Name: 海洋生物學家講述海獺的進化史 (Evolution of Sea Otters with a Marine Biologist)
Uploaded: 2024-11-12T06:44:26.000Z
Duration: 15 min 14 s

I'm your host, KP, a marine biologist, up here in the Pacific Northwest, which was once part of the historic range of sea otters.

我是主持人 KP，海洋生物學家，在西北太平洋，這裡曾經是海獺的歷史分佈區。

Now, if you've watched any of our previous Deeper Dives, you'll probably know that sea otters are a member of the Mustelidae family, or the weasel family.

如果您看過我們以前的 "深度潛水 "節目，您可能會知道海獺是鼬科（即黃鼠狼科）的成員。

But what you might not know is that they are so different from their other weasel cousins that as late as 1982, scientists actually thought they were more closely related to seals.

但你可能不知道的是，它們與其他黃鼠狼表親的區別如此之大，以至於早在 1982 年，科學家們就認為它們與海豹的親緣關係更為密切。

So today, we're diving into the history of sea otters to find out how they became so unique, so important, and so dang cute.

今天，我們將深入瞭解海獺的歷史，看看它們是如何變得如此獨特、如此重要、如此可愛的。

Hit that like button to help boost this video and YouTube's algorithm, and subscribe if you want to see more of this content.

點擊 "喜歡 "按鈕，幫助提升本視頻和 YouTube 的算法，如果你想看到更多此類內容，請訂閱。

Mustelids are an incredibly diverse family of mostly terrestrial animals, like stoats, badgers, and even the domesticated ferret.

鼬科動物種類繁多，主要是陸生動物，如鼬鼠、獾，甚至還有馴化的雪貂。

However, there are 13 aquatic weasels, including the Eurasian otter, the North American river otter, the Asian small-clawed otter, and even the hairy-nosed otter, but of course, also the sea otter.

不過，水生黃鼠狼有 13 種，包括歐亞水獺、北美河獺、亞洲小爪水獺甚至毛鼻水獺，當然還有海獺。

But I mentioned in the intro that sea otters are very unique among their weasel cousins.

但我在介紹中提到，海獺在它們的黃鼠狼表親中是非常獨特的。

For one, they are the only weasel who doesn't have active scent glands.

首先，它們是唯一沒有活躍氣味腺的黃鼠狼。

And they're also the only weasel that can live their entire life in the water.

它們也是唯一能終生生活在水中的黃鼠狼。

In fact, recent genetic analysis and fossil evidence indicates that sea otters diverged from their closest extant cousins about 5 million years ago, and became isolated in the North Pacific about 2 million years ago.

事實上，最近的基因分析和化石證據表明，海獺是在大約 500 萬年前從現存的近親中分化出來的，並在大約 200 萬年前在北太平洋與世隔絕。

Cue amazing editing skills of a timeline.

But the first sea otter was not the clam-eating otter that we know and love of today.

但是，第一隻海獺並不是我們今天所熟悉和喜愛的吃蛤蜊的海獺。

It was, in fact, Enhydra macrodonta, or the large-toothed sea otter.

事實上，它就是大齒海獺（Enhydra macrodonta）。

As the name suggests, this otter had large, robust teeth, significantly more so than the modern sea otter.

顧名思義，這種水獺的牙齒又大又堅固，比現代海獺的牙齒大得多。

If you want to know more about sea otter teeth, click on one of my favorite deeper dives in the link right up here.

如果您想了解有關海獺牙齒的更多資訊，請點擊這裡鏈接中我最喜歡的深度潛水之一。

And like most Pleistocene megafauna, the large-toothed sea otter became extinct in the last ice age.

和大多數更新世巨型動物一樣，大齒海獺在上一個冰河時期滅絕。

And that was around 25,000 years ago, giving rise to the modern sea otter, who first evolved in the waters around Russia and Japan, but eventually moved all around the Pacific Rim, even down to the Baja Peninsula.

大約在 2.5 萬年前，現代海獺誕生了。海獺最初在俄羅斯和日本附近的水域進化，但最終遷移到了環太平洋地區，甚至下到了巴哈半島。

This is about the same time that the indigenous peoples of North America were estimated to have crossed the land bridge from Asia to Alaska.

據估計，北美原住民也是在這個時間從亞洲跨過陸橋到達阿拉斯加的。

And sea otters played a very important role for the maritime indigenous peoples, like the Haida of Haida Gwaii or the Aleuts of the Aleutian Islands.

海獺對海島的海達人或阿留申群島的阿留申人等海洋原住民起著非常重要的作用。

Many of these cultures have strong animist traditions that even consider sea otters to be kin to humans.

在這些文化中，許多都有強烈的萬物有靈論傳統，甚至認為海獺是人類的親屬。

Many anthropologists attribute this to the sea otter's seemingly human-like behaviors.

許多人類學家將此歸因於海獺看似類似人類的行為。

The ability to use tools, even clap, maybe to hold hands while they're sleeping, and sometimes even the very strong bonds formed between mothers and pups.

