with National Geographic,

我是一名海洋學家，也是一名探險攝影師。

but I want to share a secret.

我為國家地理工作，

This image is totally incorrect,

我要和諸位分享一個秘密。

totally incorrect.

這張照片完全是不對的，

I see a couple of people crying in the back

完全錯誤。

that I've blown their idea of mermaids.

我看到有些坐在後面的朋友掩面了，

All right, the mermaid is indeed real,

因為我破壞了他們對美人魚的想象。

but anyone who's gone on a dive

好吧，美人魚是存在的，

will know that the ocean looks more like this.

但是任何曾經潛水過的人

It's because the ocean is this massive filter,

都知道海面之下其實是這樣的。

and as soon as you start going underwater,

因為大海是一片龐大的濾光鏡，

you're going to lose your colors,

就在你潛下水面之時，

and it's going to get dark and blue very quickly.

你將開始失去捕捉顏色的能力，

But we're humans -- we're terrestrial mammals.

並且在短時間內，轉變為以黑色為藍色為主。

And we've got trichromatic vision,

但是我們是人類──陸生哺乳類動物。

so we see in red, green and blue,

我們擁有三色視覺，

and we're just complete color addicts.

我們看到的顏色由紅，綠，藍組成，

We love eye-popping color,

我們對色彩著迷，

and we try to bring this eye-popping color

我們鐘愛鮮艷的色彩，

underwater with us.

而同時我們也在嘗試將這些絢麗的色彩

So there's been a long and sordid history of bringing color underwater,

帶到水面下。

and it starts 88 years ago with Bill Longley and Charles Martin,

我們擁有漫長且沮喪的，企圖將諸多色彩帶到水下的歷史，

who were trying to take the first underwater color photograph.

從88年前，比爾.郎利和查理.馬丁

And they're in there with old-school scuba suits,

是最早嘗試在水下拍攝彩色照片的人。

where you're pumping air down to them,

他們套著舊式的潛水套，裝著水肺，

and they've got a pontoon of high-explosive magnesium powder,

水面上的人將空氣通過水肺輸送給他們，

and the poor people at the surface are not sure

他們擁有一個裝滿易爆鎂粉的高浮力浮筒，

when they're going to pull the string when they've got their frame in focus,

而水面上的人們不確定發生了什麼事，

and -- boom! -- a pound of high explosives would go off

當他們拉動細繩並對上焦，

so they could put a little bit of light underwater

然後──轟！一磅的鎂粉就爆炸了。

and get an image like this beautiful hogfish.

藉以這樣的方法，他們能使微弱的光線來到水下，

I mean, it's a gorgeous image, but this is not real.

以拍到一張像這張隆頭鱼一樣精緻的照片。

They're creating an artificial environment

我是說，這是張漂亮的照片，但它不是真實的。

so we can satisfy our own addiction to color.

他們人為地製造了一個環境

And looking at it the other way, what we've been finding

使我們的眼睛對於顏色的癡迷能夠被滿足。

is that instead of bringing color underwater with us,

以另一種角度來看，我們發現，

that we've been looking at the blue ocean,

與其將色彩帶到水下，

and it's a crucible of blue,

當我觀察藍色的海洋時，

and these animals living there for millions of years

我感到這樣的藍色是一種考驗，

have been evolving all sorts of ways to take in that blue light

這些動物在這裡生活了數百萬年，

and give off other colors.

並進化出了各種方法，同化這種藍光，

And here's just a little sample of what this secret world looks like.

進以創造出其他顏色。

It's like an underwater light show.

我有一個關於這個神秘世界真實面貌的例子，

(Music)

這就好像一台水下燈光秀。

Again, what we're seeing here is blue light hitting this image.

（音樂）

These animals are absorbing the blue light

我們所看到的是在藍光照射下拍攝的畫面，

and immediately transforming this light.

