VOA标准英语2010年-Gulf Oil Spill Puts Sea Turtles at Ris

The spreading oil spill in the Gulf¹ of Mexico is contaminating nesting and feeding grounds for sea turtles.

All six species in U.S. waters are listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

Fragile species

Barbara Schroeder, who coordinates² the National Sea Turtle Program for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric³ Administration, says among the 500 recovered in near-shore waters or washed ashore⁴, only about 50 were alive. She says those numbers are much higher than in previous years.

"We know that some of it is just an increased effort and awareness⁵ of the turtle situation, but that certainly doesn't explain it all."

Patricia Behnke
This loggerhead sea turtle on its way to the ocean is the most common of Florida's sea turtles.

Schroeder says all the 150 turtles captured so far in deeper Gulf waters were covered with oil. And, it's in these deeper waters where turtles spend their lives. Only females return to beaches to lay their eggs.

Peak of nesting season

Wildlife biologist Debbie Crouse is a leading turtle expert with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency charged with protecting the endangered species.

She says the massive Gulf oil spill comes at the peak of the nesting season. "We're seeing a few nests that are hatching and hatching turtles run down the beach and head out to sea."

Weighing the risks of oil-soiled water and seaweed feeding grounds, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, along with other government agencies and volunteers, are working together to mark, monitor and - just prior to hatching - hand-excavate some 70,000 eggs from 800 nests buried in Gulf of Mexico beaches and move them to Florida's Atlantic coast.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Sea turtle expert Blair Witherington, with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, holds a Kemp's Ridley sea turtle, one of the rarest turtles in the world.

Crouse says that move is the best of a suite⁶ of bad alternatives. "We'd prefer not to move any if we could. We are moving those that we feel we absolutely have to because we think that the mortality rate otherwise will be extremely high if not absolute."

Moving day

The turtle eggs - packed in Styrofoam nest boxes - are being trucked some 800 kilometers to climate-controlled warehouses⁷ at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Crouse says the turtles are genetically⁸ programmed to return to nest on the same beach where they were born. "And by moving them to the Atlantic, we do not know whether they will then start becoming Atlantic turtles, come back to the Gulf [of Mexico] eventually or get lost and not know where to go."

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Florida wildlife officials Nick Wiley (left) and Tom Strickland carry custom containers with sea turtle eggs to FedEx trucks for delivery to Canaveral National Seashore.

The turtle relocation program has generated extraordinary public and scientific interest, says Karen Kearney, managing director of the Audubon Aquarium⁹ of the Americas in New Orleans.

Her organization has been designated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as a primary responder for the rescue, rehabilitation¹⁰, and release of all marine¹¹ mammals and sea turtles along the Louisiana coast.

She says bringing more observers to the process and can "engage the public and develop new partnerships¹² to save these species."

Hatchlings from one nest were released mid-July. The rest are still incubating and will be released on Atlantic beaches as they hatch.
 

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 coordinates   

n.相配之衣物；坐标( coordinate的名词复数 )；（颜色协调的）配套服装；[复数]女套服；同等重要的人（或物）v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的第三人称单数 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• The town coordinates on this map are 695037. 该镇在这幅地图上的坐标是695037。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

4 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

5 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

6 suite   

n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员

参考例句：

• She has a suite of rooms in the hotel.她在那家旅馆有一套房间。
• That is a nice suite of furniture.那套家具很不错。

7 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。

8 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

9 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。

10 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

11 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。

12 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句