As a kid, I used to dream about the ocean.
小时候，我一直幻想着海洋。
It was this wild place full of color and life, home to these alien-looking, fantastical creatures.
那里色彩缤纷、充满活力，生活着许多长得像外星生物的动物。
I pictured big sharks ruling the food chain and saw graceful sea turtles dancing across coral reefs.
我想象过位于食物链顶端的大鲨鱼，也幻想过海龟在珊瑚礁间优雅起舞。
As a marine biologist turned photographer,
作为从海洋生物学家转行的摄影师，
I've spent most of my career looking for places as magical as those I used to dream about when I was little.
我职业生涯的大部分时间都在寻找那些出现在我小时候幻想中的地方。
As you can see, I began exploring bodies of water at a fairly young age.
如大家所见，我从很小就开始在水中冒险了。
But the first time I truly went underwater, I was about 10 years old.
但第一次真正潜入水中，发生在我10岁那年。
And I can still vividly remember furiously finning to reach this old, encrusted cannon on a shallow coral reef.
我现在还能清楚地记得，当时我用力划水为了够到一根锈迹斑斑，躺在珊瑚礁上的炮筒。
And when I finally managed to grab hold of it, I looked up,
最后，我成功够到了炮筒，抬头一看，
and I was instantly surrounded by fish in all colors of the rainbow. That was the day I fell in love with the ocean.
发现自己被鱼群包围了，各种颜色的鱼，像彩虹一样。从那天起，我深深爱上了海洋。
In my 40 years on this planet, I've had the great privilege to explore some of its most incredible seascapes
在过去40年，我有幸探索了地球上最美妙的海洋景观，
for National Geographic Magazine and the Save Our Seas Foundation.
为《国家地理杂志》和“拯救我们的海洋”基金会供稿。
I've photographed everything from really, really big sharks to dainty ones that fit in the palm of your hand.
我的拍摄对象大到巨型鲨鱼，小到可以在你手掌上游动。
I've smelled the fishy, fishy breath of humpback whales feeding just feet away from me in the cold seas off Canada's Great Bear Rainforest.
在加拿大大熊雨林边寒冷的海中，我遇到过座头鲸就在我身边大快朵颐，那满嘴鱼腥味让我难忘。
And I've been privy to the mating rituals of green sea turtles in the Mozambique Channel.
在莫桑比克海峡，我看到了绿海龟的求爱仪式。
Everyone on this planet affects and is affected by the ocean.
我们每一个人都会影响海洋，也会被海洋影响。
And the pristine seas I used to dream of as a child are becoming harder and harder to find.
而我小时候梦想过的纯净海洋，如今已越来越难找到。
They are becoming more compressed and more threatened.
它们的范围日益缩小，受到的威胁日益增加。
As we humans continue to maintain our role as the leading predator on earth,
我们人类一直占据着地球上食物链顶端的位置，
I've witnessed and photographed many of these ripple effects firsthand.
我亲眼见到并用相机记录下了这些行为。
For a long time, I thought I had to shock my audience out of their indifference with disturbing images.
长久以来，我以为只有震撼的照片才能让我的观众警醒。
And while this approach has merits, I have come full circle.
当然这种看法也是有好处的，那就是让我回到了原点。
I believe that the best way for me to effect change is to sell love.
我相信带来改变的最好方法就是传播爱。
I guess I'm a matchmaker of sorts and as a photographer,
我觉得自己是人和动物间的桥梁，作为一名摄影师，
I have the rare opportunity to reveal animals and entire ecosystems that lie hidden beneath the ocean's surface.
我有难得的机会去揭开隐藏在大洋深处的动物和生态系统的神秘面纱。
You can't love something and become a champion for it if you don't know it exists.
如果你都不知道某件东西的存在，你怎么可能去爱它和保护它呢。
Uncovering this -- that is the power of conservation photography.
而这，恰恰是我们环保摄影师的强项。
I've visited hundreds of marine locations, but there are a handful of seascapes that have touched me incredibly deeply.
我去过几百个不同海域，但真正让我永生难忘的景象只有那么几个。
The first time I experienced that kind of high was about 10 years ago, off South Africa's rugged, wild coast.
我第一次被这样的场景所震撼是在差不多十年前，在南非崎岖陡峭的海岸边。
And every June and July, enormous shoals of sardines travel northwards in a mass migration we call the Sardine Run.
每年六七月间，无数的沙丁鱼会向北迁徙，我们称之为“沙丁鱼潮”。
And boy, do those fish have good reason to run. In hot pursuit are hoards of hungry and agile predators.
相信我，这些鱼必须这么做。因为有成群结队饥肠辘辘、身手敏捷的捕猎者在身后追赶。
Common dolphins hunt together and they can separate some of the sardines from the main shoal and they create bait balls.
