科学家发现海洋动物迁徙通路

Deep in the Pacific Ocean, an underwater "superhighway" stretches roughly 700 kilometers (430 miles) between the marine reserves of Ecuador's Galapagos Islands and Cocos Island, off the coast of Costa Rica.

在太平洋深处，一条水下“高速公路”绵延约700公里(430英里)，位于厄瓜多尔加拉帕戈斯群岛的海洋保护区和哥斯达黎加海岸外的科科斯岛之间 。

It's vital to the sea life -- including sea turtles, whale sharks and hammerhead sharks -- that moves back and forth between the islands, looking for a place to nest or foraging for food.

它对海洋生物至关重要，包括海龟、鲸鲨和锤头鲨，它们在岛屿之间来回移动，寻找筑巢或觅食的地方 。

But the route can be dangerous.

但这条通路也很危险。

Unlike the marine reserves at each end, the swimway is open to fishing vessels.

与两端的海洋保护区不同，这条通路上会有捕鱼船。

Data shows that populations of migratory species, many of which are already endangered, are declining.

数据显示，许多已经濒临灭绝的迁徙物种的数量正在下降 。

Protecting biodiversity hotspots around the islands is not enough, says Alex Hearn, biology professor and founding member of MigraMar, a coalition of scientists and environmental groups.

生物学教授、迁徙者创始成员亚历克斯·赫恩说，仅保护岛屿周围的生物多样性热点是不够的，迁徙者是一个由科学家和环境组织组成的联盟 。

His team is campaigning for the entire swimway to be protected -- an area that would stretch over 240,000 square kilometres (93,000 square miles) of ocean, about the size of the United Kingdom.

他的团队正在致力于让整个迁徙通路都得到保护——这片区域面积达到240,000平方公里（93,000平方英里）的海域，跟英国国土面积相当。

This would extend fishing restrictions beyond the current 22-kilometer radius around Cocos Island and the 74-kilometer radius around the Galapagos islands, creating a narrow protected channel between the two that follows a chain of seamounts, underwater mountains that rise from the sea floor.

这将使捕鱼业的限制范围超出目前以科科斯岛为中心的22公里半径和加拉帕戈斯群岛为中心的74公里半径，在两者之间形成一条环形通道，该通道会沿着海底升起的山脉延伸。

Like landmarks for the ocean, the seamounts are vital for navigation.

就像海洋的地标一样，海底山脉对导航是至关重要  的。

Made from lava, they emit magnetic signals, which some species, such as hammerhead sharks and sea turtles, rely on to locate themselves, explains Hearn.

赫恩解释说，它们是由熔岩形成的，会发出磁场信号，一些物种，如锤头鲨和海龟，依靠磁场信号来确定自己的位置 。

He says these act as "stepping stones," providing places for sea creatures to feed and rest during migration.

他说，这些是“里程碑”，为海洋生物在迁徙期间提供进食和休息的地方。

For more than a decade, MigraMar's network of scientists have been trying to prove the importance of the swimway by documenting the species that use it.

十多年来，迁徙者的科学家们一直试图通过记录使用迁徙通道的物种来证明其重要性。

They have placed satellite and ultrasonic tags on almost 400 marine organisms to track their migratory routes.

他们利用了卫星和在将近400多只海洋生物上安放超声波装置来追踪它们的迁徙路线。

So far, they have successfully tracked the migration of whale sharks, hammerhead sharks, silky sharks, leatherback turtles and green turtles between the two islands.

目前为止，他们已经在这两座岛之间成功追踪到了鲸鲨，锤头鲨，丝鲨，棱皮龟和绿海龟的迁徙。