- Only 3 percent of the water on our planet is fresh.
地球上只有3%的水是淡水 - Yet these precious waters are rich with surprise.
可是这些珍贵的淡水中却充满了惊奇 - All life on land is ultimately dependent upon fresh water.
所有陆地生命归根结底都依赖于淡水 - The mysterious tepuis of Venezuela -
神秘的委内瑞拉平顶山区 - isolated mountain plateaus rising high above the jungle.
一个孤立于丛林之上的的山地高原 - This was the inspiration for Arthur Conan Doyle's 'Lost World,'
这里是亚瑟·柯南·道尔的著作 《失落的世界》的灵感源泉 - an imagined prehistoric land.
一个想象中的史前世界 - Here, strange towers of sandstone have been sculptured over the millennia by battering wind and torrential rain.
这里伫立着数千年来暴风骤雨 雕凿成的奇形怪状的石塔 - Moisture rising as water vapour from the surface of the sea
水蒸发成水蒸气从海面升起 - is blown inland by wind.
接着被风带到内陆 - On reaching mountains, the moisture is forced upwards
途经山脉的时候 水气被迫抬升 - and as it cools, it condenses into cloud and finally rain -
逐渐冷却 汇聚成云 最后形成降雨 - the source of all fresh water.
这便是所有淡水的来源 - There is a tropical downpour here almost every day of the year.
这里全年几乎每天都会降下热带暴雨 - Fresh water's journey starts here, high in the mountains.
淡水之旅就是从这些高山之巅开始的 - Growing from humble streams to mighty rivers
涓涓细流汇集成泱泱大河 - it will travel hundreds of miles to the sea.
行程数百英里回到大海 - Angel Falls, the highest waterfall in the world.
安赫尔瀑布——世界上落差最大的瀑布 - Its waters drop unbroken for almost a thousand metres.
流水不间断地从将近1000米的高处落下 - Such is the height of these falls
具有如此这般高度的瀑布 - that long before the water reaches the base in the Devil's Canyon
在水还未落到恶魔谷底之前 - it's blown away as a fine mist.
便已被吹散成雾霾 - In their upper reaches, mountain streams are full of energy.
上游地段的山涧充满活力 - Streams join to form rivers,
溪流汇聚成河 - building in power,
随着力道的积聚 - creating rapids.
形成激流 - The water here is cold.
这里的水较冷 - Low in nutrients, but high in oxygen.
营养物质不多 但含氧量却很高 - The few creatures that live in the torrent
生活在急流中的少数几种动物 - have to hang on for dear life.
得有办法固定自己以保住性命 - Invertebrates dominate these upper reaches.
无脊椎动物统治着上游河段 - The hellgrammite, its body flattened to reduce drag,
这是鱼蛉 其扁平的身体 能减少水的冲击力 - has bushy gills to extract oxygen from the current.
并依靠浓密的鳃从水中过滤氧气 - Black fly larvae anchor themselves with the ring of hooks,
蚋的幼虫靠钩环固定自己 - but if these become unstuck,
即使不小心松脱了 - they're still held by a silicon safety line.
它们还有一根坚韧的“安全索” - There are advantages to life in the fast stream -
这些动物拥有在急流中生存的先天优势 - bamboo shrimps can just sit and sift out passing particles with their fan-like forearms.
拟匙指虾只需趴在河底 用它们的扇形前臂从流水中过滤出食物颗粒 - Usually, these mountain streams only provide enough food for small animals to survive.
通常 山涧提供的食物 只能维持小型动物生存 - But with the spring melt here in Japan
可是在日本 每当春雪消融之际 - monsters stir in their dens.
一种怪物便在巢窟中苏醒 - Giant salamanders, world's largest amphibian,
大鲵——世界上最大的两栖动物 - almost two metres long.
几乎能长到2米长 - They're the only large predator in these icy waters.
它们是这些冰水中唯一的大型掠食动物 - They begin their hunt at night.
夜幕降临 它们开始捕猎 - These salamanders have an exceptionally slow metabolism.
