Looks like a big one.

看起來很大

Can you see it?

你能看到嗎？

Oh we're so lucky!

我們太幸運了

We've actually spotted a mother and her cub.

我們還發現了一隻母熊和它的幼崽。

They're just hanging on to each other right at the surface.

它們只是在海面上互相依偎著。

It's incredible.

太不可思議了

It's already a good morning.

這已經是一個美好的早晨了。

Oh my god it's got a clam and a rock!

哦，我的上帝，它有一個蛤蜊和一塊石頭！

Oh this is amazing!

太神奇了

Wait is that an octopus?

等等，那是章魚嗎？

Hi, I'm Danielle Dufault and you're watching Animalogic.

大家好，我是丹妮爾-杜福（Danielle Dufault），您正在收看的是《動物志》。

What do you get when you combine the brains to make tools, the best cold water gear in the world, and sharp teeth capable of breaking crab shells?

當你把製造工具的頭腦、世界上最好的冷水裝備和能打破蟹殼的鋒利牙齒結合在一起時，你會得到什麼？

It's not a navy seal or even a regular seal.

它不是海豹，甚至不是普通的海豹。

It's the deadly, ferocious, vicious, back-from-the-brink sea otter.

它就是致命、凶猛、惡毒、從容不迫的海獺。

And who am I kidding?

我在跟誰開玩笑呢？

These guys are adorable!

這些傢伙真可愛

Tofino.

託菲諾

One of North America's most biodiverse ecosystems.

北美生物多樣性最豐富的生態系統之一。

Here you'll find everything from jellyfish, Oh look at that jelly!

在這裡，你會發現水母、哦，看那果凍等各種東西！

to massive slugs, to coastal black bears, to seal-eating coastal wolves, to the fastest porpoises in the world.

從巨大的蛞蝓到沿海黑熊，從吃海豹的沿海狼到世界上速度最快的江豚。

There's a dolphin porpoise following right along on the boat.

有一隻海豚江豚正跟在船上。

It's right beside me, right below me.

它就在我身邊，就在我下面。

But we're here to see something pretty special.

但我們來這裡是為了看一些非常特別的東西。

These coasts are home to one of the cutest mammals on the face of the earth.

這些海岸是地球上最可愛的哺乳動物之一的家園。

It's an absolutely beautiful morning out here on the ocean just off the coast of Vancouver Island and we're out looking for some marine otters.

這是一個絕對美麗的早晨，在溫哥華島海岸附近的海面上，我們正在尋找海獺。

Right now I'm at the top of a double-decker boat operated by our friends at Aquatic Safaris in Tofino.

現在，我正在一艘雙層遊船的頂層，這艘遊船由我們在託菲諾的朋友 Aquatic Safaris 營運。

They're experts at finding local wildlife and having tall boats makes it easier to spot sea otters.

他們是尋找當地野生動物的專家，有了高大的船隻，更容易發現海獺。

Let's go see some otters.

我們去看水獺吧

Oh there's one right there.

哦，這裡有一個。

That way, right behind us.

那邊，就在我們後面

Sea otters live exclusively in the North Pacific.

海獺只生活在北太平洋。

From northern Japan, across the Bering Strait, all the way down to Baja.

從日本北部，穿過白令海峽，一直到巴哈。

This area of British Columbia is more temperate than most of their range and is known to be home to a small colony of otters.

不列顛哥倫比亞省的這一地區比水獺的大部分分佈區更為溫和，據悉這裡是一個小型水獺群落的家園。

We're scanning the surface of this kelp forest here, hoping to find some sea otters.

我們正在掃描這片海藻林的表面，希望能找到一些海獺。

Though it's getting pretty cold for us, otters don't mind the weather at all.

雖然對我們來說天氣越來越冷，但水獺一點也不介意。

They even thrive in colder regions.

它們甚至在寒冷地區也能茁壯成長。

I feel like anywhere that you see a mat of kelp at the surface, your chances are pretty good at seeing a marine otter.

我覺得，只要在海面上看到海藻墊，就很有可能看到海獺。

Most marine mammals battle freezing temperatures by growing thick layers of blubber and becoming chonky boys.

大多數海洋哺乳動物通過長出厚厚的脂肪層來抵禦嚴寒，成為 "小胖墩"。

Sea otters have evolved to keep trim at a lean 40 kilograms.

海獺在進化過程中，體重一直保持在 40 公斤左右。

And instead of getting fat, they just wear the best coat on the planet.

他們不但沒有變胖，反而穿上了這個星球上最好的外套。

Oh, I found some more.

