I grew up in Mobile, Alabama --

我第一次被章魚迷住是在小時候

somebody's got to be from Mobile, right? --

我在阿拉巴馬州的Mobile郡長大

and Mobile sits at the confluence of five rivers,

這裡總該有人是從那裡來的吧？

forming this beautiful delta.

Mobile位在五條河流的交會處

And the delta has alligators crawling

形成美麗的三角洲

in and out of rivers filled with fish

這裡有短吻鱷出沒在河裡，

and cypress trees dripping with snakes,

水裡滿滿是魚

birds of every flavor.

柏樹上垂著蛇

It's an absolute magical wonderland to live in --

還有各式各樣的鳥

if you're a kid interested in animals, to grow up in.

那絕對是一個神奇的樂園

And this delta water flows to Mobile Bay, and finally into the Gulf of Mexico.

最適合喜歡動物的孩子在那裡成長。

And I remember my first real contact with octopus

三角洲的水流進Mobile灣，最後進了墨西哥灣

was probably at age five or six.

我記得我和章魚的第一次接觸

I was in the gulf, and I was swimming around and saw a little octopus on the bottom.

大概是在五六歲時

And I reached down and picked him up, and immediately

我在墨西哥灣游泳，在海底看到一隻小章魚。

became fascinated and impressed by its speed and its strength and agility.

我伸手過去把牠拿起來，在那瞬間

It was prying my fingers apart and moving to the back of my hand.

我被牠敏捷靈活有力的身手所震懾。

It was all I could do to hold onto this amazing creature.

牠掰開我的手指，然後爬到我的手背上。

Then it sort of calmed down in the palms of my hands

我所能做的，就是托著他

and started flashing colors,

然後他就在我的手掌上安靜下來

just pulsing all of these colors.

開始改變體色

And as I looked at it, it kind of tucked its arms under it,

不同顏色一直跳動

raised into a spherical shape

我看著牠把觸手藏在身下

and turned chocolate brown with two white stripes.

變成圓形

I'm going, "My gosh!" I had never seen anything like this in my life!

然後變成巧克力色，上面還有兩條白線

So I marveled for a moment, and then decided it was time to release him,

我心想“天啊！”我這輩子從來沒看過這種東西。

so I put him down.

我讚嘆了一會兒，決定是時候把牠放走了

The octopus left my hands and then did the damnedest thing:

所以我把牠放下

It landed on the bottom in the rubble

章魚從我手上離開，然後拿出了它的絕招。

and -- fwoosh! -- vanished

他沈降到水底的亂石上，

right before my eyes.

然後咻一下就不見了

And I knew, right then, at age six,

就在我眼前

that is an animal that I want to learn more about. So I did.

就在那個當下，六歲的我就決定，

And I went off to college and got a degree in marine zoology,

這就是我想要瞭解學習更多的動物。而我也就這麼做了，

and then moved to Hawaii and entered graduate school

我進了大學並拿到了海洋生物學的學位

at the University of Hawaii.

接著搬到夏威夷

And while a student at Hawaii, I worked at the Waikiki Aquarium.

進了夏威夷大學的研究所

And the aquarium had a lot of big fish tanks

當我在夏威夷唸書時，我在威基基水族館工作

but not a lot of invertebrate displays,

水族館裡有很多大魚缸

and being the spineless guy, I thought, well

但是無脊椎動物的展示並不多。

I'll just go out in the field and collect these wonderful animals

既然我是研究無脊椎動物的，我想，好吧，

I had been learning about as a student

我就自己去外面收集這些美妙的動物

and bring them in, and I built these elaborate sets and put them on display.

在我的學生生涯裡，我一直在研究牠們，

Now, the fish in the tanks were gorgeous to look at,

把牠們帶回來，我精心佈置魚缸展示牠們。

but they didn't really interact with people.

現在，魚缸裡的魚看上去非常美麗

But the octopus did.

可是牠們沒有真的和人互動。

If you walked up to an octopus tank,

但章魚會

especially early in the morning before anyone arrived,

如果你走向一個章魚缸

the octopus would rise up and look at you

特別是一大早，大家都還沒來的時候

and you're thinking, "Is that guy really looking at me? He is looking at me!"

章魚會起身盯著你

And you walk up to the front of the tank. Then you realize

然後你會想“這傢伙真的在看我嗎？他在看我耶！”

that these animals all have different personalities:

然後你走到缸子前，接著你會發現

Some of them would hold their ground,

這些章魚們都有不同個性

others would slink into the back of the tank and disappear in the rocks,

有些原地不動，

and one in particular, this amazing animal ...