大鲵的新陈代谢十分缓慢 - Living up to 80 years they grow into giants.
它们能活80多年 因此长得十分巨大 - The fish they hunt are scarce
可供大鲵捕食的鱼非常稀少 - and salamanders have poor eyesight.
而且它们的视力也很差 - But sensory nodes on their head and body
可是它们头上和身上的感官突起 - detect the slightest changes in water pressure.
能觉察出最轻微的水压变化 - Free from competition,
由于没有竞争 - these giants can dine alone.
这些大家伙得以独自享用美食 - Pickings are usually thin for the salamanders,
大鲵的收获通常都比较少 - but every year some of the world's high rivers are crowded by millions of visitors.
而世界上的高山河流每年都将 迎接成千上万的来访者 - The salmon have arrived.
鲑鱼来了 - This is the world's largest fresh water fish migration.
这是世界上规模最大的淡水鱼洄游 - Across the northern hemisphere salmon, returning from the ocean to their spawning grounds,
鲑鱼穿越整个北半球 从海洋回到它们的产卵地 - battle their way for hundreds of miles upstream.
奋力逆流而上数百英里 - Up here, there are fewer predators to eat their eggs and fry.
只因上游很少有捕食鱼卵 和鱼苗的掠食者 - A grizzly bear.
一只灰熊 - From famine to feast -
它已经很久没有打牙祭了 - he's spoilt for choice.
早就盼着这个机会 - This Canadian bear is very special -
这只加拿大熊很特别 - he's learnt to dive for his dinner.
它学会了潜水捕猎 - But catching salmon in deep water is not that easy
但要想在深水中捕获鲑鱼可不太容易 - and the cubs have lots to learn.
熊崽们还要很多东西要学 - The annual arrival of spawning salmon
鲑鱼每年都会到河里产卵 - brings huge quantities of food into these high rivers that normally struggle to support much life.
于是这些平常只能勉强维持众多动物生计的 高山河流终于有了提供饕餮大餐的机会 - Although relatively lifeless, the power of the upland rivers to shape the landscape
尽管高山河流的生物量相对较少 它们却有能力改变地形 - is greater than any other stage in a river's life.
在河流扮演的角色中 这才是最主要的 - Driven by gravity, they're the most erosive forces on the planet.
它们借助地心引力 成为地球上最大的侵蚀力量 - For the past 5 million years
在过去的500万年中 - Arizona's Colorado river has eaten away at the desert's sandstone
亚利桑那州的科罗拉多河 冲走了大量沙石 - to create a gigantic canyon.
形成一个巨大深邃的峡谷 - It's over a mile deep
它的深度超过1英里 - and at its widest it's 17 miles across.
最宽的地方达17英里 - The Grand Canyon.
这就是大峡谷 - This river has cut the world's longest canyon system -
这条河冲蚀出了世界上最长的峡谷系 - a 1,000 mile scar clearly visible from space.
在太空中也能清楚地看到 这条长达1000英里的沟壑 - As rivers leave the mountains behind,
河流离开山区之后 - they gradually warm and begin to support more life.
河水渐渐变暖 养育的动物也多了起来 - Indian rivers are home to the world's most social otter -
印度河里住着世界上最具社会性的水獭 - smooth-coated otters form family groups up to 17 strong.
印度水獭的一个家族可多达17名成员 - Group rubbing not only refreshes their coats,
集体“按摩”不仅能清洁它们的皮毛 - but strengthens social bonds.
也能增强群体内部团结 - When it comes to fishing
当它们去捕鱼时 - there is real strength in numbers.
群体合作能保证它们屡战屡胜 - Fishing practice begins when the cubs are four months old.
小水獭在4个月大时就开始学习捕鱼 - Only the adults have the speed and agility needed to make a catch.
只有成年水獭才具备 捕鱼所需的速度和灵巧 - Adults share their catches with their squabbling cubs.