比如集体捕猎的海豚，它们将一部分沙丁鱼从鱼群中中分离出来，把它们聚成球状。
They drive and trap the fish upward against the ocean surface and then they rush in to dine on this pulsating and movable feast.
海豚会把这些沙丁鱼赶到离海面较近的地方然后冲进鱼群大快朵颐，享受这移动的盛宴。
Close behind are sharks. Now, most people believe that sharks and dolphins are these mortal enemies,
紧随其后的是鲨鱼。大部人会认为，鲨鱼和海豚是天敌，
but during the Sardine Run, they actually coexist. In fact, dolphins actually help sharks feed more effectively.
但在“沙丁鱼潮”中，它俩是共存的。实际上，在海豚的帮助下，鲨鱼吃得更爽了。
Without dolphins, the bait balls are more dispersed and sharks often end up with what I call a sardine donut, or a mouth full of water.
没有海豚的驱赶，沙丁鱼很难聚成球状，鲨鱼经常会从鱼群中间穿过，就像穿过甜甜圈一样，有时候只能喝一肚子水。
Now, while I've had a few spicy moments with sharks on the sardine run, I know they don't see me as prey.
我在“沙丁鱼潮”中与鲨群有过几次亲密接触，我明白鲨鱼没把我放在眼里。

However, I get bumped and tail-slapped just like any other guest at this rowdy, rowdy banquet.
但我还是不停被撞到，被尾巴扫到，就像这场喧闹盛宴上的其他客人一样。
From the shores of Africa we travel east,
我们从非洲海岸线往东航行，
across the vastness that is the Indian Ocean to the Maldives, an archipelago of coral islands.
穿过浩瀚的印度洋，来到马尔代夫--一个由珊瑚礁组成的群岛。
And during the stormy southwest monsoon, manta rays from all across the archipelago travel to a tiny speck in Baa Atoll called Hanifaru.
在暴风雨不断的西南季风季节里，生活在群岛海域的魔鬼鱼都会聚集到巴阿环礁一个叫哈尼法鲁的小岛附近。
Armies of crustaceans, most no bigger than the size of your pupils, are the mainstay of the manta ray's diet.
成群的小虾小蟹，大部分比咱们的瞳孔还要小，是魔鬼鱼的主要食物。
When plankton concentrations become patchy, manta rays feed alone and they somersault themselves backwards again and again,
当这些浮游生物比较分散时，魔鬼鱼一般单独捕食，它们在水里不停的向后翻滚，
very much like a puppy chasing its own tail.
就像小狗追着自己的尾巴。
However, when plankton densities increase, the mantas line up head-to-tail to form these long feeding chains,
而当浮游生物聚集得越来越多时，魔鬼鱼就开始首尾相连，排成长长的进食队形，
and any tasty morsel that escapes the first or second manta in line is surely to be gobbled up by the next or the one after.
队首的魔鬼鱼漏掉的美味会被后面的同伴吞食干净。
As plankton levels peak in the bay, the mantas swim closer and closer together in a unique behavior we call cyclone feeding.
随着海湾里的浮游生物越聚越多，魔鬼鱼的队形也越聚越拢，这种独特的捕食方法，我们称之为“旋风捕食法”。
And as they swirl in tight formation, this multi-step column of mantas creates its own vortex,
魔鬼鱼们层层叠叠，排成紧密的队形旋转，形成漩涡，
sucking in and delivering the plankton right into the mantas' cavernous mouths.
将浮游生物吸住，径直送入魔鬼鱼巨大的嘴中。
The experience of diving amongst such masses of hundreds of rays is truly unforgettable.
在成百上千魔鬼鱼中间潜水，那景象让我终生难忘。
When I first photographed Hanifaru, the site enjoyed no protection and was threatened by development.
当我第一次去哈尼法鲁拍照时，那里还没有被保护起来，生态环境受到当地发展的威胁。
And working with NGOs like the Manta Trust, my images eventually helped Hanifaru become a marine-protected area.
通过与“魔鬼鱼信托基金”这类的非政府组织合作，我的照片最终帮助哈尼法鲁成为了海洋保护区。
Now, fisherman from neighboring islands, they once hunted these manta rays to make traditional drums from their skins.
附近岛屿的渔民，曾经捕杀过许多魔鬼鱼，用它们的皮来制作传统的鼓。
Today, they are the most ardent conservation champions
而如今，他们成为了魔鬼鱼最坚定的保护者，
and manta rays earn the Maldivian economy in excess of 8 million dollars every single year.
魔鬼鱼每年为马尔代夫带来超过800万美元的收入。
I have always wanted to travel back in time to an era where maps were mostly blank or they read, "There be dragons."