有些溜到魚缸後頭，消失在岩石中。

I went up to the front of the tank, and he's just staring at me,

但是有一個很特別，這是個奇異的傢伙……

and he had little horns come up above his eyes.

我走到魚缸前，而牠就這麼瞪著我。

So I went right up to the front of the tank --

牠有些小觸角慢慢從眼睛上方抬起來。

I was three or four inches from the front glass --

於是我走到魚缸正前方。

and the octopus was sitting on a perch, a little rock,

離魚缸玻璃不到十公分的距離。

and he came off the rock and he also came down right to the front of the glass.

而這個章魚就坐在一塊小礁石的邊上，

So I was staring at this animal about six or seven inches away,

然後牠從石頭上溜下來，也來到魚缸玻璃前。

and at that time I could actually focus that close;

我就這樣隔著大概十幾公分的距離盯著它，

now as I look at my fuzzy fingers I realize those days are long gone.

當時，我真的能看清楚那麼近的距離；

Anyway, there we were, staring at each other,

現在當我看著自己的手指都模模糊糊時，我知道青春一去不復返了。

and he reaches down and grabs an armful of gravel

總之，當時我們就是這樣，彼此對視，

and releases it in the jet of water entering the tank

接著牠伸手到魚缸底，抓起一把小砂粒，

from the filtration system,

然後在魚缸濾水機的出水口那裡

and -- chk chk chk chk chk! -- this gravel hits the front of the glass and falls down.

鬆開觸手，

He reaches up, takes another armful of gravel, releases it --

然後“呲呲呲！”這把小砂粒打到魚缸的玻璃上，再沉到水底。

chk chk chk chk chk! -- same thing.

他伸出觸手，又抓起一把砂粒，鬆開……

Then he lifts another arm and I lift an arm.

“呲呲呲呲呲！”跟剛才一樣。

Then he lifts another arm and I lift another arm.

接著他舉起一個觸手。於是我也抬起一邊手臂。

And then I realize the octopus won the arms race,

然後他又舉起另外一邊。我也舉起另一邊。

because I was out and he had six left. (Laughter)

接著我就意識到這場舉手比賽是章魚贏了，

But the only way I can describe what I was seeing that day

因為我已經沒手可舉，而他還有六個呢。

was that this octopus was playing,

但對於那天我的所見所聞，我只有一種解釋

which is a pretty sophisticated behavior for a mere invertebrate.

那就是這個章魚在玩耍，

So, about three years into my degree,

這對於一隻區區無脊椎動物來說是相當複雜的行為。

a funny thing happened on the way to the office,

而在我念這個學位的第三年，

which actually changed the course of my life.

在我去辦公室的路上發生了一件有趣的事，

A man came into the aquarium. It's a long story, but essentially

這件事，確實地改變了我的人生。

he sent me and a couple of friends of mine to the South Pacific

有一個人跑來水族館。說來話長，但是基本上，

to collect animals for him,

這個人派我和我的一些朋友去南太平洋，

and as we left, he gave us two 16-millimeter movie cameras.

為他收集動物，

He said, "Make a movie about this expedition."

在我們離開時，他給我們兩部16毫米攝影機。

"OK, a couple of biologists making a movie --

他說，“把這次考察活動拍成電影吧。”

this'll be interesting,"

……好吧，一堆生物學家拍電影——

and off we went. And we did, we made a movie,

應該會很有趣。

which had to be the worst movie ever made

於是我們就出發了，而且還真的拍了部電影，

in the history of movie making,

這肯定是電影史上

but it was a blast. I had so much fun.

最爛的片子了。

And I remember that proverbial light going off in my head,

但是它很有衝擊力；我玩得不亦樂乎。

thinking, "Wait a minute.

我還記得當時我突然靈機一動，

Maybe I can do this all the time.

想到，“等等。

Yeah, I'll be a filmmaker."

說不定我可以一直做這個。

So I literally came back from that job,

對，我要成為一個電影製片人。”

quit school, hung my filmmaking shingle

於是，當我完成這工作回來，我當真

and just never told anyone that I didn't know what I was doing.

退了學，掛上製片的招牌

It's been a good ride.

不過我從沒告訴過任何人我其實根本不知道自己在做什麽。

And what I learned in school though was really beneficial.

到現在為止都很順利。

If you're a wildlife filmmaker

而我在學校裡學到的東西其實都非常有用。

and you're going out into the field to film animals,

如果你是一名野生動物製片人

especially behavior,

跑去野外拍攝動物，

it helps to have a fundamental background

尤其是動物的行為，

on who these animals are,

具備基本的知識背景是很有幫助的

how they work and, you know, a bit about their behaviors.