哦，我又找到了一些。

There's some more over there.

那邊還有一些。

Or there's at least one, two, three.

或者至少有一個、兩個、三個。

Oh my god, there's like, there's three right there.

我的天啊，這裡有三個人。

Holy.

神聖的

They have the densest fur in the world to keep themselves warm.

它們有世界上最濃密的皮毛來保暖。

Older otters can have a million hairs per square inch.

年長的水獺每平方英寸可以有一百萬根毛。

That's a thousand times denser than a human scalp.

這比人類頭皮的密度還要大一千倍。

Bonkers.

瘋了

They can grow 400,000 hairs on an area the size of a penny.

在一便士大小的面積上，它們能長出 40 萬根毛髮。

All right, we're super lucky because we just spotted a sea otter down in this kelp forest over here.

好吧，我們非常幸運 因為我們剛剛在海藻森林裡 發現了一隻海獺

But the fur itself doesn't keep otters warm.

但皮毛本身並不能為水獺保暖。

Rather, it creates a layer of air that insulates them.

相反，它會形成一層空氣，使其隔熱。

Their hair is also barbed, which makes it more likely to get matted and better at holding in bubbles.

它們的毛髮也有倒刺，這使它們的毛髮更容易枯黃，也更容易堵住氣泡。

Researchers have recently discovered that those bubbles provide better insulation than blubber.

研究人員最近發現，這些氣泡的隔熱性能比鯨脂更好。

Their buoyancy is a feature that's especially useful when they're pups.

當它們還是幼崽時，它們的浮力是一項特別有用的功能。

Otters are year-round moms.

水獺全年都是媽媽。

Half the year they're pregnant and the other half they're taking care of their baby.

她們一年中有一半時間在懷孕，另一半時間在照顧孩子。

Luckily, our friends at Elkhorn Slow in California have been keeping track of their population using otter cams.

幸運的是，我們在加利福尼亞埃爾克霍恩慢水獺保護區的朋友們一直在使用水獺攝像頭追蹤它們的數量。

And they got to witness this amazing birth live.

他們現場見證了這一神奇的誕生。

The first thing the mom does is lick the baby until it's dry.

媽媽要做的第一件事就是舔寶寶，直到舔幹為止。

All the licking makes the hair so fluffy that they're physically unable to sink.

所有的舔食都會讓毛髮變得蓬鬆，以至於它們無法下沉。

They're like a furry beach ball on the water.

它們就像水面上毛茸茸的沙灘球。

They almost look like they have a permanent flotation device or something because they're always just so comfortably laying in the water, floating at the surface.

它們看起來就像有一個永久性的漂浮裝置，因為它們總是那麼舒服地躺在水裡，漂浮在水面上。

Unfortunately, their amazing fur has caused them a lot of trouble since humans caught wind that they could make a lot of money off them.

不幸的是，自從人類發現可以用它們賺大錢後，它們神奇的皮毛就給它們帶來了很多麻煩。

The great hunt started in the mid-1700s when Russian fur traders realized they could sell otter pelts for 20 times more than sable pelts.

大狩獵開始於 17 世紀中期，當時俄羅斯毛皮商人意識到他們可以以比紫貂皮高出 20 倍的價格出售水獺皮。

This led them to expand their area of operation to North America and soon after, other nations entered the otter fur trade.

這促使他們將經營區域擴大到北美，不久之後，其他國家也加入了獺兔皮毛貿易。

In the following 200 years, the worldwide otter population declined from hundreds of thousands across the North Pacific to just over a thousand in a few isolated pockets.

在隨後的 200 年裡，全世界的水獺數量從整個北太平洋地區的數十萬只減少到僅存於幾個偏僻地區的一千多隻。

The local population here on Vancouver Island was totally extirpated.

溫哥華島的當地種群已完全滅絕。

This caused significant ecological damage.

這對生態環境造成了嚴重破壞。

So, starting in the 1960s, a reintroduction program started to bring Alaskan otters to repopulate the island.

是以，從 20 世紀 60 年代開始，阿拉斯加水獺重新引入計劃開始實施，讓阿拉斯加水獺重新在島上繁衍生息。

Sea otters are a keystone species and control sea urchin populations which are voracious kelp eaters.

海獺是關鍵物種，控制著貪吃海帶的海膽數量。

These sea otters live, eat and breed in these kelp forests that they call home.

這些海獺在它們稱之為家的海藻林中生活、進食和繁殖。

Dozens of invertebrate species and several fish species require kelp forests to survive.

