螃蟹和虾成群结队地涌向深水地平线漏油点，这使它们生病了

螃蟹和虾成群结队地涌向深水地平线漏油点，这使它们生病了

The site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has become a popular mating ground for deep-sea crabs and shrimp.

深水地平线石油泄漏的地点已经成为深海螃蟹和虾的一个受欢迎的交配场所。

Decomposing oil from the 2010 spill could be mimicking a sex hormone, and that's what's attracting these crustaceans to get frisky in this part of the Gulf, according to an August study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

据英国《皇家学会开放科学》杂志8月发表的一项研究称，2010年漏油事件中的石油分解可能是在模拟性激素，这正是吸引这些甲壳类动物在墨西哥湾这一海域变得活跃的原因。

Their shells are turning black, parasites have latched on and some have lost limbs or developed mutations, according to the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, which led the study.

据领导这项研究的路易斯安那大学海洋协会称，它们的外壳正在变黑，寄生虫已经附着在上面，一些已经失去了四肢或发生了变异。

"Crabs showed clearly visible physical abnormalities and sluggish behavior compared to the healthy crabs we had observed elsewhere," Executive Director of LUMCON and lead author Craig McClain told CNN. "Once these crustaceans reach the site, they may become too unhealthy to leave."

“与我们在其他地方观察到的健康螃蟹相比，螃蟹表现出明显的身体异常和行动迟缓，”LUMCON的执行董事和主要作者克雷格·麦克莱恩告诉CNN。“一旦这些甲壳类动物到达了目的地，它们可能会变得太不健康而不能离开。”

The effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill are still being felt and in new ways. The deep-sea ecosystem is "recovering slowly and lingering effects may be extreme," McClain said.

“深水地平线”漏油事件的影响仍在以新的方式显现。麦克莱恩说，深海生态系统“恢复缓慢，持续的影响可能是极端的”。

Nine years ago, the explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig released 4 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Oil and methane gas spewed from the uncapped well for 87 days in a row.

九年前，“深水地平线”钻井台发生爆炸，向墨西哥湾泄漏了400万桶石油。未封顶的油井连续87天喷出石油和甲烷气体。

Since the 2010 environmental disaster, there have been studies on the biological impacts of the spill. Another effect of the spill that researchers are just learning about now is how it's hurting the crustaceans near the well.

自2010年的环境灾难以来，人们一直在研究漏油对生物的影响。漏油的另一个影响是，研究人员现在正在研究它是如何伤害油井附近的甲壳类动物的。

The number of crabs and shrimp near the well site were almost 8 times higher than other sites explored in 2017. when the survey was conducted.

在2017年进行调查时，油井附近的螃蟹和虾的数量几乎是其他勘探地点的8倍。

Three types of crustaceans showed up in big numbers: the red deep-sea crab and species of red shrimp and white shrimp.

有三种甲壳类动物大量出现:深海红蟹、红虾和白虾。

People don't fish commercially for these species of crabs and shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico, so there's little risk to humans, McClain said. The concern is for larger organisms who may eat the toxic crabs, introducing the chemicals higher up into the food chain.

麦克莱恩说，在墨西哥湾，人们不以商业方式捕捞这些螃蟹和虾类，所以对人类的威胁很小。令人担忧的是，较大的有机体可能会吃掉有毒的螃蟹，将这些化学物质引入食物链的更高层。

While there were a lot of certain animals, there was a small variety of sea creatures observed. Certain types of deep-sea dwellers that you'd expect to see were not present, the study said.

虽然有许多特定的动物，但也有少数种类的海洋生物被观察到。研究称，你可能会看到的某些深海生物并不存在。

"Near the wreckage and wellhead, many of the animals characteristic of other areas of the deep Gulf of Mexico, including sea cucumbers, giant isopods, glass sponges and whip corals, were absent," McClain said. "What we observed was a homogenous wasteland, in great contrast to the rich heterogeneity of life seen in a healthy deep sea."

麦克莱恩说：“在残骸和井口附近，许多墨西哥湾其他地区特有的动物，包括海参、巨型等足类动物、玻璃海绵和鞭状珊瑚，都不见了。”我们观察到的是一片同质化的荒地，与健康的深海中丰富多样的生命异质性形成了鲜明对比。”

The LUMCON team used remote-operated vehicles to take videos 1.600 feet around the well site. The videos were compared to videos taken months after the spill in 2010.

LUMCON团队使用可远程操作的工具在油井1600英尺的地方拍摄视频。这些视频与2010年漏油事件发生几个月后拍摄的视频进行了对比。

While the deep-sea ecosystem is still recovering, more research needs to be done, say the study's authors. It's hard to know the full impact since we don't have enough sampling prior to the oil spill. "We know little about the deep sea, so when these kinds of human impacts, occur we don't have the knowledge we need to make informed decisions about recovery," McClain said.

该研究的作者说，虽然深海生态系统仍在恢复中，但还需要做更多的研究。由于我们在漏油前没有足够的采样，所以很难知道全部影响。麦克莱恩说:“我们对深海了解甚少，所以当这些人为影响发生时，我们没有足够的知识来做出明智的恢复决定。”