螃蟹和蝦成群結隊地涌向深水地平線漏油點，這使它們生病了

螃蟹和蝦成群結隊地涌向深水地平線漏油點，這使它們生病了

The site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has become a popular mating ground for deep-sea crabs and shrimp.

深水地平線石油泄漏的地點已經成為深海螃蟹和蝦的一個受歡迎的交配場所。

Decomposing oil from the 2010 spill could be mimicking a sex hormone, and that's what's attracting these crustaceans to get frisky in this part of the Gulf, according to an August study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

據英國《皇家學會開放科學》雜志8月發(fā)表的一項研究稱，2010年漏油事件中的石油分解可能是在模擬性激素，這正是吸引這些甲殼類動物在墨西哥灣這一海域變得活躍的原因。

Their shells are turning black, parasites have latched on and some have lost limbs or developed mutations, according to the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, which led the study.

據領導這項研究的路易斯安那大學海洋協(xié)會稱，它們的外殼正在變黑，寄生蟲已經附著在上面，一些已經失去了四肢或發(fā)生了變異。

"Crabs showed clearly visible physical abnormalities and sluggish behavior compared to the healthy crabs we had observed elsewhere," Executive Director of LUMCON and lead author Craig McClain told CNN. "Once these crustaceans reach the site, they may become too unhealthy to leave."

“與我們在其他地方觀察到的健康螃蟹相比，螃蟹表現出明顯的身體異常和行動遲緩，”LUMCON的執(zhí)行董事和主要作者克雷格·麥克萊恩告訴CNN。“一旦這些甲殼類動物到達了目的地，它們可能會變得太不健康而不能離開。”

The effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill are still being felt and in new ways. The deep-sea ecosystem is "recovering slowly and lingering effects may be extreme," McClain said.

“深水地平線”漏油事件的影響仍在以新的方式顯現。麥克萊恩說，深海生態(tài)系統(tǒng)“恢復緩慢，持續(xù)的影響可能是極端的”。

Nine years ago, the explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig released 4 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Oil and methane gas spewed from the uncapped well for 87 days in a row.

九年前，“深水地平線”鉆井臺發(fā)生爆炸，向墨西哥灣泄漏了400萬桶石油。未封頂的油井連續(xù)87天噴出石油和甲烷氣體。

Since the 2010 environmental disaster, there have been studies on the biological impacts of the spill. Another effect of the spill that researchers are just learning about now is how it's hurting the crustaceans near the well.

自2010年的環(huán)境災難以來，人們一直在研究漏油對生物的影響。漏油的另一個影響是，研究人員現在正在研究它是如何傷害油井附近的甲殼類動物的。

The number of crabs and shrimp near the well site were almost 8 times higher than other sites explored in 2017. when the survey was conducted.

在2017年進行調查時，油井附近的螃蟹和蝦的數量幾乎是其他勘探地點的8倍。

Three types of crustaceans showed up in big numbers: the red deep-sea crab and species of red shrimp and white shrimp.

有三種甲殼類動物大量出現:深海紅蟹、紅蝦和白蝦。

People don't fish commercially for these species of crabs and shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico, so there's little risk to humans, McClain said. The concern is for larger organisms who may eat the toxic crabs, introducing the chemicals higher up into the food chain.

麥克萊恩說，在墨西哥灣，人們不以商業(yè)方式捕撈這些螃蟹和蝦類，所以對人類的威脅很小。令人擔憂的是，較大的有機體可能會吃掉有毒的螃蟹，將這些化學物質引入食物鏈的更高層。

While there were a lot of certain animals, there was a small variety of sea creatures observed. Certain types of deep-sea dwellers that you'd expect to see were not present, the study said.

雖然有許多特定的動物，但也有少數種類的海洋生物被觀察到。研究稱，你可能會看到的某些深海生物并不存在。

"Near the wreckage and wellhead, many of the animals characteristic of other areas of the deep Gulf of Mexico, including sea cucumbers, giant isopods, glass sponges and whip corals, were absent," McClain said. "What we observed was a homogenous wasteland, in great contrast to the rich heterogeneity of life seen in a healthy deep sea."

麥克萊恩說：“在殘骸和井口附近，許多墨西哥灣其他地區(qū)特有的動物，包括海參、巨型等足類動物、玻璃海綿和鞭狀珊瑚，都不見了。”我們觀察到的是一片同質化的荒地，與健康的深海中豐富多樣的生命異質性形成了鮮明對比。”

The LUMCON team used remote-operated vehicles to take videos 1.600 feet around the well site. The videos were compared to videos taken months after the spill in 2010.

LUMCON團隊使用可遠程操作的工具在油井1600英尺的地方拍攝視頻。這些視頻與2010年漏油事件發(fā)生幾個月后拍攝的視頻進行了對比。

While the deep-sea ecosystem is still recovering, more research needs to be done, say the study's authors. It's hard to know the full impact since we don't have enough sampling prior to the oil spill. "We know little about the deep sea, so when these kinds of human impacts, occur we don't have the knowledge we need to make informed decisions about recovery," McClain said.

該研究的作者說，雖然深海生態(tài)系統(tǒng)仍在恢復中，但還需要做更多的研究。由于我們在漏油前沒有足夠的采樣，所以很難知道全部影響。麥克萊恩說:“我們對深海了解甚少，所以當這些人為影響發(fā)生時，我們沒有足夠的知識來做出明智的恢復決定。”