成年水獭把“战利品”与幼崽一起分享 小家伙们立刻抢成一团 - Most otters are solitary,
大部分水獭都是独自生活 - but these rich warm waters can support large family groups
但是这些富饶温暖的水域 足以养活大型家族 - and even bigger predators.
甚至更大的掠食动物 - Mugger crocodiles, four metres long, could easily take a single otter.
4米长的恒河鳄 能轻松捕获一只落单的水獭 - But, confident in their gangs,
不过集合起来的水獭颇有胆量 - the otters will actively harass these great reptiles.
反而会主动骚扰这些大块头的爬行动物 - Team play wins the day.
群体作战通常会取得胜利 - The Mara river, snaking across the plains of East Africa.
马拉河蜿蜒地穿过东非平原 - As the land flattens out
由于地势平坦 - rivers slow down and lose their destructive power.
河水流速变慢 没有了原来的破坏力 - Now they are carrying heavy loads of sediment
河流中带着大量的泥沙 - that stains their waters brown.
水变得很浑浊 - Lines of wildebeest are on their march.
一队队的角马正在迁徙途中 - Each year nearly two million animals migrate across the Serengeti plains
每年都会有将近200万只角马 横越塞伦盖蒂平原 - in search of fresh green pastures.
去寻找新鲜草场 - For these thirsty herds
对于这群饥渴难耐的角马来说 - the rivers are not only a vital source of drinking water,
河流不仅是唯一能解渴的重要水源 - but also dangerous obstacles.
也是充满危险的关隘 - This is one of the largest concentrations of Nile crocodiles in Africa,
这里是非洲一处最大的尼罗鳄聚集地 - giants that grow over five metres long.
这些大怪物能长到5米多长 - From memory, the wildebeest are coming
鳄鱼凭着记忆得知 角马已经来了 - and gather in anticipation.
不出所料 它们纷纷下水 - The crocodile's jaws snap tight like a steel trap -
鳄鱼的巨口像捕兽铗一般紧咬住猎物 - once they have a hold, they never let go.
一旦被它逮住 猎物再无逃脱的机会 - It took over an hour to drown this full-grown bull.
它得花上一个多小时 才能淹死这只成年公角马 - To surprise their prey
为了突袭猎物 - crocodiles must strike with lightning speed.
鳄鱼必须以闪电般的速度出击 - Here, only the narrowest line separates life from death.
在这里 生与死只有一线之隔 - Most rivers drain into the sea,
大部分河流都汇入大海 - but some end their journey in vast lakes.
可有些河流的终点却是大型湖泊 - Worldwide lakes hold twenty times more fresh water than all the rivers.
全球湖泊淡水储量比江河多20倍 - The East African Rift Valley holds three of the world's largest:
东非大裂谷内有着3个世界上最大的淡水湖 - Malawi, Tanganyika, and Victoria.
马拉维湖、坦噶尼喀湖 以及维多利亚湖 - Lake Malawi, the smallest of the three,
马拉维湖是这3个湖泊中最小的 - is still bigger than Wales.
却仍比威尔士还要大 - Its tropical waters teem with more fish species than any other lake.
生活在这个热带湖泊里的鱼类 比其它湖泊都要丰富 - There are 850 different cichlids alone,
这里有850多种不同的慈鲷 - all of which evolved from just one single ancestor isolated here thousands of years ago.
它们都是从一个数千年前 即被隔绝在此的祖先进化而来的 - These two-metre wide craters are fish-made.
这些2米宽的土丘是鱼儿们的杰作 - Fastidiously maintained by the males, these bowls are courtship arenas.
雄鱼一丝不苟地维护着坑巢 因为这里正是求爱的场所 - Cichlids are caring parents.
慈鲷是尽心尽职的父母 - Brooding young in the mouth is a very effective way of protecting them.
它们将鱼苗含在嘴里 这是一种保护它们的有效方法 - This lake can be a dangerous place.
马拉维湖也是个危机四伏的地方 - After dark, predatory dolphin fish emerge from their daytime lairs among the rocks.