這些動物們（珊瑚蟲）吸收藍光

So if you think about it, the ocean is 71 percent of the planet,

並即刻將其轉化成別的顏色。

and blue light can extend down to almost a 1,000 meters.

所以當你想想看，海洋佔據地球的71％，

As we go down underwater,

而藍光可以照射到一千米以下的深海。

after about 10 meters, all the red is gone.

當我們潛入水下，

So if you see anything under 10 meters that's red,

十米開外，紅光就完全消失了。

it's an animal transforming and creating its own red.

所以你在海面十米以下看到的任何紅色，

This is the largest single monochromatic blue environment on our planet.

都是動物們吸收其他色光，並轉化為自身獨有的紅色。

And my gateway into this world of biofluorescence begins with corals.

這是我們的星球上，最大的單色藍光區域。

And I want to give a full TED Talk on corals

我開始探索生物螢光世界的契機是珊瑚蟲。

and just how cool these things are.

我也很想花一整個TED演講的時間來講珊瑚蟲

One of the things that they do, one of their miraculous feats,

他們如此神奇。

is they produce lots of these fluorescent proteins,

他們做的其中一件神奇的事，其中一個奇蹟般的工程，

fluorescent molecules.

是他們自身會生產螢光蛋白質，

And in this coral, it could be making up to 14 percent of its body mass --

螢光分子。

could be this fluorescent protein.

在這個珊瑚裡，他們可以產出相當於本身重量14％的

So you wouldn't be making, like, 14 percent muscle and not using it,

螢光蛋白質。

so it's likely doing something that has a functional role.

所以你不可能，生產出了14％體重的肌肉而不使用他們，

And for the last 10, 15 years, this was so special to me,

所以螢光分子的產生一定有其作用。

because this molecule has turned out to be one of the most revolutionary tools

在過去的10，15年間，這件事對我而言十分特殊，

in biomedical science,

因為這些分子的產生在生物醫學科學上

and it's allowing us to better see inside ourselves.

是革命性的工具，

So, how do I study this?

這使我們更認識我們自己。

In order to study biofluorescence, we swim at night.

所以，我是如何研究的？

And when I started out,

為了研究生物螢光現象，我們夜晚下潛。

I was just using these blue duct-tape filters over my strobe,

最初的時候，

so I could make sure I'm actually seeing the light

我只是用密封膠帶將藍色的濾鏡黏在我的閃光燈上，

that's being transformed by the animals.

這樣我的眼睛就可以看到，

We're making an exhibit for the Museum of Natural History,

這些藍光是如何被動物們轉化的。

and we're trying to show off how great the fluorescent corals are on the reef,

我們在為美國自然歷史博物館的一個展做準備，

and something happened that just blew me away:

我們試著展現這些珊瑚礁令人驚艷的螢光色，

this.

而一件事發生了，它輕易帶走了我的注意力，

In the middle of our corals,

這個。

is this green fluorescent fish.

在我們的珊瑚中間，

It's the first time we've ever seen a green fluorescent fish

這條綠色螢光魚出現了。

or any vertebrate for that matter.

這是我們第一次發現綠色螢光色的魚

And we're rubbing our eyes, checking the filters,

甚至是第一次發現螢光的有脊椎生物。

thinking that somebody's maybe playing a joke on us with the camera,

我們揉著眼睛，檢查濾鏡，

but the eel was real.

甚至猜測或許有些人對我們的相機動了手腳，想與我們開個玩笑，

It was the first green fluorescent eel that we found,

但是那條鰻魚是真實的。

and this just changed my trajectory completely.

這是我們發現的第一條綠色螢光鰻魚。

So I had to put down my corals and team up

而這完完全全改變了我的人生軌跡。

with a fish scientist, John Sparks,

我放下我的珊瑚，

and begin a search around the world

和一位魚類專家，約翰.斯帕克斯合作，

to see how prevalent this phenomenon is.

