense of wonder, uh, what's out there, you know, what can we find?

我認為這很簡單，因為當我們仰望天空時，我們懷抱著一種對外面的事物的好奇心，想著我們到底能找到什麼？

We always look skyward because we're terrestrial mammals; we... we... we look up to the heavens.

我們總是朝天看的原因是因為我們是陸生哺乳動物。我們想要找尋天堂。

When we look into the water, we don't really see that much.

而當我們看著海洋的時候，則不會想到那麼多。

We see an opaque uh, plain⏤plane... uh, platform that we can pull fish out of, maybe go for a swim in, but we don't actually go too far down.

我們只把它當作個不透明的大平台，讓我們能從中釣魚，或許偶爾游個泳，但是從未潛入深處。

You know, my dive was about 36,000 feet; most humans never get below about 300 feet.

你知道，我的潛水深度約為 3 萬 6 千英尺，而大多數人類從未潛入到 300 英尺以下。

So there's a long way to go yet.

因此我們還有很長的路要走。

10-second trivia: What is the most abundant fish in the world?

十秒鐘問答：世界上數量最多的魚類是什麼？

Herring, Bristlemouth, Minnow, or Sunfish.

鯡魚、鑽光魚、米諾魚或翻車魚。

Scientists believe the most numerous fish in the world are Bristlemouths, or light fishes.

科學家們認為，世界上數量最多的魚是鑽光魚或輕魚。

That's our catch of the day; it is surely fun to take a deep dive into such a "marine-teresting" topic.

這就是我們今天的收穫。深入研究這樣海味十足的主題相當有趣。

There are "oceans" of possibilities, sights to see, facts in the "swim" beneath the surface, "schools" of thought...

我們眼前如海洋般廣闊的無數可能性、風景、悠遊在海面下的真相、群起聚集的想法...

I mean, what better way to get a "gyro-education" than to "immerse" yourself in a "current" event?

我的意思是，有什麼比讓自己沉浸在這股潮流中還能更讓自己學習到新知的呢？

Today's shout-out goes out to Grenada High School located in Grenada, Mississippi.

今天，我們要向位於密西西比州格瑞那達的格瑞那達高中打招呼。

There is one place we look for the schools we mention; it's our YouTube channel at youtube.com/CNN10.

我們會在我們 YouTube 頻道尋求打招呼的學校，網址是 youtube.com/CNN10。

So, please subscribe and leave your comments on our most recent show right there.

因此敬請訂閱，並在那裡留下對於我們最近一期節目的評論吧。

That's all for our show today, I'm Carl Azuz.

我們今天的節目就到此告一段落，我是 Carl Azuz。