這照片讓人震驚！加勒比海被塑料垃圾“活埋”

一名攝影師日前在加勒比海拍下了一組令人震驚的照片，照片上本該澄澈的海洋表面密密麻麻地鋪滿了各種塑料垃圾，一望無際，船開了八千米才把這個“垃圾島”甩在后面。海洋中的塑料比魚還多，這句話還真不是危言聳聽。

A photographer has captured the damage being done to the planet's oceans with a shocking “sea of plastic and styrofoam” image taken near a tranquil Caribbean island.
一名攝影師在寧靜的加勒比海島附近拍下了“被塑料和泡沫聚苯乙烯覆蓋的海洋”照片，這一令人震驚的照片揭露了地球上的海洋所遭受的破壞。

Caroline Power, the photographer, said witnessing the plastic blanket of forks, bottles and rubbish between the islands Roatan and Cayos Cochinos, off the coast of Honduras, was “devastating”.
攝影師卡洛琳?鮑爾表示，目睹成片的叉子、瓶罐等塑料垃圾漂浮在洪都拉斯海岸附近的羅阿坦島和科奇諾斯群島之間，讓人“崩潰”。

“To see something that I care so deeply for being killed, slowly choked to death by human waste was devastating,” she told The Telegraph.
她告訴《每日電訊報》說：“看見我如此深愛的海洋被毀滅，在人類垃圾的掩埋下漸漸窒息，真的很崩潰。”

“Once the trash is in the ocean, it is incredibly difficult and costly to remove. The key is to stop the trash before it enters the ocean.
“一旦垃圾到了海洋中，要移除它們就變得很困難也很費錢。解決問題的關鍵就是阻止垃圾進入海洋。”

The worst of the rubbish the dive team found was about 15 miles off the coast of Roatan heading towards the Cayos Cochinos Marine Reserve.
潛水隊發現的垃圾最多的地方在科奇諾斯群島海洋保護區方向，距離羅阿坦島海灘15英里處。

“We were on a dive trip to a set of islands that don't quite break the ocean surface. They are one of the most pristine dive sites in this part of the Caribbean,” Ms Power recalled.
鮑爾女士回憶說：“當時我們正要到海底相連的幾個島嶼去潛水。那塊區域是加勒比海這一帶最原生態的潛水區。”

“The photo of the diver in the water was actually over one of these seamounts. To see an area that is supposed to be pristine covered in garbage and trash was disheartening.”
“潛水員在水下的這張照片實際上是在其中一座海底山上拍的。看到原本應該十分純潔的海水表面鋪滿了垃圾，真讓人沮喪。”

She said they passed through floating garbage for “nearly five miles”, adding: “Everywhere we looked, plastic bags of all shapes and sizes: chip bags, ziplocks, grocery, trash, snack bags, other packaging. Some were whole and the rest were just pieces. Sadly, many turtles, fish, whales, and seabirds will mistake those bits of plastic for food.
她說，他們的船大概開了“五英里”（八千米）才游過了這片漂浮的垃圾，還補充說：“目及之處，全都是各種形狀和大小的塑料袋：薯片包裝袋、自封袋、食品袋、垃圾袋、零食袋，還有其他各種包裝袋。有些塑料袋是完整的，其余的只是碎片。可悲的是，很多海龜、魚、鯨和海鳥會把這些塑料碎片誤當做食物。”

“We then reached an area about two miles wide that had multiple trash lines that stretched from horizon to horizon.
“后來我們到了一個地方，大概有兩英里寬，那里一排排的垃圾一望無際。”

“There was also a seemingly infinite number of plastic forks, spoons, drink bottles, and plates. There were broken soccer balls, toothbrushes, a tv, and so many shoes and flip flops.”
“還有看上去無窮無盡的塑料叉子、勺子、飲料瓶和盤子。破足球、牙刷、一個電視機，還有許許多多的鞋子和拖鞋。”

Blue Planet Society, an organisation campaigning to end overfishing and the overexploitation of the world’s ocean, believes the rubbish originated from the Motagua River in Guatemala, washing into the sea during heavy rains.
致力于終結海洋過度捕撈和過度開發的組織藍色星球協會認為，這些垃圾來自危地馬拉的莫塔瓜河，是被暴雨沖進海洋的。

They said the images were “unbelievable”, adding: “We see a lot of shocking images of environmental destruction. This is right up there with the worst.
他們表示，這些照片“讓人難以置信”，還說：“我們看過很多令人震驚的關于環境破壞的照片。眼前的這個是最糟的。”

“Trash from Motagua River in Guatemala polluting Honduras coast has been an issue in region for some time.”
“危地馬拉莫塔瓜河的垃圾污染洪都拉斯海岸的問題已經困擾該地區有一段時間了。”

Ms Power adds, “There is a lack of infrastructure and education, so many people either burn trash or throw it into rivers”.
鮑爾女士說：“這一地區缺乏基礎設施建設和教育，很多人都是把垃圾燒掉或者扔進河里。”

Conservationists Oceana Europe said the photos had left them “shocked, sad and angry, but not surprised”.
歐洲海洋保護組織說，這些照片讓他們“震動、悲傷和生氣，但并不驚訝。”

They added: “If we don’t change our behaviour now, we’re going to have more plastic than fish in the ocean.”
他們補充說：“如果我們不從現在開始改變我們的行為，海洋里的塑料將會比魚還多。”

Ms Power says she hopes her photos will encourage others to “make changes to their habits and daily lives to help protect and conserve this planet”.
鮑爾女士說，她希望她的照片能鼓勵他人“改變習慣和日常生活，幫助保護這個星球。”

不看不知道，一看嚇一跳！海洋中的塑料知多少：

300 million - tons of plastic produced globally each year
3億：每年全球產生的塑料噸數

12 percent - amount of plastic which is recycled
12%：被循環利用的塑料占比

Five trillion - number of pieces of microplastic in ocean, with one rubbish truck load added each minute
5萬億：海洋中塑料微粒片數，以每分鐘一卡車的數量增長

11,000 - number of pieces of microplastic ingested by humans each year from seafood
1.1萬：每年人類通過吃海鮮攝入的塑料微粒片數

780,000 - number of microplastics humans will ingest by the end of the century if trends continue
78萬：如果趨勢不變，到本世紀末人類將攝入的塑料微粒片數

6 billion - estimated number of bags removed from circulation annually at last count
60億：根據最新統計，每年退出流通的塑料袋數量

12 minutes - useful lifespan of average plastic bag
12分鐘：塑料袋的平均使用壽命

英文來源：每日電訊報
翻譯&編輯：丹妮