到了晚上 掠食性的长颌鱼纷纷 游出它们白天潜伏的石缝 - Like packs of sharks, they're on the prowl for sleeping cichlids.
它们像是一群鲨鱼 一边游一边寻找熟睡中的慈鲷 - In the darkness these electric fish hunt
这些鱼用电在黑暗中捕猎 - by detecting distortions in the electric field they create around their bodies.
它们在身体周围形成电场 并感知其变化 - Any cichlid that trenches out will be snapped up.
一旦慈鲷切入电场 立刻就会成为捕食的对象 - The floor of Lake Malawi drops 700 metres into an abyss.
马拉维湖底是一个深达700多米的深渊 - Here, in this dead zone the larvae of lake fly midges hide out away from predators.
这个死亡地带成了 幽蚊幼虫躲避天敌的庇护所 - In the rainy season they balloon up to the surface
每到雨季 它们便充气浮上水面 - and undergo a magical transformation.
然后经历一场不可思议的变化 - At dawn the first adult midges start to break out.
黎明时分 第一只成蚊破蛹而出 - Soon, millions upon millions of newly hatched lake flies are taking to the wing.
不久 成百上千万只新羽化的幽蚊 全都扇动着翅膀飞到空中 - Early explorers told tales of lakes that smoked, as if on fire.
早期探险家看到这种湖面上“冒烟”的情景 还以为是湖底着了火 - But these spiralling columns hundreds if metres high
这些高达数百米的螺旋型“烟”柱 - are mating flies.
其实是正在交配的幽蚊 - Once the flies have mated,
幽蚊完成交配之后 - they will all drop to the water surface,
便会一起落到水面 - release their eggs and die.
产下卵 然后死去 - Malawi may look like an inland sea,
马拉维湖看起来像大海一样辽阔 - but it's dwarfed by the world's largest lake -
但它远比不上世界上最大的湖泊 - Baikal in Eastern Siberia.
东西伯利亚的贝加尔湖 - 400 miles long and over a mile deep, Baikal contains one fifth of all the fresh water found in our planet's lakes and rivers.
贝加尔湖长400英里 深度超过1英里 其中淡水储量占到了全球江河湖泊淡水总量的1/5 - For five months of the year it's sealed by an ice sheet over a metre thick.
每年中总有5个月 湖面被1米厚的冰层覆盖 - Baikal is the oldest lake in the world
贝加尔湖是世界上最古老的湖泊 - and, despite the harsh conditions, life flourishes here in isolation.
尽管生存条件恶劣 生命仍在这个与世隔绝的地方得到了兴盛 - 80 percent of its species are found nowhere else on Earth,
湖里80%的物种 在地球上其它地方都不存在 - including the world's only fresh water seal.
包括世界上唯一的淡水海豹 - With this seal
有了这种海豹 - and its marine-like forests of sponges
再加上海底森林一般的海绵 - Baikal seems more like an ocean than a lake.
贝加尔湖看起来 更像是海洋 而不是湖泊 - There are shrimp-like crustaceans - giant amphipods - as large as mice.
这种长得像虾一样的甲壳动物 是一种大型端足类动物 它有老鼠那么大 - They are the key scavengers in this lake.
它们是湖里不可或缺的“清洁工” - The water here is just too cold for the bacteria that normally decompose the dead.
由于湖水过于寒冷 分解尸体的细菌很难在此存活 - Most rivers do not end in lakes
大部分河流并非止于湖泊 - but continue their journey to the sea.
而是一直奔向大海 - The planet's indisputable super-river is the Amazon.
地球上的超级大河 毫无疑问就是亚马逊河 - It carries as much water as the next top-ten biggest rivers combined.
它的水量是世界十大江河中 其余9条大河的总和 - Rising in the Peruvian Andes, its main trunk flows eastwards across Brazil.
它发源于秘鲁安第斯山区 其干流穿越整个巴西 - On its way the system drains a third of South America.
全部流域面积达到南美洲的1/3 - Eventually, over 4,000 miles from its source,
最终 在经过4000英里的流程之后 - it empties into the Atlantic Ocean.