繼而開始在全世界展開調查，

And fish are much more interesting than corals,

以勘察這種現象的普遍性。

because they have really advanced vision,

魚類比珊瑚有趣多了，

and some of the fish even have, the way that I was photographing it,

因為他們有著更為出色的視覺，

they have lenses in their eyes that would magnify the fluorescence.

有些魚甚至擁有，與我用藍色閃光燈拍照原理相同的功能，

So I wanted to seek this out further.

他們眼睛中有著微小的“鏡頭”，可以用於增強螢光色。

So we designed a new set of gear

我想要更深入地了解這些東西，

and we're scouring the reefs around the world,

所以我們設計了一系列環環相扣的實驗，

looking for fluorescent life.

我們仔細勘察了全世界的珊瑚礁，

And it's a bit like "E.T. phone home."

以尋找更多螢光生物。

We're out there swimming with this blue light,

這有些像“E.T 企圖打電話回家”

and we're looking for a response,

我們帶著藍光在水下游動，

for animals to be absorbing the light and transferring this back to us.

希望能得到回應，

And eventually, we found our photobombing Kaupichphys eel.

希望動物們吸收藍光，並將他們轉化出的光回饋給我們。

It's a really shy, reclusive eel that we know almost nothing about.

最終，我們找到了Kaupichphys eel（應該隸屬草鰻科眶鼻鰻屬，譯者注）

They're only about the size of my finger,

它們是獨居且十分害羞的鰻魚，我們對它們幾乎一無所知。

and they spend about 99.9 percent of their time hidden under a rock.

它們只有我手指大小，

But these eels do come out to mate under full-moon nights,

並且99.9％的時間都藏在石頭下。

and that full-moon night translates underwater to blue.

但是這些鰻魚會在滿月的晚上游出來交配

Perhaps they're using this as a way to see each other,

滿月使夜裡的水下藍光遍佈，

quickly find each other, mate,

他們或許借此看到彼此，

go back into their hole for the next long stint of time.

迅速的找到彼此，交配，

But then we started to find other fluorescent marine life,

再回到他們的洞穴里進行漫長的等待。

like this green fluorescent bream,

我們開始找到別的熒光海洋生物，

with its, like, racing stripes along its head and its nape,

比如這條螢綠色的歐鳊，

and it's almost camouflaged and fluorescing at the same intensity

它額上與頸部都有著豎型條紋，就像賽車前蓋上那樣的，

as the fluorescent coral there.

並且這些偽裝性條紋有著與珊瑚礁

After this fish,

同樣的亮度。

we were introduced to this red fluorescent scorpionfish

在發現這種魚之後，

cloaked and hidden on this rock.

我們又發現了這種反射紅色螢光的鮋，

The only time we've ever seen this, it's either on red fluorescent algae

它們隱藏在岩石下，偽裝著。

or red fluorescent coral.

在此之前，我們只知道有螢光紅的海藻，

Later, we found this stealthy green fluorescent lizardfish.

以及螢光紅的珊瑚。

These lizardfish come in many varieties,

在這之後，我們發現這些反射螢光綠的狗母魚。

and they look almost exactly alike under white light.

狗母魚有許多種，

But if you look at them under fluorescent light,

它們在正常的光線下幾乎一模一樣。

you see lots of patterns,

但如果你在螢光燈下觀察它們，

you can really see the differences among them.

你可以看到許多圖案，

And in total -- we just reported this last year --

你可以清楚地看出它們的不同，

we found over 200 species of biofluorescent fish.

我們去年的報告指出──

One of my inspirations is French artist and biologist Jean Painlevé.

我們總共發現超過200種螢光的魚，

He really captures this entrepreneuring, creative spirit in biology.

我的啟迪者之一，是法國藝術，生物學家吉恩.潘勒偉。

He would design his own gear, make his own cameras,

他真正拍攝到了這些生物所擁有的，富有創意的精神。

and he was fascinated with the seahorse, Hippocampus erectus,

他自己製造設備，製作相機，

and he filmed for the first time the seahorse giving birth.

