Study: Shipping a Major Threat to World's Biggest Fish
2022-05-16
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Marine biologists have noticed that whale shark numbers have been falling in recent years.
2But the scientists have not known exactly why.
3A new international study suggests that collisions with shipping traffic could be a major reason for the decrease.
4The study was led by the Marine Biological Association of the U.K. and the University of Southampton, along with experts in Australia and New Zealand.
5The study appeared in the publication Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
6Researchers examined satellite data to observe about 350 whale sharks.
7They found that the world's largest fish spend most of their time in waters used by large shipping boats.
8The study showed that information from the devices used to observe their movements often ended in busy shipping paths.
9The researchers believe many sharks are probably being hit and killed by boats before sinking to the ocean floor.
10Mark Erdmann is with the University of Auckland in New Zealand and a scientist at the non-profit environmental organization Conservation International.
11He was one of the writers of the new study.
12Erdmann believes shipping is a major threat to whale shark populations.
13"...What the study found is that, indeed, there is a tremendous amount of overlap between where whale sharks are moving and global shipping traffic. So, those are real collision-risk areas," he said.
14Whale sharks can grow up to 20 meters long.
15They play an important part in providing healthy ocean environments.
16Most deadly strikes between whale sharks and boats are likely to go unobserved or unreported.
17There are currently no laws to protect whale sharks against these kinds of collisions.
18I'm Jonathan Evans.
1Marine biologists have noticed that whale shark numbers have been falling in recent years. But the scientists have not known exactly why. 2A new international study suggests that collisions with shipping traffic could be a major reason for the decrease. 3The study was led by the Marine Biological Association of the U.K. and the University of Southampton, along with experts in Australia and New Zealand. The study appeared in the publication Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 4Researchers examined satellite data to observe about 350 whale sharks. They found that the world's largest fish spend most of their time in waters used by large shipping boats. 5The study showed that information from the devices used to observe their movements often ended in busy shipping paths. The researchers believe many sharks are probably being hit and killed by boats before sinking to the ocean floor. 6Mark Erdmann is with the University of Auckland in New Zealand and a scientist at the non-profit environmental organization Conservation International. He was one of the writers of the new study. Erdmann believes shipping is a major threat to whale shark populations. 7"...What the study found is that, indeed, there is a tremendous amount of overlap between where whale sharks are moving and global shipping traffic. So, those are real collision-risk areas," he said. 8Whale sharks can grow up to 20 meters long. They play an important part in providing healthy ocean environments. 9Most deadly strikes between whale sharks and boats are likely to go unobserved or unreported. There are currently no laws to protect whale sharks against these kinds of collisions. 10I'm Jonathan Evans. 11Phil Mercer reported on this story for VOA News. Jonathan Evans adapted this story for Learning English. 12Words in This Story 13marine - adj. of or relating to the sea 14collision - n. an act or instance of colliding 15tremendous - adj. astonishingly large, strong, or great 16overlap - v. to extend over or past and cover a part of; to have something in common