使用工具的能力，甚至拍手的能力，睡覺時牽手的能力，有時甚至是母狗和幼崽之間形成的非常牢固的紐帶。

Fortunately, this is where the explorers come in.

幸運的是，這正是探險家的用武之地。

Namely, the zoologist George Steller, the guy famous for naming animals such as the stellar sea lion, stellar sea eagle, stellar blue jay.

也就是動物學家喬治-斯特勒，他因給恆星海獅、恆星海雕、恆星藍鴉等動物命名而出名。

We're pretty lucky they are not called the stellar sea otter.

我們很幸運，它們沒有被稱為恆星海獺。

And that's probably only because their aquatic nature and their very thick fur coat make us believe they were actually a species of beaver.

這可能只是因為它們的水生特性和非常厚的皮毛讓我們相信它們實際上是海狸的一種。

Quick aside, hopefully you already know that sea otters are not related to beavers.

簡單說一下，希望你們已經知道海獺與海狸沒有血緣關係。

Beavers are rodents indicated by those two prominent front teeth, whereas sea otters have large conical canines like other carnivores.

海狸是齧齒類動物，它有兩顆突出的門牙，而海獺則像其他食肉動物一樣長著大錐形犬齒。

Back to Georgie, who discovered sea otters back in 1741 when he was stranded in the Bering Strait.

說回喬治，他早在 1741 年被困在白令海峽時就發現了海獺。

Now I think most of you know where this story is headed, and this next part gets a little sad and dark, but I promise you there's a happy ending.

現在，我想你們大多數人都知道這個故事的結局了，接下來的部分會變得有點悲傷和黑暗，但我保證會有一個美好的結局。

Most of his crewmates died in that shipwreck, but the survivors spent the winter hunting sea otters.

他的大部分船員在那次海難中喪生，但倖存者在冬天捕獵海獺。

They returned to Russia with over a thousand pelts and were able to sell them at exorbitant prices.

他們帶著一千多張皮毛回到俄羅斯，並以高價賣出。

They were so profitable that the British explorer James Cook referred to them as soft gold.

它們的利潤如此豐厚，以至於英國探險家詹姆斯-庫克（James Cook）將其稱為 "軟黃金"。

This set off the Great Hunt, also known as the fur trade.

這掀起了大狩獵，也被稱為毛皮貿易。

The large-scale maritime fur trade lasted over 170 years, and it's estimated that over one million sea otters were killed.

大規模的海上毛皮貿易持續了 170 多年，據估計有 100 多萬隻海獺被殺害。

Sea otters were hunted so extensively that the commercial trade of their pelts quickly became unviable.

海獺被大量獵殺，以至於海獺皮毛的商業貿易很快就難以為繼。

Sea otter pelts became so rare that by 1903, a single pelt was selling for about £1,000 on the London market.

海獺皮變得非常稀有，到 1903 年，倫敦市場上一張海獺皮的售價約為 1000 英鎊。

Adjusted for inflation, that's £125,000 for a single pelt.

根據通脹率調整後，一條皮毛的價格為 12.5 萬英鎊。

And that's because at this time there were so few sea otters remaining that scientists estimated they were destined for extinction.

這是因為此時的海獺已經所剩無幾，科學家估計它們註定要滅絕。

And this had unexpected and devastating impacts for the environment, because sea otters keep in check populations of purple sea urchins that when left to their own devices, mow down entire kelp forests, leaving urchin barrens.

這對環境造成了意想不到的破壞性影響，因為海獺會控制紫色海膽的數量，如果任其發展，海膽會啃食整片海藻林，留下海膽荒地。

And kelp forests are vital to the health and stability of our oceans.

而海藻林對我們海洋的健康和穩定至關重要。

In fact, kelp forests support more biodiversity and sequester more carbon than a similar-sized redwood grove.

事實上，海藻林支持更多的生物多樣性，並且比類似大小的紅杉樹林固碳更多。

And sea otters were not the only casualty.

The peoples indigenous to the Pacific Northwest suffered a horrific genocide.

西北太平洋地區的原住民遭受了可怕的種族滅絕。

Russian hunters enslaved and tortured the aluts of the Aleutian Islands and forced them to hunt sea otters.

俄羅斯獵人奴役和折磨阿留申群島上的阿魯特人，強迫他們捕獵海獺。

By Russia's own estimate, 18,000 aluts were killed in that time frame, bringing the population from 20,000 to 50,000.

據俄羅斯自己估計，在這段時間內，有 18 000 名阿盧特人被殺，人口從 20 000 人增加到 50 000 人。

And Russia's own estimate, 18,000 aluts were killed in that time frame, bringing the population from 20,000 to 50,000.

據俄羅斯自己估計，在這段時間內，有 18 000 名阿盧特人被殺，人口從 20 000 增至 50 000。

Full disclosure here, while I am aware of some of the horrors inflicted on indigenous people,

在此，我想充分披露一下，雖然我知道土著人所遭受的一些恐怖、

But I am trying to learn, and I think that you should too.