比如要拍的是怎樣一種動物，

But where I really learned about octopus

牠們如何活動，你們懂的，一些關於牠們行為的知識。

was in the field, as a filmmaker

但讓我真正瞭解章魚

making films with them,

是我在身為製片人，

where you're allowed to spend large periods of time

實地拍攝關於牠們電影的時候，

with the animals, seeing octopus being octopus

在那裡你可以花大量的時間

in their ocean homes.

和這些動物在一起，在章魚們的家鄉，海洋

I remember I took a trip to Australia,

觀察真正的章魚是怎樣的。

went to an island called One Tree Island.

我記得有次去澳洲，

And apparently, evolution had occurred

我去了一個名叫“一棵樹”的小島。

at a pretty rapid rate on One Tree,

而顯然，演化過程在

between the time they named it and the time I arrived,

“一棵樹”上以相當快的速度發生，

because I'm sure there were at least three trees

就在他們給它命名到我到達的這段時間裡，

on that island when we were there.

因為我明明在島上看到至少三棵樹

Anyway, one tree is situated right next to

當我們抵達那裡的時候。

a beautiful coral reef.

總之，這個島緊挨著

In fact, there's a surge channel

一片美麗的珊瑚礁。

where the tide is moving back and forth, twice a day, pretty rapidly.

事實上，這裡有一條衝浪流道

And there's a beautiful reef,

在那裡，潮汐一天兩次快速地來回沖刷，

very complex reef, with lots of animals,

這裡還有一片美麗的珊瑚礁

including a lot of octopus.

很多動物生活在這片複雜的珊瑚礁中，

And not uniquely

包括很多章魚。

but certainly, the octopus in Australia

雖不是獨門行為，

are masters at camouflage.

但澳洲的章魚，

As a matter of fact,

肯定是偽裝界的大師。

there's one right there.

事實上，

So our first challenge was to find these things,

在這個島上就有這樣的章魚。

and that was a challenge, indeed.

所以我們的第一個挑戰就是找到這些傢伙，

But the idea is, we were there for a month

而這的確是一個挑戰。

and I wanted to acclimate the animals to us

但是我們會在那裡呆上一個月，

so that we could see behaviors without disturbing them.

我想讓章魚適應我們的存在。

So the first week was pretty much spent

這樣我們才能看到它們未被騷擾時的行為。

just getting as close as we could,

所以第一個星期就是

every day a little closer, a little closer, a little closer.

儘量靠近它們

And you knew what the limit was: they would start getting twitchy

每天都更近一點，更近一點，更近一點。

and you'd back up, come back in a few hours.

然後你就知道底線在哪裡，再近牠們就要開始不安了，

And after the first week, they ignored us.

這時你就撤退，過幾個小時再回來，

It was like, "I don't know what that thing is, but he's no threat to me."

第一個星期以後，它們就忽視我們了。

So they went on about their business

章魚可能覺得，“我也不知道這東西是啥，但是他對我沒什麽威脅。”

and from a foot away, we're watching mating

於是就繼續忙自己的事了。

and courting and fighting

就在三十公分的距離之外，我們觀察牠們交配，

and it is just an unbelievable experience.

求偶和爭鬥，

And one of the most fantastic displays

這真是一個令人難以置信的經驗。

that I remember, or at least visually,

而我記得的其中一個最奇妙的行為

was a foraging behavior.

至少是我能視覺上觀察到的

And they had a lot of different techniques

是捕食行為。

that they would use for foraging,

牠們掌握了很多不同的技巧

but this particular one used vision.

用以捕食。

And they would see a coral head,

但這種技巧用到視覺。

maybe 10 feet away,

比如它們看到一塊珊瑚岬

and start moving over toward that coral head.

大約離著三公尺遠

And I don't know whether they actually saw crab in it, or imagined that one might be,

就開始朝著那裡移動過去。

but whatever the case, they would leap off the bottom

我也不知道牠們到底是看到有一隻螃蟹，還是猜想那裡可能有螃蟹，

and go through the water and land right on top of this coral head,

無論怎樣，牠們都是凌空而起，

and then the web between the arms

游過去，降落在這塊珊瑚岬的正頂部，

would completely engulf the coral head,

然後各觸手之間的襟膜

and they would fish out, swim for crabs.

將珊瑚岬完全包裹起來，

And as soon as the crabs touched the arm, it was lights out.

接著牠們把螃蟹從裡面趕出來。

And I always wondered what happened under that web.

只要螃蟹一碰到觸手，牠就完蛋了。

So we created a way to find out, (Laughter)

我總是想知道在襟膜包裹之下發生了些什麽。

and I got my first look at that famous beak in action.

