觸目！浮游生物首次被拍到攝入塑料

據(jù)報(bào)道，研究浮游生物的專家理查德?科比（Richard Kirby）博士拍攝的一段視頻顯示，一種叫"箭蟲"的浮游生物吞食了一些極微小的廢舊塑料纖維。這說明塑料已經(jīng)進(jìn)入海洋生物鏈底層，可能將影響其上的整條食物鏈。

A scientist has filmed the moment plastic microfibre is ingested by plankton, illustrating how the material is affecting life beneath the waves.
一位科學(xué)家拍到了浮游生物吞食塑料微細(xì)纖維的畫面，說明塑料如何影響海洋里的生物。

The footage shows one way that waste plastic could be entering the marine and global food chain.
這則錄像顯示了塑料廢物進(jìn)入海洋和全球食物鏈的一種方式。

An estimated 150 million tonnes of plastic "disappears" from the world's waste stream each year.
據(jù)估計(jì)，每年有1.5億噸塑料從被污染的流域“消失”。

Waste plastic in the world's seas has been recognised by the United Nations as a major environmental problem.
聯(lián)合國(guó)將海洋廢棄塑料看作是一個(gè)重大的環(huán)境問題。

"When I saw it, I thought that here was something, visually, to convey to the public the problem of plastic in the sea," said Richard Kirby, who recorded the footage.
視頻的錄制者理查德?科比稱，“當(dāng)我看到這段時(shí)，我認(rèn)為它從視覺上讓公眾了解了海洋塑料的問題。”

"What intrigues me is that because the fibre has made a loop inside the animal's gut, you can actually see the consequences of something as small as the arrow worm consuming microplastic.
“讓我感興趣的是，塑料纖維在箭蟲的腹中結(jié)成環(huán)狀，你可以看到和箭蟲一樣大小的生物攝入了微細(xì)塑料后的結(jié)果。”

Dr Kirby said that people were familiar with the idea of large marine animals - such as whales, seals and birds - swallowing plastic bags.
科比說，人們對(duì)鯨、海豹和海鳥等海洋生物吞食塑料袋的情況比較熟悉。

"But here we have something where we actually see that at a tiny fibre has caused a blockage in something as small as a Sagitta setosa, a member of the plankton, stopping food progressing down.
“但我們?cè)谝曨l中看到細(xì)微的塑料纖維堵在浮游生物體內(nèi)，使食物無法通過消化道。”

The United Nations has estimated that there are 46,000 pieces of waste plastic per square mile of sea.
據(jù)聯(lián)合國(guó)估計(jì)，每平方英里海域有46000塊塑料碎片。

The issue of plastic waste in the marine environment has been rising up the political and policy agenda.
海洋環(huán)境的塑料污染問題已經(jīng)提上政治和政策議程。

The international body's environment agency, UNEP, has launched a #CleanSeas campaign.
聯(lián)合國(guó)環(huán)境機(jī)構(gòu)聯(lián)合國(guó)環(huán)境規(guī)劃署已經(jīng)發(fā)起一場(chǎng)#清潔海洋運(yùn)動(dòng)。

The organisation's head, Erik Solheim, said: "We've stood by too long as the problem has gotten worse. It must stop. "
聯(lián)合國(guó)環(huán)境規(guī)劃署負(fù)責(zé)人埃里克?索爾海姆說，“問題越來越嚴(yán)重，而我們已經(jīng)等待太久。這種情況必須停止。”

The UN estimated that as many as 51 trillion (500 times as many stars estimated to be in our galaxy) particles of microplastic are in the world's seas and oceans.
據(jù)聯(lián)合國(guó)估計(jì)，全球海洋中大約有51萬億個(gè)塑料微粒，是銀河系中恒星數(shù)量的500倍。

The widespread presence of plastic in our waters meant that it was a problem for arrow worms, said Emily Baxter, senior marine conservation officer for the North West Wildlife Trusts.
英國(guó)西北野生動(dòng)物基金會(huì)的資深水生動(dòng)物保護(hù)負(fù)責(zé)人艾米麗?巴克斯特說，海水中存在的大量塑料對(duì)箭蟲是個(gè)大麻煩。

"They play a really important ecological role in the marine food web. They are voracious predators of other planktonic animals and also represent an important food source for fish, squid and other things that eat plankton."
“箭蟲在海洋食物鏈中起著非常重要的生態(tài)作用，它們吃其他的浮游生物，同時(shí)也是魚類、烏賊和其他生物的重要食物來源。”

"Even if we stopped producing plastic today this problem is going to continue for a long time. We see it now coming into the bottom of the food chain and potentially affecting the food chain all the way up," she said.
“即使我們現(xiàn)在就停止生產(chǎn)塑料，問題仍然會(huì)持續(xù)很久。我們看到，塑料已經(jīng)進(jìn)入生物鏈底層，可能將影響其上的整條食物鏈。”

英文來源：BBC
翻譯&編輯：董靜
審校：yaning