亚马逊河汇入了大西洋 - The Amazon transports a billion tonnes of sediment a year,
亚马逊河每年会带来10亿吨的泥沙 - sediment clearly visible at the mixing of the waters
泥沙使得河水交汇成为一道显眼的风景 - where one massive tributary, the Rio Negro, flows into the main river.
一条巨大的支流 ——内格罗河在此汇入干流 - Its waters are wonderfully rich.
河水中的物种异常丰富 - To date over 3,000 species of their fish have been described -
据统计 被命名的鱼类已达到3000多种 - more than in the whole of the Atlantic Ocean.
这比整个大西洋的鱼类种数还要多 - The Amazon is so large and rich in fish
亚马逊河养育着丰富繁多的鱼类 - that it can support fresh water dolphins.
为淡水海豚提供了生存条件 - These botos are huge - two and a half metres long.
这些亚马逊江豚体型巨大 身长达2.5米 - In these murky waters they rely on sonar to navigate and hunt.
它们利用回声定位 在昏暗的水中探路和捕食 - They work together to drive shoals of fish into the shallows.
它们一起合作把鱼群赶到浅水区 - Botos are highly social
亚马逊江豚是高度社会型动物 - and in the breeding season there is stiff competition for mates.
在繁殖季节 会有一场激烈的求偶竞赛 - The males hold court in a unique way.
雄江豚会以独特的方式向雌江豚示爱 - They pick up rocks in their jaws
它们用长嘴捡起石块 - and flaunt them to their attending females.
然后向自己的“心上人”炫耀 - Maybe each male is trying to show how strong and dexterous he is
这或许是雄江豚展示自己 强壮身体和敏捷身手的一种方式 - and that he therefore is the best father a female could have for her young.
以此来证明自己将是最好的父亲 雌江豚为了孩子就应该选它 - Successful displays lead to mating.
求爱成功后 它们便开始交配 - Even for giant rivers like the Amazon
即使像亚马逊河这般巨大的江河 - the journey to the sea is not always smooth or uninterrupted.
流向大海的过程也并非都是平缓连续的 - Iguassu Falls on the border of Brazil and Argentina
位于巴西和阿根廷边境的伊瓜苏瀑布 - is one of the widest waterfalls in the world -
是世界上最宽的瀑布之一 - one and a half miles across.
宽幅达1.5英里 - In flood 30 million litres of water spill over every second.
瀑布每秒的水流量达到3000万立方米 - All the world's great broad waterfalls:
所有世界上最大的瀑布 - Victoria, Niagara and here, Iguassu,
维多利亚瀑布、尼亚加拉瀑布 还有这里的依瓜苏瀑布 - are only found in the lower courses of their rivers.
都是位于河流的下游地段 - In their final stages
在旅途的最后阶段 - rivers broaden and flow wearily across their flat flood plains.
河道变宽 河水缓缓流过 平坦辽阔的冲积平原 - Each wet season here, in Brazil,
这里是巴西 每到雨季 - the Parana river overflows its banks
巴拉那河都会泛滥 - and floods an area the size of England.
洪水淹没的地区相当于一个英格兰 - The Pantanal -
潘塔纳尔沼泽地 - the world's largest wetland.
世界上最大的湿地 - In these slow-flowing waters aquatic plants flourish
缓慢的流水中生长着茂盛的水生植物 - like the Victoria giant water lily with leaves two metres across.
譬如有着2米宽叶子的王莲 - These underwater forests are nursery grounds for fish.
这些水下森林正是 鱼类理想的“育婴”场所 - Over 300 species breed here, including red-bellied piranha
大约有300多种动物在此繁殖 其中包括红腹锯脂鲤 - and other predators, like the spectacle caiman.
以及其它食肉动物 例如眼镜凯门鳄 - Ripening fig trees overhanging the water's edge
水边生长着高大的无花果树 - provide welcome food for shoals of hungry fish.
为饥饿的鱼群提供美味食物 - The commotion attracts dorado,
骚动引来了麻哈脂鲤 - known locally as the river tiger.
