Ocean Commotion 1

Shay Maunz

笪景行編譯

Sound pollution caused by humans is making oceans noisier than ever and harming seaanimals.

人類造成的噪音污染使海洋變得比以往任何時候都嘈雜，并危害到海洋動物。

Researchers looked at thousands of studies on ocean sound and its effects on wildlife. Theyfound that noise pollution in oceans has increased over the vears. And it has had a negative 2influenCe on animal behavior.

研究人員研究了數千項關于海洋聲音及其對野生動物影響的研究。他們發現海洋中的噪音污染多年來有所增加，并對動物行為產生了負面影響。

Sea animals depend on the ocean's natural sounds to find their way around andcommumcate with one another. “Sounds travel very far underwater，”a researcher says.¨Forfish， sound is probably a better way to sense their environment than light.”But noise fromactivities like shipping and drilling drown 3 out natural sounds. As animals flee noisy areas，their habitats4 shrink5.

海洋動物依靠海洋的自然聲音來找到它們的路并相互交流。“聲音在水下可以傳得非常遠。”一位研究人員說，“對魚來說，聲音可能是比光線更好的感知環境的方式。”但是，航運和鉆井等活動發出的噪音淹沒了自然的聲音。當動物逃離嘈雜的區域時，它們的棲息地就縮小了。

There are ways to solve this problem. Wind-powered ships and quieter propellers 6 wouldlower the volume 7. And governments could pass laws on ocean noise. We have noise standardsfor cars and trucks. Why should we not have them for ships？

有一些方法可以解決這個問題。風力驅動的船舶和更安靜的螺旋槳會降低音量。政府可以制定海洋噪音相關的法律。我們有汽車和卡車的噪音標準，為什么不對船只也制定噪音標準呢？

（英語原文選自：timeforkids.com）

[Notes]

1.commotion [k??m????n] n.騷動;暴亂 2.negative [?neɡ?t?v] adj.負的;消極的

3.drown [dra?n] v.淹沒

4.hahitat [?h?b??t?t] n.棲息地

5.shrink [?r??k] v.縮小，收縮

6.propeller[pr??pel?（r）] n.螺旋槳

7.volume [?v?lju?m] 力，音量