於是我們發明了一個方法去觀察。

It was fantastic.

這樣我才第一次看到章魚那著名的嘴如何運動。

If you're going to make a lot of films about a particular group of animals,

真是太奇妙了。

you might as well pick one that's fairly common.

如果你想拍攝關於某一群動物的大量影片，

And octopus are, they live in all the oceans.

你可能也想選擇一種非常常見的動物。

They also live deep.

章魚就是；牠們生活在各個大洋裡。

And I can't say octopus are responsible

牠們也生活在深海。

for my really strong interest

雖不能說章魚就是主因

in getting in subs and going deep,

觸發我真正濃厚的興趣

but whatever the case, I like that.

鑽進潛艇潛入深海，

It's like nothing you've ever done.

但不管怎樣，我都喜歡這一行。

If you ever really want to get away from it all

這個工作是無與倫比的。

and see something that you have never seen,

如果你真的想從現實世界抽身而出，

and have an excellent chance of seeing something

去看一些前所未見的東西，

no one has ever seen, get in a sub.

那一個絕好的機會就是

You climb in, seal the hatch, turn on a little oxygen,

鑽進一個潛水艇。

turn on the scrubber,

你爬進去，密封艙門，釋放一些氧氣，

which removes the CO2 in the air you breathe, and they chuck you overboard.

啟動這個刷子，

Down you go. There's no connection to the surface

它能去除你呼出的二氧化碳，然後他們把你扔下船。

apart from a pretty funky radio.

你就開始下沉。與水面失去一切聯繫，

And as you go down, the washing machine

除了一個相當時髦的無線電對講器。

at the surface calms down.

在下沉的過程中，水面上的顛簸

And it gets quiet.

平靜下來。

And it starts getting really nice.

四周變得安靜。

And as you go deeper, that lovely, blue water you were launched in

一切開始變得非常美好。

gives way to darker and darker blue.

當你繼續下潛，剛才悅目的藍色海水

And finally, it's a rich lavender,

變成越來越深邃的藍。

and after a couple of thousand feet, it's ink black.

最終，變成深紫色，

And now you've entered the realm

而幾百公尺以下，就成了漆黑一團。

of the mid-water community.

現在你所在的

You could give an entire talk

是海洋的中間層區域。

about the creatures that live in the mid-water.

你可以開一個講座

Suffice to say though, as far as I'm concerned,

就講生活在中間層的生物。

without question, the most bizarre designs

就我所知，我可以這麼說，

and outrageous behaviors

毫無疑問，最古怪的生理構造

are in the animals that live in the mid-water community.

和最駭人聽聞的行為

But we're just going to zip right past this area,

就存在於生活在中間層的動物群落中。

this area that includes about 95 percent

但是我們要很快地離開這個區域，

of the living space on our planet

這個區域包括了我們星球95%的

and go to the mid-ocean ridge, which I think is even more extraordinary.

有生命存在的空間。

The mid-ocean ridge is a huge mountain range,

我們要去的是洋中脊，我覺得這個地區更加光怪陸離。

40,000 miles long, snaking around the entire globe.

洋中脊是一片巨大的山脈，

And they're big mountains, thousands of feet tall,

六萬五千公里長，綿延了整個地球。

some of which are tens of thousands of feet

而且它們都是巍峨的群山，幾百公尺高，

and bust through the surface,

有些甚至上千近萬，

creating islands like Hawaii.

高聳出海面，

And the top of this mountain range

形成像夏威夷這樣的海島。

is splitting apart, creating a rift valley.

而這些山脈的頂部

And when you dive into that rift valley, that's where the action is

分開成兩半，形成裂谷。

because literally thousands of active volcanoes

當你潛入到這裂谷，那裡才是所有事情發生的地方

are going off at any point in time

因為那裡真的有上千個活火山

all along this 40,000 mile range.

隨時會噴發，

And as these tectonic plates are spreading apart,

這些火山就分佈在這六萬五千公里長的洋中脊。

magma, lava is coming up and filling those gaps,

當這些構造板塊移動分開的時後，

and you're looking land -- new land --

岩漿和熔岩就會湧出來，填入這些空隙。

being created right before your eyes.

你看到的就是大陸，新大陸

And over the tops of them is 3,000 to 4,000 meters of water

正在你眼前創生。

creating enormous pressure,

而在這之上是3到4千米的水體，

forcing water down through the cracks toward the center of the earth,

產生巨大的壓力，

until it hits a magma chamber

促使海水向下穿裂壓向地心，

where it becomes superheated

直到擊中一個岩漿室，

and supersaturated with minerals,

那裡的溫度極高