当地人称之为“河中之虎” - They patrol the feeding shoals,
它们穿梭于觅食的鱼群中 - looking for a chance to strike.
找准机会发动进攻 - And waiting in the wings,
有些鱼则守在一旁等待 - ready to pick off any injured fish,
时刻准备攻击任何受伤的鱼 - are the piranhas.
它们就是锯脂鲤 - The feeding frenzy quickly develops.
它们的进食速率极快 - Piranha can strip a fish to the bone in minutes.
锯脂鲤几分钟内便能 将一条活鱼啃得只剩下骨架 - Great numbers of fish sustain vast flocks of water birds.
大量的鱼养活着大批聚集的水鸟 - The rose-eared spoonbill is just one of the 650 bird species found in the Pantanal.
粉红琵鹭是潘塔纳尔沼泽地中的 650多种鸟类中的一种 - They nest alongside wood stocks in colonies thousands strong.
它们将巢建在树干上 一群多达好几千只 - Spectacle caiman linger below,
眼镜凯门鳄在下面游荡 - waiting for a meal to fall out of the sky.
等着食物从天而降 - When rivers finally reach the sea
当江河最终汇入大海时 - they slow down, release their sediment and build deltas.
水流减缓 留下大量泥沙 堆成了三角洲 - In Bangladesh the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers join
在孟加拉国 恒河与雅鲁藏布江的交汇处 - to form the world's biggest.
形成了世界上最大的三角洲 - Every year almost 2 thousand million tonnes of sediment
每年大约有20亿吨泥沙在此沉淀 - eroded from the Himalayas is delivered to the ocean.
从喜马拉雅山脉上 崩塌下来的土石最终归于大海 - At the delta's mouth - the largest mangrove forest in the world,
三角洲河口地带有一片 世界上最大的红树林 - the Sundarbans.
孙德尔本斯红树林 - These extraordinary forests spring up throughout the tropics in these tidal zones where rivers meet the sea.
这些特殊的树林遍及整个热带地区的潮间带 那里正是河流的入海口 - Crab-eating macaques are mangrove specials.
食蟹猴是红树林的特有物种 - In Indonesia these monkeys have adopted a unique amphibious lifestyle -
在印度尼西亚 这些猴子 过着一种独特的双栖式生活 - they fish out fallen food.
它们拣食落在水中的食物 - The troop also uses the waters to cool off during the heat of the day.
在白天酷热难耐之时 猴群会利用水来给身体降温 - But the channels are also the playground for restless young macaques.
水道也是顽皮的小猴子们的游乐场 - Some of the young have even taken to underwater swimming.
有的小猴甚至已经学会潜泳 - They can stay down for more than 30 seconds
它们能在水下呆30多秒 - and appear to do this just for fun.
而它们这么做似乎只是因为好玩 - Yet these swimming skills acquired during play
但是 这些在玩耍中学会的游泳本领 - will certainly be useful later in life in these flooded mangrove forests.
将来会成为在红树林中 非常有用的生活技能 - In cooler climes, mud, laid down in estuaries,
在较冷的地区 沉积在入海口的泥沙 - is colonised by salt marsh grasses
被大片盐沼水草覆盖 - and form one of the most productive habitats on the planet.
成为地球上一处 最肥沃的野生动物栖息地 - 400,000 greater snow geese flock to the estuaries along the Atlantic coast of the United States
40万只大西洋雪雁成群飞往 美国大西洋海岸的河口地带 - to rest and refuel on their long migratory journeys.
并在此休整 准备继续长途迁徙 - This is the end of the river's journey.
这是淡水之旅的终点 - Collectively they've worn down mountains
它们共同抚平高山 - and carried them to the sea.
把它们带向大海 - And all along the way,
在整个行程中 - their fresh water has brought life and abundance to planet Earth.
淡水为地球带来了无数生机与富饶 - [The End]
[本集结束]
行星地球 第一季 第三集 Planet Earth S01E03 淡水
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