the water is filled with copepods, jellyfish and other drifting animals
水里到处都是桡足类动物、水母以及其他浮游生物
they might be small but these planktonic animals are all food for the mighty whale shark
浮游生物可能很小，但它们都是大鲸鲨的食物
early in the morning when the water is calm
清晨，海面波澜不惊
the plankton forms a thick layer near the surface
浮游生物在水面附近形成厚厚的一层
he's just surface beating
水面开始了一场混战
what the whale sharks do here is they swim across the surface of the water with their mouths open wide
鲸鲨张开嘴巴在水面上漂浮着
and all that plankton that's sitting right at the surface gets funneled right into their mouths
水面上的所有浮游生物直接进入鲸鲨的嘴巴里
the enormous mouths wallows up huge quantities of water
鲸鲨的巨大嘴巴吞入了大量的水
the water comes back out through the Sharks gills
水从鲨鱼鳃里流了出来
but comb-like structures in the gills capture the plankton like an enormous spaghetti strainer
但是鳃里的梳状结构就像巨大的意大利面过滤器来捕获浮游生物，
so the whale sharks swimming through the water is like a big pool skimmer filtering the plankton for breakfast
所以，水中游动的鲸鲨就像一个巨大的撇水池，过滤出浮游生物作为早餐
each shark eats hundreds of pounds of food every hour
每条鲨鱼每小时要吃掉数百磅的食物
it turns out that eating plankton is very efficient for a large animal
事实证明，对大型动物而言，浮游生物是它们非常高效的食物
conditions here, a round hole wash island are perfect for plankton in the summer
夏天，霍尔布什岛很适合浮游生物生存
the plankton makes the water really murky but all that food attracts huge schools of fish
水因浮游生物而变得浑浊，但却吸引了大量的鱼
it's a bounty that feeds many kinds of animals
这些浮游生物是恩赐，可以喂养许多动物
manta rays feed on the plankton
蝠鲼以浮游生物为食
but the whale shark is by far the most impressive animal that comes here
迄今为止，鲸鲨是我们来到这里最令人印象深刻的动物
reaching 50 feet long whale sharks grow as large as a school bus
鲸鲨长达50英尺，和校车一样大小
but they're completely harmless
但它们毫无攻击性
all they eat are plankton and tiny fish
只吃浮游生物和小鱼
that is incredible, they are so huge
鲸鲨体型大的难以置信

and there's so much plankton in the water that we can only see maybe 20 feet underwater
水中的浮游生物太多了，我们只能看到水下20英尺深的地方
so they're bigger than the visibility you can't even see the tail from the head
所以实际上，鲸鲨要比你看到的大一点，你甚至完全看不清鲸鲨的头和尾
I can't believe how many sharks are feeding around the boat
我不确信船周有多少鲨鱼在觅食
there's so much plankton here that it attracts whale sharks for hundreds of miles around
这里的浮游生物如此之多，以至于方圆数百英里的鲸鲨都来到这里
some of the Sharks have escorts schools of fish that swarm around them for protection
有些鲨鱼周围有鱼群为它们保驾护航
they to eat the plankton splashing at the surface as they feed alongside the shark
当浮游生物在鲸鲨附近跳起觅食，鲸鲨就将它们作为食物，
but when I swim over to investigate
我游过去一看
they hide under the shark as if it were a huge swimming reef
这些浮游生物躲在鲨鱼下面，鲨鱼仿若一个巨大的游动暗礁
freediving and keeping up with these sharks is hard work
自由潜水跟上这些鲨鱼很累
they don't look like they're moving that fast
鲨鱼看起来没有那么快，
I mean their tail is just you know gently swishing back and forth
我是说，它们的尾巴只是轻轻地来回摆动
but they are so big that tail is so huge that they're actually moving faster than we can keep up with them
但是鲸鲨体型太大了，尾巴也很大，以至于它们移动的速度比我们跟上的速度要快
you swim as hard as you can for about 30 seconds and then you're pooped
你拼命地游了大约30秒，然后累的不行
and you give up and off they go
放弃了，鲸鲨就游走了
later as the Sun gets higher in the sky and the air gets mwarmer
随后，当太阳升高，空气变暖
the wind picks up and waves start to form
海面起风，波纹荡漾
the plankton layer dissipates and the Sharks get harder and harder to find
浮游生物层消失了，鲨鱼越来越难以找到
they're diving deeper out of sight
这些鲨鱼潜得更深了，脱离了视线
once they dive below we have no way to find them
一旦这些鲨鱼潜入水下，就找不到它们了
so we head back to shore
只能回到岸上
my trip to whole Bosh has been a tremendous success and a lot of fun
我的整个霍尔布什岛之旅收获颇丰，也乐趣横生
the economy of this tiny island has been transformed by this big harmless polka-dotted shark
这种无攻击性的圆点的大鲨鱼改变了整个布什岛的经济状况
here in homage, people love whale sharks and they're protected by law
为了表示敬意，人们喜欢鲸鲨，立法施以保护
and that's the best part of this story
这就是整个故事最精彩的部分