他為海馬著迷，直立海馬，

So this is the male seahorse.

他是史上第一個拍攝到了海馬生產畫面的人。

They were one of the first fish to start swimming upright

這就是雄海馬。

with their brain above their head.

它們是第一種豎著游泳

The males give birth,

且大腦是位於頭頂的魚類。

just phenomenal creatures.

雄海馬承擔生育的責任，

So he stayed awake for days.

這種生物如此不同尋常。

He even put this electrical visor on his head that would shock him,

所以他長時間的拍攝它們，

so he could capture this moment.

他甚至在頭上放置了電子面罩以電擊自己，

Now, I wish I could have shown Painlevé

以便於他可以集中精神拍攝這個畫面。

the moment where we found biofluorescent seahorses

現在，我希望我能讓吉恩看到，

in the exact same species that he was studying.

我們拍攝的螢光海馬的畫面

And here's our footage.

我們拍攝的和他拍攝的是同一種類。

(Music)

這是我們拍攝的畫面。

They're the most cryptic fish.

（音樂）

You could be swimming right on top of them and not see the seahorse.

它們是最撲朔迷離的魚類。

They would blend right into the algae, which would also fluoresce red,

你可能從它們頭頂游過，卻完全沒能注意到它們的存在。

but they've got great vision,

它們與同樣反射螢光紅的水藻融為一體，

and they go through this long mating ritual,

它們擁有很好地視力，

and perhaps they're using it in that effect.

並需要經歷漫長的交配儀式，

But things got pretty edgy

這也許也是它們螢光的原因之一。

when we found green fluorescence in the stingray,

但事情變得愈加複雜

because stingrays are in the Elasmobranch class,

當我們發現魟也會反射螢光綠，

which includes ...

因為魟屬於軟骨魚綱

sharks.

這個綱目也包括....

So I'm, like, a coral biologist.

鯊魚。

Somebody's got to go down and check to see if the sharks are fluorescent.

所以，我，一個珊瑚生物學家，

And there I am.

跑去水下開始觀察鯊魚是否也是螢光的。

(Laughter)

嗯，這就是我。

And I was like, "Maybe I should go back to corals."

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

然後我想：“ 嗯，好吧，或許我應該繼續研究我的珊瑚。”

It turns out that these sharks are not fluorescent.

（笑聲）

And then we found it.

我們發現這些鯊魚不是螢光的。

In a deep, dark canyon off the coast of California,

然後我們找到了這個。

we found the first biofluorescent swellshark,

在加利福尼亞海岸邊一個幽深的洞穴里，

right underneath all the surfers.

我們找到了第一條螢光的頭鮫，

Here it is.

就在衝浪者的腳底下。

They're just about a meter long. It's called a swellshark.

這就是它。

And they call them a swellshark because if they're threatened,

它們大概一米長，叫做頭鮫。

they can gulp down water and blow up like an inner tube,

人們叫它們頭鮫（swellshark字譯為膨脹的鯊魚）因為它們如果受到驚嚇，

about twice their size,

它們會吞嚥海水并鼓脹身體，就像身體里有條軟管，

and wedge themselves under a rock, so they don't get eaten by a predator.

它們可以膨脹到原本的兩倍，

And here is our first footage of these biofluorescent swellsharks.

並把身子嵌入岩石中，以保護自己不被捕食者吃掉。

Just magnificent -- I mean, they're showing these distinct patterns,

這是我們拍攝的第一條螢光頭鮫的畫面。

and there are areas that are fluorescent and areas that are not fluorescent,

就像魔法一樣──我是說，它們身上明麗的圖案們，

but they've also got these twinkling spots on them

螢光的頭鮫分佈在一些地區，非螢光的分佈在另一些地區，

that are much brighter than other parts of the shark.

但它們身上這些閃爍的圖案，

But this is all beautiful to see.

