"People protect what they love,"

「人會捍衛其所愛。」

I want to share with you today what I love most in the ocean,

我今天想要跟你們分享，海洋中我的最愛，

and that's the incredible number and variety

那就是這些多到不可思議

of animals in it that make light.

讓海洋閃閃發光的生物

My addiction began with this strange looking diving suit called Wasp;

一開始我是被這看起來很奇特的 WASP(黃蜂)潛水裝所吸引

that's not an acronym -- just somebody thought it looked like the insect.

這不是什麼字母的縮寫，只是有人覺得看起來像一種昆蟲

It was actually developed for use by the offshore oil industry

其實它本來是設計給近海石油工業使用的

for diving on oil rigs down to a depth of 2,000 feet.

可以潛到 2,000 呎深的鑽油平台

Right after I completed my Ph.D.,

在我拿到博士學位以後

I was lucky enough to be included with a group of scientists

非常幸運的加入了一群科學家的行列

that was using it for the first time

那是我第一次使用它

as a tool for ocean exploration.

來做海洋探險的工具

We trained in a tank in Port Hueneme,

我們在休尼米港(美國海軍設施用地)受訓，

and then my first open ocean dive

然後我第一次的海潛

was in Santa Barbara Channel.

是在聖塔芭芭拉海峽

It was an evening dive.

那是一次的夜潛

I went down to a depth of 880 feet

我下到 880 呎深的水中

and turned out the lights.

關掉所有燈光

And the reason I turned out the lights is because I knew I would see

我關燈的原因是因為我知道我會看到

this phenomenon of animals making light

某種生物體發光的現象

called bioluminescence.

科學上稱為「生物螢光」

But I was totally unprepared

但我完全沒有預料到

for how much there was

那數量之多

and how spectacular it was.

而且十分壯觀

I saw chains of jellyfish called siphonophores

我看到一連串稱為「管水母」的生物排成的水母鏈

that were longer than this room,

比這個房間還長

pumping out so much light

發出的光之多

that I could read the dials and gauges

即使在潛水裝裡不開手電筒

inside the suit without a flashlight;

我也看得到刻度跟儀表板的數字

and puffs and billows

還有一陣陣大小翻騰

of what looked like luminous blue smoke;

看起來像藍色螢光的煙霧

and explosions of sparks

或是像從推進器渦旋而出

that would swirl up out of the thrusters --

蹦開的火花

just like when you throw a log on a campfire and the embers swirl up off the campfire,

就像你丟一塊木頭到營火裡，火花霹啪往上竄，

but these were icy, blue embers.

只不過這些是冰冷的藍色火光

It was breathtaking.

美到讓人窒息

Now, usually if people are familiar with bioluminescence at all,

如果熟悉生物螢光的人就知道，

it's these guys; it's fireflies.

其實就是這些傢伙，螢火蟲

And there are a few other land-dwellers that can make light --

有一些其他陸居的生物也會發光

some insects, earthworms, fungi --

像一些昆蟲，蚯蚓或真菌等等，

but in general, on land, it's really rare.

一般來說，在陸地上並不常見

In the ocean, it's the rule

但在海洋中，卻是生存法則，

rather than the exception.

而不是特例

If I go out in the open ocean environment,

如果我到一個開放的海域，

virtually anywhere in the world,

實際上就是世界上任何地方，

and I drag a net from 3,000 feet to the surface,

然後我拖著一個網子，從 3,000 呎深拖到海面，

most of the animals --

我捕到的東西，

in fact, in many places, 80 to 90 percent

事實上，在很多地方，

of the animals that I bring up in that net --

有八到九成，

make light.

都會發光

This makes for some pretty spectacular light shows.

夜夜上演著美麗絢爛的燈光秀

Now I want to share with you a little video

現在我要給你們看看一段

that I shot from a submersible.

我在潛艇中拍的小影片

I first developed this technique working from a little

我當初發展這個技術是從

single-person submersible called Deep Rover

一個叫做「深海漫遊者」的小型單人潛艇開始

and then adapted it for use on the Johnson Sea-Link,

然後改良成可以在「強生海連號」上用

which you see here.

