人们从海底挖出了数千个奇怪的圆洞

Thousands of strange round holes scooped out of the ocean floor have been uncovered along the coast of California.

沿着加利福尼亚海岸，人们从海底挖出了数千个奇怪的圆洞。

Some measure nearly 600 feet across, but scientists are unsure how they formed.

有些直径近600英尺，但科学家不确定它们是如何形成的。

As many as 15,000 holes have been found during an underwater survey by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI).

蒙特雷湾水族馆研究所(MBARI)在水下调查中发现了多达15000个洞。

Experts were originally studying mysterious large “pockmarks” across the seafloor off the coast of California’s Big Sur region.

专家们最初研究的是加利福尼亚大苏尔海岸海底的神秘大“麻子”。

These strange depressions are unexplained and average 574 across and 16 feet deep.

这些奇怪的洼地无法解释，平均宽574英尺，深16英尺。

But the MBARI’s underwater vehicles also found more than 15,000 smaller holes, measuring 36 feet across and three feet deep.

但是MBARI的潜水器也发现了超过15000个小洞，直径36英尺，深3英尺。

Around one-third of the holes contain human waste, including “filled trash bags, 5-gallon buckets and a storage trunk.”

大约三分之一的洞里都是人类的排泄物，包括“填满的垃圾袋、5加仑的水桶和一个储存箱。”

And a fifth of the holes contain “exotic material,” including cobbles, kelp holdfasts and even a whale skull.

五分之一的洞中含有“外来物质”，包括鹅卵石、海带壳甚至鲸鱼头骨。

Experts believe that many of the objects were “dropped over the side of the boat.”

专家认为，许多物体是“掉在船的一侧”。

It’s still not clear what’s causing the holes to form in the first place.

目前尚不清楚是什么导致了这些洞的形成。

The large pockmarks are described as having been “inactive” for more than 50,000 years.

这些大麻子被描述为已经“不活跃”了5万多年。

But many of the smaller holes appear to be much newer and may have formed in recent years.

但许多较小的黑洞似乎是最近几年形成的。

And one early theory that gases under the seafloor were bubbling up to create the holes was discarded.

早期有一种理论认为，是海底下的气体冒泡形成了这些洞，但这一理论被抛弃了。

“No evidence or fluid or gas venting…were found in either type of feature,” the researchers explained.

研究人员解释说:“在这两种特征中都没有发现任何证据，也没有发现任何流体或气体的排放。”

Best of all theories so far is the idea that humans might be inadvertently creating the holes with their waste.

到目前为止，最好的理论是人类可能在不经意间用他们的排泄物制造了这些洞。

When something drops onto the sit floor and sits there, marine life may be moving in and turning it into a home.

当某样东西掉到地板上，停在那里时，海洋生物可能正在移动，并把它变成一个家。