英语听力：自然百科 Giving Fish a Bath 给鱼儿洗澡

 The tropical night descends¹ on a quiet beach, but just off shore, beneath the tranquil² waves things are busy. A group of research scientists are scouring³ a coral reef looking for fish, or more accurately⁴, the parasitic⁵ passengers attached to the fish. It’s all part of a field study being conducted by marine⁶ biologists Paul Sikkel and Donna Nemeth with funding from Earth Watch Institute.

 

"Our researchers are taking a look at some of the most intimate relationships that are happening among coral reef organisms, their parasites⁷, their fish hosts, and the cleaning stations that they visit to get those parasites removed. "

 

Biologists estimate that parasites make up half of all organisms on the reef. Yet little is known about their impact. Some have developed somewhat gruesome survival strategies.

 

"We also caught a very large isopod called Exocorallana which actually burrows⁸ its way through the fish, usually through the anuses， it  burrows inside of the fish and eat its way through the fish. It can kill it in an hour or so. "

 

Fortunately not all parasites are that large or that fatal. And more importantly there is a way fish with pesky parasites can get scrubbed clean.

 

"So a cleaning station is a place on the reef that has a cleaner goby or a shrimp⁹ or maybe both actually, where fish go to have parasites removed. These are very consistent and easy identifiable places on the reef. The fish know where they are, and we know where they are. "

 

These coral reef cleaning stations offer a glimpse at some of the most interesting animal behaviors on the planet. Small organisms, like this tiny goby, it might normally be a meal for a larger fish, somehow secures permission to enter the mouth of its potential predator¹⁰. It’s a delicate balance, not only for these particular fish, but for the coral reef as a whole. And now conservationist are worried that the climate change may be threatening the reef eco-system, causing too many parasites and too few fish.

 

"We find , instead, in the sites that are more pristine¹¹ have higher coral cover we tend to find fewer parasites on fish than in the sites that have lower coral cover and get more heavily impacted. "

 

The researchers suspect that unhealthy areas with less coral have more algae¹² contributing to an abundance of parasites, which isn’t a good thing for their targets—the fish. And the problem, maybe exacerbated¹³ by changing water chemistry that could be lowering fishing immune systems.

 

To find out the fish-parasite ratio on this reef, the researchers have to collect lots of data. And that means, collecting lots of fish.

 

"We need to go into the coral reef environment at the times when these things are happening, in the morning when the fish are visiting the cleaning stations, or at night when the fish are resting. "

 

"We dive down and find the fish that we are interested in capturing, and we shine the light in the fish’s eyes, and it mobilizes the fish, and then we capture it with an aquarium¹⁴ net and then put it in a  bait bucket. "

 

Then it’s time for earth watch volunteers to swoop¹⁵ in for an underwater bucket brigade.

 

"We then have snorkelers who act as runners. Our swimmers., they, we fill up a bucket of fish. We, they will take the bucket and swim it back to shore where we empty it into a larger container and then transport it back to laboratory and then another snorkeler will swim the bucket back out to us. It’s very, with their help to process 40 to 50 fish a night. "

 

Removing bucket loads of fish from a single reef could damage the eco-system. So the researchers need to find a way to bring them back alive.

 

" We take a lot of care to minimize the impact we have on the reef, so we spend the extra time to process the fish alive,and return it to the reef, alive, what is involved is placing the fish in a bucket of fresh water which we call a "fish bath service", or "fish spa servic" and we remove the parasites. "

 

The fish get to spend time in the spa and researchers get the parasites they need.

 

"If We can understand better the number of parasites that fish are normally carrying in the environment and the role that the cleaners play in adjusting those loads, we might be able to better understand how all of these parts of the reef are interconnected. "

 

This piscine cleaning service is giving  researchers new insight into the inner workings of a complex habitat. And between the gobies and the researchers, there are a lot of well scrubbed fish on this reef.

 

Sponsored by National Geographic¹⁶ Mission Programs, taking science and exploration into the new millennium¹⁷.

1 descends   

v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite. 这个节日起源于宗教仪式。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The path descends steeply to the village. 小路陡直而下直到村子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 tranquil   

adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的

参考例句：

• The boy disturbed the tranquil surface of the pond with a stick. 那男孩用棍子打破了平静的池面。
• The tranquil beauty of the village scenery is unique. 这乡村景色的宁静是绝无仅有的。

3 scouring   

擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤

参考例句：

• The police are scouring the countryside for the escaped prisoners. 警察正在搜索整个乡村以捉拿逃犯。
• This is called the scouring train in wool processing. 这被称为羊毛加工中的洗涤系列。

4 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

5 parasitic   

adj.寄生的

参考例句：

• Will global warming mean the spread of tropical parasitic diseases?全球变暖是否意味着热带寄生虫病会蔓延呢？
• By definition,this way of life is parasitic.从其含义来说，这是种寄生虫的生活方式。

6 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

7 parasites   

寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫

参考例句：

• These symptoms may be referable to virus infection rather than parasites. 这些症状也许是由病毒感染引起的，而与寄生虫无关。
• Kangaroos harbor a vast range of parasites. 袋鼠身上有各种各样的寄生虫。

8 burrows   

n.地洞( burrow的名词复数 )v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的第三人称单数 )；翻寻

参考例句：

• The intertidal beach unit contains some organism burrows. 潮间海滩单元含有一些生物潜穴。 来自辞典例句
• A mole burrows its way through the ground. 鼹鼠会在地下钻洞前进。 来自辞典例句

9 shrimp   

n.虾，小虾；矮小的人

参考例句：

• When the shrimp farm is built it will block the stream.一旦养虾场建起来，将会截断这条河流。
• When it comes to seafood,I like shrimp the best.说到海鲜，我最喜欢虾。

10 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

11 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

12 algae   

n.水藻，海藻

参考例句：

• Most algae live in water.多数藻类生长在水中。
• Algae grow and spread quickly in the lake.湖中水藻滋蔓。

13 exacerbated   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs. 这些症状可能会因为某些药物而加重。
• The drugs they gave her only exacerbated the pain. 他们给她吃的药只是加重了她的痛楚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 aquarium   

n.水族馆，养鱼池，玻璃缸

参考例句：

• The first time I saw seals was in an aquarium.我第一次看见海豹是在水族馆里。
• I'm going to the aquarium with my parents this Sunday.这个星期天，我要和父母一起到水族馆去。

15 swoop   

n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击

参考例句：

• The plane made a swoop over the city.那架飞机突然向这座城市猛降下来。
• We decided to swoop down upon the enemy there.我们决定突袭驻在那里的敌人。

16 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

17 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。