(单词翻译:单击)
Fake Orca Summoned To Scare Astoria's Sea Lions
人造“虎鲸”被派来驱赶Astoria的海狮
The Port of Astoria in Oregon is battling an unusual challenge - how to rid the area of the over 2,300 sealions that have taken up residence on the piers, without harming them.
俄勒冈州的Astoria港口正在经历一场非同寻常的挑战—在不伤害它们的情况下，怎样把2300多头占用船坞为家的海狮赶走。
The ever increasing population of the animals has caused 100,000 USD in damages to utilities and docks, just this year. However, the biggest issue with the sea lions is the rate at which they are consuming salmon. In addition to hurting local fisheries it could decimate the area's fish population if not stopped in time.
成群结队的海狮仅在今年对港口的设施和码头的损坏，造成了百万美元的损失。然而，它们最大的威胁还是吃掉了大量村民赖以为生的鲑鱼，除了对当地渔业产生重创，如果不及时阻止的话，还可能让所有的鱼类都消失殆尽。
To persuade the unwelcome guests to leave, port officials have removed a few docks and strung brightly colored surveying tape to stop them from leaping onto the two that still have boats tied to them. Unfortunately, the mats that have been effective in scaring sea lions perched on ocean oil rigs did not work as well here.
为了赶走这些“不速之客”，港口官员已移走了几个码头，在仍有船只停靠的两个码头上装上亮色条带来阻止海狮跳过来。不幸的是，对栖息于海上油井的海狮有效的方法，在这却不管用。
Astoria port officials are preparing to try a new low-tech technique - introducing a fake fiberglass "Willy" to scare the sea lions away. In a few weeks, a 16-ft-long remote-controlled orca will be spotted traversing the area of the Columbia River the sea lions have taken over.
Astoria港口的官员正打算换一个低技术含量的方法——搞一个仿真玻璃纤维制造的“鲸鱼”来赶走它们。几周之内，你就将看到一条长约16英尺，远程控制的“虎鲸”穿梭在被海狮们侵占的哥伦比亚河了。
This is not the first time a fake whale has been summoned for this job. In 1996, a similar one was anchored in the waters of Puget Sound to scare the sea lions that were devouring the already dwindling supply of steelhead at Seattle's Ballard Locks fish ladder. However, the wily animals were smart enough to realize that the fiberglass structure was an impersonator and refused to budge. Will a slightly more sophisticated version - one that moves and sings like the real whale be more effective? Astoria's officials and the fishermen and boat owners that reside in the region, sure hope so!
这不是第一例动用假鲸鱼的事件了。1996年，普吉湾水域也用过同样方法来驱赶那些在西雅图百乐水闸鱼梯，贪婪吞吃所剩无几的硬头鳟的海狮。然而，这些狡猾的小东西很快明白这是人造的，一步也不挪走。不知道下个会模拟真鲸鱼游动和叫声，高级一点的人造虎鲸是否会有效呢？Astoria地区的的官员、渔民和船主希望答案是肯定的！
译文属可可英语原创，仅供学习和交流使用，未经许可，请勿转载。