但我正在努力學習，我想你們也應該學習。

So if you head down to the descriptions, there are links to sources and citations for you to learn more about this issue.

是以，如果您想了解更多有關這一問題的資訊，請點擊說明中的資料來源和引文鏈接。

Thankfully, in 1911, Russia, Japan, Canada, and the U.S.

值得慶幸的是，1911 年，俄羅斯、日本、加拿大和美國相繼加入了這一行列。

signed the Treaty for the Protection of Fursuits.

This treaty, succeeded by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, outlawed the harassment or hunting of animals like sea lions, seals, sea otters, fur seals, and really any marine mammal.

該條約由《海洋哺乳動物保護法》繼承，禁止騷擾或獵殺海獅、海豹、海獺、海狗等動物以及任何海洋哺乳動物。

It also provided an exemption to the people like the aluts who hunt for non-commercial purposes, like shelter or food.

該法還規定，像阿魯特人這樣為非商業目的（如住房或食物）而狩獵的人可以豁免。

With these new protections in place, sea otters began to thrive.

有了這些新的保護措施，海獺開始茁壯成長。

They reclaimed almost two-thirds of their historic habitat.

它們開墾了近三分之二的歷史棲息地。

And reintroduction programs to places like California or even here in B.C. were widely successful.

在加利福尼亞甚至不列顛哥倫比亞省等地開展的重新引入計劃也取得了廣泛成功。

Today, there are even potential plans to reintroduce sea otters off the coast of Northern California and even Oregon.

如今，甚至有可能計劃在北加州甚至俄勒岡州海岸重新引進海獺。

And when the sea otters returned, so did the kelp forests, who provide shelter and homes to over 1,000 different animal species.

海獺回來後，海藻林也回來了，它們為 1000 多種不同的動物提供庇護和家園。

It is widely considered one of the greatest conservation efforts of all time.

人們普遍認為，這是有史以來最偉大的保護工作之一。

It was unfortunately partially derailed in 1989 by the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

不幸的是，1989 年埃克森-瓦爾迪茲漏油事件使該計劃部分脫軌。

Even though rescue efforts managed to save 200 of the 350 rescued oiled sea otters, over 1,000 oiled otter carcasses were found off the Alaskan coast.

儘管救援工作成功救出了 350 只獲救的油汙海獺中的 200 只，但在阿拉斯加海岸附近還是發現了超過 1000 只油汙海獺的屍體。

And it's safe to assume that the actual number of otter deaths was in fact much higher.

而且可以肯定的是，水獺的實際死亡數量實際上要高得多。

We've covered oil spills like the Exxon Valdez in a previous Deeper Dive.

我們在之前的 "深度潛水 "中介紹過埃克森-瓦爾迪茲漏油事件。

And while it is one of our heavier episodes, I also believe it's one of our more important.

雖然它是我們的重頭戲之一，但我也相信它是我們的重頭戲之一。

And you can find that link right up here.

But the history of sea otters would of course not be complete without bringing up rescued and rehabilitated animals like Joey, who was found off the coast of Vancouver Island in 2020.

但是，如果不提 2020 年在溫哥華島海岸發現的喬伊等獲救和康復的動物，海獺的歷史當然就不完整。

If you're unfamiliar with Joey, don't worry.

如果您不熟悉喬伊，請不要擔心。

I've set it up so that the video recommended to you at the end of this feed will be Joey's rescue and rehab story.

我已經設置好了，在這條新聞的最後向您推薦的視頻將是喬伊的救援和康復故事。

But for now, just know that he has engaged thousands of people across the globe in inspired conservation efforts for his species.

但現在，我們只需要知道，他已經讓全球成千上萬的人参與到保護其物種的努力中來。

Countless sea otters are rescued every year by amazing facilities like the Alaska Sea Life Center or Monterey Bay Aquarium.

阿拉斯加海洋生物中心或蒙特利灣水族館等神奇的設施每年都會拯救無數的海獺。

Some of these rescues, especially at Monterey Bay Aquarium, are even reintroduced back into their wild populations.

其中一些獲救者，尤其是蒙特雷灣水族館的獲救者，甚至被放回了野生種群。

And those that are not able to be released, like the eight otters that I work with, become important ambassadors for their species at zoos and aquariums to help raise awareness about this amazing species and what we can do to help them out.

而那些不能被放生的水獺，比如和我一起工作的八隻水獺，則成為動物園和水族館中重要的物種大使，幫助提高人們對這一神奇物種的認識，以及我們可以做些什麼來幫助它們。

And that's what we're trying to do with this channel.

這也正是我們在這個頻道上的努力方向。

So if you want to help boost that and the algorithm, you can hit that like.

是以，如果你想幫助提升該算法，可以點擊 "喜歡"。

Even better, drop a comment down below and head down to the descriptions for ways that you can help support the channel.

更妙的是，請在下面發表評論，並前往說明，瞭解如何幫助支持該頻道。

And I'll see you next time on A Deeper Dive.

我們下次在《深度挖掘》節目中再見。