就是你們現在看到的這個

So, mounted in front of the observation sphere,

所以登上觀測台以後

there's a a three-foot diameter hoop

有一個直徑 3 呎的鐵環

with a screen stretched across it.

這裡接著一個螢幕

And inside the sphere with me is an intensified camera

然後在裡面就是我和強化攝影機

that's about as sensitive as a fully dark-adapted human eye,

幾乎就跟適應了黑暗的肉眼一樣靈敏

albeit a little fuzzy.

不過是有點模糊的

So you turn on the camera, turn out the lights.

所以打開攝影機，關掉燈光，

That sparkle you're seeing is not luminescence,

不過你們現在看到的火光不是生物螢光

that's just electronic noise

只是在強化攝影機上的

on these super intensified cameras.

一些電波雜訊

You don't see luminescence until the submersible

要等到潛艇開始在水裡移動的時候

begins to move forward through the water,

你們才會看到生物螢光

but as it does, animals bumping into the screen

就是這樣，鏡頭螢幕碰到生物的時候

are stimulated to bioluminesce.

生物會受到刺激發出生物螢光

Now, when I was first doing this,

我剛開始試的時候

all I was trying to do was count the numbers of sources.

我一直在計算發光體的數目

I knew my forward speed, I knew the area,

我知道我前進的速度 也知道面積

and so I could figure out how many hundreds of sources

所以我知道每平方公尺

there were per cubic meter.

就有幾百種發光體

But I started to realize that I could actually identify animals

之後發現我可以藉由牠們不同型態的閃光

by the type of flashes they produced.

來辨別那些生物

And so, here, in the Gulf of Maine

所以像這邊是緬因灣

at 740 feet,

深度 740 呎

I can name pretty much everything you're seeing there to the species level.

我幾乎可以叫出所有你們現在看到的生物，到「種」的層次

Like those big explosions, sparks,

像這些大爆炸呀 火焰呀

are from a little comb jelly,

是來自於小的櫛水母

and there's krill and other kinds of crustaceans,

還有磷蝦 其他甲殼綱動物

and jellyfish.

和水母等等

There was another one of those comb jellies.

這也是櫛水母的一種

And so I've worked with computer image analysis engineers

然後我跟電腦影像分析的工程師合作

to develop automatic recognition systems

設計了一種自動辨識系統

that can identify these animals

可以辨別出這些生物

and then extract the XYZ coordinate of the initial impact point.

找出初始衝擊點的 X, Y, Z 座標

And we can then do the kinds of things that ecologists do on land,

然後就可以跟生態學家在陸地上做的事一樣

and do nearest neighbor distances.

計算最鄰近距離

But you don't always have to go down to the depths of the ocean

但是你不需要到海底深處

to see a light show like this.

才能欣賞這些燈光秀

You can actually see it in surface waters.

其實直接從海面上就看得到

This is some shot, by Dr. Mike Latz at Scripps Institution,

這是史奎普斯研究院的麥克萊玆博士拍的一段影片

of a dolphin swimming through bioluminescent plankton.

海豚游過一群生物螢光浮游生物

And this isn't someplace exotic

這裡也不像波多黎各灣

like one of the bioluminescent bays in Puerto Rico,

有很多生物螢光

this was actually shot in San Diego Harbor.

這個其實是在聖地牙哥海港拍的

And sometimes you can see it even closer than that,

有時候你甚至可以更靠近點看

because the heads on ships --

有些人可能不知道

that's toilets, for any land lovers that are listening --

船頭其實就是廁所

are flushed with unfiltered seawater

是用沒有未經過濾的海水沖的

that often has bioluminescent plankton in it.

裡面有許多會發出生物螢光的浮游生物

So, if you stagger into the head late at night

所以如果你狂歡到半夜

and you're so toilet-hugging sick

突然覺得很尿急

that you forget to turn on the light,

衝到廁所的時候忘了開燈

you may think that you're having a religious experience. (Laughter)

你可能會以為你看到了神蹟

So, how does a living creature make light?