我一直想回到过去，回到那个大部分地图还是一片空白，或者标着“此处有龙”的时代。
And today, the closest I've come is visiting remote atolls in the western Indian Ocean.
到目前为止，我去过的最类似的地方是一些位于西印度洋的偏远环礁。
Far, far away from shipping lanes and fishing fleets,
那里远离渔场和渔船，
diving into these waters is a poignant reminder of what our oceans once looked like.
在那里潜水总是让我感到悲凉，因为它让我想起海洋曾经的样子。
Very few people have heard of Bassas da India, a tiny speck of coral in the Mozambique Channel.
很少有人听说过印度礁，它是一个很小的珊瑚环礁，位于莫桑比克海峡。
Its reef forms a protective outer barrier and the inner lagoon is a nursery ground for Galapagos sharks.
它外围的礁石形成了保护屏障中间的环礁湖成为了加拉帕戈斯鲨鱼的幼儿园。
These sharks are anything but shy, even during the day.
这些鲨鱼从不害羞，即使在白天也一样。
I had a bit of a hunch that they'd be even bolder and more abundant at night.
我猜它们在晚上会更加活泼，数量也会更多。
Never before have I encountered so many sharks on a single coral outcrop.
我以前从未在一个珊瑚环礁湖中看到过如此多的鲨鱼。
Capturing and sharing moments like this -- that reminds me why I chose my path.
记录和分享这样的瞬间--时刻提醒我选择这条道路的初衷。
Earlier this year, I was on assignment for National Geographic Magazine in Baja California.
今年早些时候，为完成《国家地理杂志》的合约拍摄，我来到加利福尼亚半岛。
And about halfway down the peninsula on the Pacific side lies San Ignacio Lagoon, a critical calving ground for gray whales.
在半岛中部，临太平洋的一侧，坐落着圣伊格纳西奥环礁湖，那里是灰鲸重要的繁殖地。
For 100 years, this coast was the scene of a wholesale slaughter,
在过去的一百年里，这段海岸线就是一个巨大的屠宰场，
where more than 20,000 gray whales were killed, leaving only a few hundred survivors.
超过2万头灰鲸在这里被杀，只剩下几百头幸存者。
Today the descendents of these same whales nudge their youngsters to the surface to play and even interact with us.
而现在，这些灰鲸的后裔会将自己的幼仔推向海面，玩耍嬉戏，甚至与我们互动。
This species truly has made a remarkable comeback.
这一物种令人惊讶地恢复过来了。
Now, on the other side of the peninsula lies Cabo Pulmo, a sleepy fishing village.
在半岛的另一侧是普尔莫角，一个宁静的小渔村。
Decades of overfishing had brought them close to collapse.
数十年的过度捕捞一度将这个村子带到破产边缘。
In 1995, local fisherman convinced the authorities to proclaim their waters a marine reserve.
1995年，当地渔民说服政府将这片海域列为海洋保护区。
But what happened next was nothing short of miraculous.
接下来发生的一切简直可以说是奇迹。
In 2005, after only a single decade of protection, scientists measured the largest recovery of fish ever recorded.
在2005年，仅仅经过10年的保护，科学家发现，当地鱼群数量得到了创纪录的恢复。
But don't take my word for it -- come with me.
眼见为凭，跟我一起来吧。
On a single breath, swim with me in deep, into one of the largest and densest schools of fish I have ever encountered.
深吸一口气，与我一起潜入海底，去看看我遇到过的最庞大、最密集的鱼群是什么样子。
We all have the ability to be creators of hope.
我们都有能力创造希望。
And through my photography, I want to pass on the message that it is not too late for our oceans.
我想通过自己的照片，传递一个信息，从现在开始拯救海洋还不算太晚。
And particularly, I want to focus on nature's resilience in the face of 7.3 billion people.
我尤其想关注大自然所拥有的恢复能力，在它面对73亿人类的时候。
My hope is that in the future, I will have to search much, much harder to make photographs like this,
我希望在未来的时光里，我将越来越难拍到这样的照片，
while creating images that showcase our respectful coexistence with the ocean.
而是拍到更多反映人与海洋和谐共处的照片。
Those will hopefully become an everyday occurrence for me.
真希望我每天都能拍到这样的照片。
To thrive and survive in my profession, you really have to be a hopeless optimist.
要想在我们这一行干出点名堂，你必须是个无可救药的乐观主义者。
And I always operate on the assumption that the next great picture that will effect change is right around the corner,
我总是怀着这样的一个假设在拍照，下一张能够带来改变的伟大照片就在前面等我，
behind the next coral head, inside the next lagoon or possibly, in the one after it.
也许就在下一个珊瑚礁后面，在下一个环礁湖里，要不然，就在再下一个。