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Good afternoon everyone. Well, with some of you about to go out on field work,
大家下午好。你們中的一些人即將去實地考察，
it's timely that in this afternoon's session I'll be sharing some ideas about the reasons
是時候在今天下午的課上講講
why groups of whales and dolphins sometimes swim ashore from the sea right onto the beach and, most often, die in what are know as 'mass strandings'.
為什么成群的鯨魚和海豚會從大海游上海岸，并經常死于大規模的擱淺了。
Unfortunately, this type of event is a frequent occurrence in some of the locations that you'll be travelling to,
不幸的是，這種事情經常發生在你去游覽的地方。
where sometimes the tide goes out suddenly, confusing the animals.
有時，那里的潮汐突然退去會使動物感到困惑。
However, there are many other theories about the causes of mass strandings.
然而，還有許多其他關于大規模擱淺成因的理論。
The first is that the behaviour is linked to parasites.
首先是這種行為與寄生蟲有關。
It's often found that stranded animals were infested with large numbers of parasites.
經常發現擱淺的動物受到大量寄生蟲的感染。
For instance, a type of worm is commonly found in the ears of dead whales.
例如，一種蟲子經常能在死鯨魚的耳朵里找到。
Since marine animals rely heavily on their hearing to naviqate, this type of infestation has the notential to be very harmful.
由于海洋動物主要靠聽力導航，這種感染的潛在危害很大。
Another theory is related to toxins, or poisons.
另一種理論與毒素或毒藥有關。
These have also been found to contribute to the death of many marine animals.
這些也導致了許多海洋生物的死亡。
Many toxins, as I'm sure you're aware, originate from plants, or animals.
我想你們也知道，許多毒素來源于植物和動物。
The whale ingests these toxins in its normal feeding behaviour
鯨魚在它們的日常攝食行為中攝取了這些毒素，
but whether these poisons directly or indirectly lead to stranding and death, seems to depend upon the toxininvolved.
但是這些毒藥是否直接或間接導致擱淺和死亡似乎要取決于涉及的毒素本身。
In 1988, for example, fourteen humpback whales examined after stranding along the beaches of Cape Cod were found to have been poisoned after eating tuna that contained saxitoxin,the same toxin that can be fatal in humans.
例如，在1988年有14只座頭鯨在科德角海灘擱淺后被查出吃了含有蛤蚌毒素的金槍魚。這種毒素對人類同樣致命。