幾十種無脊椎動物和幾種魚類需要海藻林才能生存。

Without otters, they disappear too.

沒有水獺，它們也會消失。

Thankfully, sea otter populations have recovered from the brink of extinction but they are still endangered.

值得慶幸的是，海獺的數量已經從瀕臨滅絕的邊緣恢復過來，但它們仍然瀕臨滅絕。

Despite all of their challenges, they're slowly but surely recovering.

儘管面臨種種挑戰，他們仍在緩慢而堅定地恢復。

Their worldwide population is over a thousand times larger than it was a hundred years ago and about two-thirds of the pre-great hunt numbers.

它們在全球的數量比一百年前增加了一千多倍，約為大狩獵前的三分之二。

This otter we're seeing here is a descendant of those Alaskan otters and the kelp is part of the forest that they helped bring back.

我們在這裡看到的這隻水獺就是阿拉斯加水獺的後代，而海藻就是它們幫助帶回的森林的一部分。

And the boom in biodiversity has been a boon to other mammals, such as these sea doggos.

而生物多樣性的繁榮也給其他哺乳動物帶來了福音，比如這些海狗。

Sea otters eat a lot.

海獺吃得很多

They eat about 20% of their body weight in food every day.

它們每天吃的食物約佔體重的 20%。

Luckily, they're able to eat a huge amount of prey species.

幸運的是，它們能吃大量的獵物。

But slow-moving animals from the sea bottom, such as large bivalves, are their favourite snacks.

但海底的慢速動物，如大型雙殼類動物，是它們最喜歡的零食。

They have very strong jaws and sharp teeth which allow them to crack open crabs.

它們有非常強壯的下顎和鋒利的牙齒，可以咬開螃蟹。

A perfect treat for a lazy day in the sun.

在陽光下慵懶一天的完美享受。

In most of their range, clams and mussels are the staples of their diet.

在它們分佈的大部分地區，蛤蜊和貽貝是它們的主食。

But clam shells are too tough to break open by bite alone.

但蛤蜊殼太堅硬，僅靠咬是無法掰開的。

And so, sea otters have taken the same jump humanity did and they've started to use tools.

是以，海獺和人類一樣，開始使用工具。

I never thought I'd see this.

我從沒想過我會看到這一幕。

This is amazing.

太神奇了

To open up a clam, sea otters use sharp rocks.

為了打開蛤蜊，海獺會使用鋒利的岩石。

Under each of their arms, they have flaps of loose skin, which they use to store food and also to hang on to their favourite rocks.

它們的每隻手臂下面都有一圈鬆弛的皮膚，用來儲存食物，也用來掛在它們最喜歡的石頭上。

They then return to the surface with a tasty clam.

然後，它們帶著美味的蛤蜊返回水面。

They roll onto their backs and smack the living daylights out of the clam until it breaks.

它們滾到蛤蜊背上，把蛤蜊打得皮開肉綻，直到蛤蜊斷裂。

Then, it's lunchtime!

然後，午餐時間到了！

They're not picky though.

不過他們並不挑剔。

They'll eat whatever they can catch.

它們能抓到什麼就吃什麼。

Their only limitation is depth.

它們唯一的限制就是深度。

Despite being able to hold their breath for eight minutes, they can only dive to about 40 metres.

儘管它們能憋氣八分鐘，但只能潛到 40 米左右。

Their bubbles trapped in their fur make them too buoyant to go any deeper.

它們的氣泡被困在毛皮裡，浮力太大，無法再深入。

But that's alright.

不過沒關係。

Digging through the floor of shallow waters makes them as happy as a clam.

在淺水區刨地讓它們像蛤蜊一樣快樂。

Well, maybe not these particular clams.

好吧，也許不是這些特殊的蛤蜊。

But just when we thought we couldn't see anything cooler than an otter opening up a clam… Wait, is that an octopus?

但就在我們以為再也看不到比水獺打開蛤蜊更酷的東西時......等等，那是章魚嗎？

That's right!

這就對了！

This industrious sea otter was able to capture one of the world's greatest escape artists, an octopus!

這隻勤勞的海獺成功捕獲了世界上最偉大的逃學生藝術家之一--章魚！

When in Rome!

在羅馬時

So what should I talk about next?

那麼，接下來我該談什麼呢？

Please let me know in the comments and be sure to subscribe for new episodes of Animalogic every week.

請在評論中告訴我，並請務必訂閱每週的新一期 Animalogic。

Thanks for watching and see ya!

感謝觀看，再見！