那麼，生物是如何發光的呢？

Well, that was the question that 19th century

這個問題在十九世紀的時候被提出

French physiologist Raphael Dubois,

一個法國的生理學家 Raphael Dubois

asked about this bioluminescent clam.

對生物螢光蚌有些疑問

He ground it up and he managed to get out a couple of chemicals;

他把這些蛤磨碎，想從中得到一些化學物質

one, the enzyme, he called luciferase;

有一種他稱作「螢光基因」的酵素

the substrate, he called luciferin

還有其它基質，他稱做「螢光素」

after Lucifer the Lightbearer.

取自 Lucifer (上帝製造的第一個天使) 意為光明的持有者

That terminology has stuck, but it doesn't actually refer to specific chemicals

這些術語沿用至今 但因為這些化學物質種類眾多且形態各異

because these chemicals come in a lot of different shapes and forms.

所以它們並不代表特定的化學物質

In fact, most of the people

事實上

studying bioluminescence today

大多數現在研究生物螢光的人

are focused on the chemistry, because these chemicals

都把重點放在化學性質上

have proved so incredibly valuable

因為這些化合物已被證實極具價值

for developing antibacterial agents,

可以拿來生產抗生素

cancer fighting drugs,

抗癌藥物

testing for the presence of life on Mars,

測試火星上的生命跡象

detecting pollutants in our waters --

偵測我們飲用水裡的污染物

which is how we use it at ORCA.

也就是我們在 ORCA 裡用的

In 2008,

2008年的

the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

諾貝爾化學獎

was awarded for work done

就頒給了

on a molecule called green fluorescent protein

綠色螢光蛋白（GFP）的分子研究

that was isolated from the bioluminescent chemistry

此種分子正是從水母的生物螢光物質中

of a jellyfish,

分離出來的

and it's been equated to the invention of the microscope,

以其在細胞生物

in terms of the impact that it has had

和基因工程上的影響來說

on cell biology and genetic engineering.

跟顯微鏡的發明有著同等的地位

Another thing all these molecules are telling us

這些微小分子告訴我們的另一件事是

that, apparently, bioluminescence has evolved

很顯然的，生物螢光在演化史上

at least 40 times, maybe as many as 50 separate times

已經演化了至少 40 次

in evolutionary history,

甚至 50 次之多

which is a clear indication

這個特質很清楚的顯示

of how spectacularly important

適者生存

this trait is for survival.

在演化上的重要性

So, what is it about bioluminescence

那麼，生物螢光對於這麼多生物來說

that's so important to so many animals?

到底有多重要？

Well, for animals that are trying to avoid predators

可以這樣說，生物要避免掠食者，

by staying in the darkness,

可以隱身於黑暗之中，

light can still be very useful

但光在三個基本需求上

for the three basic things that animals have to do to survive:

是生存必備的法寶

and that's find food,

也就是「覓食」、

attract a mate and avoid being eaten.

「尋找伴侶」、以及「躲避掠食者」

So, for example, this fish

舉例來說，這種魚

has a built-in headlight behind its eye

的眼睛上方有個內建式的頭燈（發光器）

that it can use for finding food

可以用來覓食

or attracting a mate.

或是吸引異性

And then when it's not using it, it actually can roll it down into its head

如果不用的時候，也可以捲進頭部，

just like the headlights on your Lamborghini.

就像藍寶基尼跑車的車頭燈

This fish actually has high beams.

再看這條魚，甚至還有遠燈

And this fish, which is one of my favorites,

這隻，是我最愛的魚之一

has three headlights on each side of its head.

在頭上三側各有三個頭燈的魚

Now, this one is blue,

現在看到的這個燈是藍色的

and that's the color of most bioluminescence in the ocean

也是生物螢光在海洋中最常見的顏色

because evolution has selected

因為演化的過程中

for the color that travels farthest through seawater

為了達到最有效的效率

in order to optimize communication.

選擇了在海水中穿透能力最強的藍光

So, most animals make blue light,

所以多數生物發出藍色光