海豹是怎样炼成的?

Jeff Walters: The total population of Hawaiian monk seals is currently about 1,100 seals. In terms of the status of the species, it’s basically a good news/bad news situation.

杰夫·沃尔特斯：目前夏威夷僧海豹的数量在1100只左右。对于该种群的生存状况来说，这是个喜忧参半的消息。

You're listening to Jeff Walters, Hawaiian monk seal recovery coordinator for NOAA Fisheries Service. Walters said that in the isolated northwest Hawaiian islands, the number of monk seals is declining by four percent every year. That’s the bad news. But the good news is that a smaller population of seals on the main Hawaiian islands is growing and thriving, he said.

今天本站记者采访了国家海洋与大气管理局濒危僧海豹保护专员杰夫·沃尔特斯。沃尔特斯表示，在夏威夷西北部孤立的海岛，僧海豹数量每年都在减少4%。这是个坏消息。但他同时补充道，夏威夷本岛上生存的少量海豹群体正在兴旺壮大，这是个好消息。

Jeff Walters: Over the past few years, we’ve had about twenty or more seals born in the main Hawaiian islands every year.

杰夫·沃尔特斯：近几年来，夏威夷本岛每年至少有20只新海豹降生。

Even though the main Hawaiian islands have a much larger human population, the seals are doing better there because they don’t have as much competition for food, or as many predators, said Walters. But, he added, when people try to feed or play with the seals, it runs the risk of “taming” them, which hurts the seal’s chances of surviving in the wild.

沃尔特斯表示，尽管本岛上的人口远为稠密，这里海豹的生存状况仍比孤岛上的同伴要好，由于本岛上其他食肉动物相对较少，海豹在食物上面临的竞争并不激烈。但他同时指出，当人们试图喂食海豹或与之嬉戏，他们可能在无形中“驯化了”海豹，使其野外生存能力下降。

Jeff Walters: We need to keep the wild seals wild, and not have them become conditioned to interact with humans.

杰夫·沃尔特斯：我们应该保护它们的野性，而不是让它们习惯与人类相处。

Hawaiian monk seals are among the most ancient species of seal on the planet, and they’ve lived in the reefs surrounding the Hawaii for the past 3 to 12 millions of years.

夏威夷僧海豹是地球上最古老的海豹之一。在过去300到1200亿年来，它们一直生活在夏威夷周围的海礁上。

Come to our website to see pictures of the seals. Our thanks to NOAA Pacific Services Center.

浏览更多夏威夷海豹图片，请登录我们的网站。感谢海洋与大气管理局亚太服务中心对本期节目的支持。