遠比其他種類的鯊魚明亮。

I was like, this is gorgeous.

看到這些漂亮的鯊魚們，

But what does it mean to the shark?

我心裡想，這真是太棒了。

Can they see this?

但這對鯊魚來說有什麼意義呢？

And we looked in the literature,

它們能看到這些圖案麼？

and nothing was known about this shark's vision.

於是我們翻閱典籍，

So I took this shark to eye specialist Ellis Loew at Cornell University,

卻發現沒有任何關於這種鯊魚視覺的記錄。

and we found out that this shark sees discretely and acutely

所以我們把這種鯊魚交給了康奈爾大學的視覺專家埃利斯.勒夫，

in the blue-green interface,

我們發現這種鯊魚的視覺（神經）

probably about 100 times better than we can see in the dark,

在區分藍色與綠色時尤其敏感，

but they only see blue-green.

大約比人類在暗處時的敏感程度高100倍，

So what it's doing is taking this blue world

但它們只能看到藍綠色。

and it's absorbing the blue, creating green.

所以它們的視覺大概是，在藍色的世界里，

It's creating contrast that they can indeed see.

吸收藍色光，製造綠色光。

So we have a model,

它們創造對比以使得它們的眼睛能夠看到這些圖案，

showing that it creates an ability for them to see all these patterns.

所以我們有了一個模型，

And males and females also have, we're finding,

展示給我們它們看到這些圖案的能力。

distinct patterns among them.

我們也發現，雄性與雌性

But our last find came really just a few miles from where we are now,

身上的圖案是不同的。

in the Solomon Islands.

我們的最後一個發現，離我們現在的所處地只有幾英里遠，

Swimming at night, I encountered the first biofluorescent sea turtle.

在所羅門島。

So now it's going from fish and sharks into reptiles,

在夜潛時，我與世界上第一種螢光海龜相遇了。

which, again, this is only one month old,

所以現在我們從魚和鯊魚跳到了爬行類上，

but it shows us that we know almost nothing

也就一個月前吧，發現它，

about this hawksbill turtle's vision.

但這也警醒了我們，我們對它們，

And it makes me think about how much more there is to learn.

這種玳瑁的視覺幾乎一無所知。

And here in the Solomon Islands,

這使我開始思考，我們究竟還有多少需要學習。

there's only a few thousand breeding females of this species left,

在這裡，在所羅門島，

and this is one of the hotspots for them.

這種玳瑁只剩下數千的雌性還存活著，

So it shows us how much we need to really protect these animals

而這裡是它們的集聚地之一。

while they're still here, and understand them.

這告訴我們，保護它們迫在眉睫，

In thinking about biofluorescence,

當它們尚未滅絕，在我們還能研究它們的時候。

I wanted to know, how deep does it go?

在研究生物螢光性的同時，

Does this go all the way to the bottom of the ocean?

我也想知道，它的涉獵有多廣？

So we started using submarines, and we equipped them

螢光性存在於所有的海洋生物身上麼？

with special blue lights on the front here.

所以我們開始使用潛水艇，裝備它們，

And we dropped down,

在潛水艇前端制配了特殊的藍色光源。

and we noticed one important thing --

然後我們下水，

that as we get down to 1,000 meters,

發現了一個重要的事情──

it drops off.

當我們達到1000米深時，

There's no biofluorescent marine life down there, below 1,000 meters --

不知不覺得。

almost nothing, it's just darkness.

在1000米以下，這裡沒有任何螢光的海洋生物，

So it's mainly a shallow phenomenon.

甚至沒有任何生物，只剩黑暗。

And below 1,000 meters,

這是一個不同尋常的現象。

we encountered the bioluminescent zone,

在1000米以下，

where nine out of 10 animals are actually making their own lights

我們開始到達生物發光體所在的區域，

and flashing and blinking.

這裡的動物十有八九都能自主發光