北極熊在令人心碎的照片里玩塑料垃圾

北極熊在令人心碎的照片里玩塑料垃圾

Devastating photos of Alaskan polar bears gnawing on plastic waste is the latest harbinger of environmental demise caused by humans.

阿拉斯加北極熊啃塑料垃圾的可怕照片是人類造成環(huán)境惡化的最新預(yù)兆。

The heartbreaking photos show a family of polar bears on the bank of a waterway, and the two cubs play tug-of-war with a sludge-filled, plastic gallon container. Other images show the bears with plastic hanging from their mouths or attempting to eat the garbage.

這些令人心碎的照片顯示了一個北極熊家庭在一條水道的岸邊，兩只小熊正在玩一場拔河比賽，用一個裝滿泥漿的塑料加侖容器。其他圖片顯示，這些熊嘴里掛著塑料或者試圖吃掉垃圾。

Los Angeles-based photographer Danny Sullivan, who documented the gut-wrenching scene, says he hopes people will see his photos and think, “Wow, we really have to start changing the way we operate.”

洛杉磯的攝影師丹尼·沙利文(Danny Sullivan)記錄了這一令人毛骨悚然的場景，他說他希望人們看到他的照片后會想，“哇，我們真的必須開始改變我們的經(jīng)營方式。”

The 58-year-old says he was aiding his wife, Shayne McGuire, a photography tour guide, on a trip to Kaktovik, Alaska, in October. The trip, he says, opened his eyes to the far-reaching impact of plastic pollution as well as how climate change contributes to its spread.

現(xiàn)年58歲的他說，10月份，他在協(xié)助妻子——攝影導(dǎo)游肖恩•麥奎爾——阿拉斯加卡克托維克(Kaktovik)的一次旅行中拍到了這張照片。他說，這次旅行讓他看到了塑料污染的深遠(yuǎn)影響，以及氣候變化是如何導(dǎo)致塑料污染擴(kuò)散的。

“In previous years, that whole area would have been 5 foot under [snow] by then,” explains Sullivan, who adds that the weather there was “a good 5 degrees warmer” than usual for that time of year. In the past, the plastic “would’ve been buried” where the bears couldn’t reach, he tells Media Drum.

沙利文解釋說：“在過去的幾年里，整個地區(qū)那時都要下雪5英尺了。”他補(bǔ)充說，那里的天氣比往年同期“暖和了5度”。他對媒體鼓說，在過去，塑料“會被埋在”熊夠不著的地方。

Polar bears are considered highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, according to the World Wildlife Federation, especially in terms of diet. While polar bears prey mostly on ringed and bearded seals, as well as fish, birds, whales and eggs, their options have become increasingly limited, so they sometimes resort to “animal carcasses … food waste from human settlements, and even other polar bears in a few instances.”

據(jù)世界野生動物聯(lián)合會稱，北極熊被認(rèn)為極易受到氣候變化的影響，特別是在飲食方面。雖然北極熊主要捕食環(huán)紋海豹和胡須海豹，以及魚類、鳥類、鯨魚和卵子，但它們的選擇越來越有限，因此它們有時會求助于“動物尸體……人類住區(qū)的食物垃圾，甚至在少數(shù)情況下會求助于其他北極熊。”

But the plastic shouldn’t be there at all, Sullivan laments.

但是塑料根本不應(yīng)該在那里，沙利文哀嘆道。

“What was a plastic gallon jug doing out here in far-flung Alaska? It just goes to show that what we’re doing is having an effect everywhere,” he says. “Plastic floats. This could’ve come from anywhere, and now there’s every chance one of these young bears has ingested it.”

“在遙遠(yuǎn)的阿拉斯加，一個塑料加侖水壺在這里干什么?只能表明，我們所做的一切在任何地方都有影響，”他說。“塑料漂浮物?？赡軄碜匀魏蔚胤?，現(xiàn)在這些小熊中的任何一只都有可能吞下了它。”

Sullivan says he normally would have picked up and properly discarded the rubbish, but approaching the bears would have been too dangerous: “You can’t put yourself in jeopardy.”

沙利文說，他通常會撿起并妥善丟棄垃圾，但接近熊會太危險(xiǎn)：“你不能把自己置于危險(xiǎn)之中。”

“It’s sad, and it’s not the only time we’ve seen litter in the most secluded, beautiful spots that are really in the middle of nowhere,” he says. “This is what we’ve done to the planet and although we have the power to change it, hemp-derived bottles and other plastic substitutions aren’t mainstream yet and the corporations aren’t doing enough.

他說:“這很可悲，這不是我們唯一一次在最偏僻、最美麗的地方看到垃圾。這就是我們對地球所做的，盡管我們有能力改變它，但由大麻制成的瓶子和其他塑料替代品還不是主流，公司做得還不夠。”

“We really are on a path to destroy our planet.”

“我們真的走上了毀滅地球的道路。”