Seasick Seas
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　－－by Josie Glausiusz

　　Trouble is brewing[1] beneath the waves. Biologists report that marine diseases are on the rise, and the ocean's inhabitants---fish, mammals, plants, and invertebrates alike---are suffering.
　　Nobody knows the exact cause of the ocean epidemics, but human activity undoubtedly plays a role. Untreated sewage is thought to feed outbreaks of toxic algae, such as the fish-killing Pfiesteria. Industrial runoff may be responsible for the rash of tumors seen in fish around coastal cities. Canine distemper virus from domesticated dogs apparently killed a significant fraction of seal populations in Antarctica and Siberia. Marine diseases are best documented among commercially important species. Viruses from cultured shrimp in the Pacific severely diminished wild stocks near Mexico. "Our fish populations are being seriously affected. The trends are very striking," says aquatic ecologist JoAnn Burkholder of North Carolina State University.
　　JoAnn Burkholder这样说。 By far the most dramatic[2] crisis is the pandemic[3] of coral bleaching. According to marine ecologist James Porter of the University of Georgia in Athens, 70 percent of the coral reefs in the Indian Ocean have whitened and died in the past two years. Reefs are rich stores of biodiversity and sensitive measures of environmental health. Elevated sea temperatures trigger the bleaching, which makes Porter suspicious about the timing[4]. "Nothing like this has occurred within the last half-century," he says. "The most viable hypothesis to explain coral bleaching is global warming.

海洋母亲生病了

　　"滚滚波涛之下不安在滋生。生物学家警告：海洋疾病目前呈上升趋势，大海居民——鱼类、哺乳类、植物以及无脊椎动物等等——正在遭受疾病的侵扰。

　　无人知道海洋疫疾的根源在哪儿，但是有一点是毫无疑问的：人类的行为是引发这场疾病的原因。未经过处理的污水被排入大海，据说这导致含毒藻类——如能毒杀鱼类的Pfiesteria——在海底疯长。沿海城市发现了长着瘤胞的鱼，排入海洋的工业废料自然难逃其责。生活在南极洲和西伯利亚的海豹很大一部分显然由于感染上家犬的犬齿热病毒而纷纷倒毙。许多经济价值很高的物种也逃脱不了海洋疾病的肆虐。在太平洋人工培植的虾类感染上病毒，使临近墨西哥的野生虾类数量急剧下降。“鱼类资源受到严重影响，这种趋势是惊人的。”美国北卡罗来纳州大学的海洋生态学者

　　目前最惊人的危机还是来自于全国流行的珊瑚礁泛白事件。据雅典乔治亚州大学的海洋生态学家James Porter所提供的数据：近两年内，印度洋中70%的珊瑚礁都因泛白而死亡。珊瑚礁是生物多样性的丰富宝藏，也是生态健康的敏感测量仪。海洋温度升高引发了珊瑚礁泛白死亡，面对这种适时性James Porter不禁疑虑丛生：“这种现象在过去的半个世纪里从未发生过，”James Porter说，“对于珊瑚礁泛白现象最能说得过去的解释只能是全球变暖。”