英语听力：自然百科 海牛

 The Florida Everglades, each winter, hordes（群） of manatees² congregate³ in the warm waters here to survive the cooler weather. But they are not alone. Manatees share these waterways with boaters, and that has put them in a harm's way（危险的境地）.

 

“Manatees are considered legally endangered, both on the federal list and also on the state list. The main cause of mortality -- for manatees are being hit by watercraft.”

 

For nearly four decades, National Geographic⁴ grantee Buddy⁵ Powell has worked to study and protect manatees around the world. Now he wants to know how many manatees remain, to see if wild populations are recovering or not.

 

“That’s why this particular study, you know, funded by National Geographic, is so important, because it’s gonna help give us those numbers and those insights into what’s going on in this very remote area, the Everglades.”

 

To find the manatees, Buddy, who is also a pilot, takes to the skies.

 

“We use airplanes quite a bit because you can see manatees pretty well in the water, and so we use aircraft to count them and also look at their distribution and find out where their habitat is.”

 

With Buddy covering the air, his colleague Lucy Keith heads out on the water.

 

“Oh, I just saw a nose pop up. Excellent, there are a few over here.”

 

Armed with the camera, Lucy photographs each animal she sees.

 

While most people try to keep blemishes（缺点，瑕疵） out of their photos, this researcher tries to document as many as she can.

 

“Many manatees, even though the Everglades is thought of as a remote place, many manatees here still have boat scars or other marks on them. And those scar patterns on manatees can be as unique as a fingerprint⁶.”

 

Lucy carefully logs each animal’s scars and markings so they can be compared with a statewide database.

 

It’s sort of like a giant game of concentration. We try to match the manatee¹ picture to other photographs already in the database.”

 

So far the results of the study are encouraging.

 

“What we are finding primarily for the Everglades is that most of the manatees have not been in that database before.”

 

This could mean that there are more manatees in Florida than experts previously⁷ thought. And the study has also shown that manatees will occasionally fake their own death, so to speak.

 

Animals that had been seen some place else and thought to either have died or disappeared. We’ve located some of those here. So we think that there is a very good chance that some of these animals that, and we may have considered, were dead before, are just over wintering, down here in the Everglades.

 

The team will continue to canvass(详细考察) the Everglades in search of manatees. And with each new sighting, they are better prepared to protect these magnificent marine⁸ mammals and the watery⁹ labyrinth¹⁰ they called “home”.

1 manatee   

n.海牛

参考例句：

• We watched dolphin,manatee,sea lion and whale shows.我们看了海豚、海牛、海狮和鲸的表演。
• One of the most extraordinary river creatures is Amazonian manatee.其中河里最特别的生物之一要数亚马孙海牛。

2 manatees   

n.海牛（水生哺乳动物，体宽扁，尾圆，有鳃状肢）( manatee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The manatees tamed quickly. 海牛很快地被驯服。 来自互联网
• Gentle and slow moving, manatees are said to be the mythical mermaids of sailors' imaginations. 海牛游动温和而缓慢，被认为是海员遐想中富有神秘色彩的美人鱼。 来自互联网

3 congregate   

v.(使)集合，聚集

参考例句：

• Now they can offer a digital place for their readers to congregate and talk.现在他们可以为读者提供一个数字化空间，让读者可以聚集和交谈。
• This is a place where swans congregate.这是个天鹅聚集地。

4 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

5 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

6 fingerprint   

n.指纹；vt.取...的指纹

参考例句：

• The fingerprint expert was asked to testify at the trial.指纹专家应邀出庭作证。
• The court heard evidence from a fingerprint expert.法院听取了指纹专家的证词。

7 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

8 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。

9 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。

10 labyrinth   

n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路

参考例句：

• He wandered through the labyrinth of the alleyways.他在迷宫似的小巷中闲逛。
• The human mind is a labyrinth.人的心灵是一座迷宫。