I grew up in Mobile, Alabama --

私は幼い頃にタコに夢中になりました

somebody's got to be from Mobile, right? --

アラバマ州のモビールで育ちました

and Mobile sits at the confluence of five rivers,

ここにはモビール出身の方もおられるでしょうね

forming this beautiful delta.

モビールは５つの川が合流して形成される

And the delta has alligators crawling

美しいデルタ地帯に位置しています

in and out of rivers filled with fish

そこは ワニが這い

and cypress trees dripping with snakes,

たくさんの魚が泳ぎ

birds of every flavor.

ヌマスギからはヘビが垂れ下がり

It's an absolute magical wonderland to live in --

あらゆる種類の鳥がいます

if you're a kid interested in animals, to grow up in.

生き物に興味を持つ子供ならば

And this delta water flows to Mobile Bay, and finally into the Gulf of Mexico.

そこはまったく魔法のような場所なのです

And I remember my first real contact with octopus

川の水はモビール湾から メキシコ湾に注ぎます

was probably at age five or six.

初めて本物のタコに遭遇したのは たぶん

I was in the gulf, and I was swimming around and saw a little octopus on the bottom.

5歳か6歳の頃でした メキシコ湾で泳いでいて

And I reached down and picked him up, and immediately

海底にいる小さなタコを見つけました

became fascinated and impressed by its speed and its strength and agility.

私は手を伸ばしてタコをつかまえ　すぐに

It was prying my fingers apart and moving to the back of my hand.

その強さと敏捷さに夢中になりました

It was all I could do to hold onto this amazing creature.

指をこじあけ 手の裏に回ろうとするので

Then it sort of calmed down in the palms of my hands

この暴れん坊を持っているのがやっとでした

and started flashing colors,

そのうち タコは手のひらの上で大人しくなり

just pulsing all of these colors.

明滅させるように色を変えはじめ

And as I looked at it, it kind of tucked its arms under it,

脈打つように色を変えました

raised into a spherical shape

やがて 脚を下にしまいこみ

and turned chocolate brown with two white stripes.

球形に丸まって

I'm going, "My gosh!" I had never seen anything like this in my life!

2本の白い縞のある茶褐色に変わりました

So I marveled for a moment, and then decided it was time to release him,

「すごい こんな生物初めて！」感動しました

so I put him down.

しばらく見とれたあと 放さねばと思い

The octopus left my hands and then did the damnedest thing:

彼をそっと手から降ろすと

It landed on the bottom in the rubble

手から逃れたタコは 離れ業を見せたのです

and -- fwoosh! -- vanished

海底の小石の上に着地した次の瞬間

right before my eyes.

バシュッと一瞬で消えたのです

And I knew, right then, at age six,

私の目の前でです

that is an animal that I want to learn more about. So I did.

そこで私は6歳にして決めました

And I went off to college and got a degree in marine zoology,

もっとこの生物について知るんだと

and then moved to Hawaii and entered graduate school

やがて私は大学で海洋生物学の学士号を取り

at the University of Hawaii.

ハワイに行き ハワイ大学の

And while a student at Hawaii, I worked at the Waikiki Aquarium.

大学院に入学しました

And the aquarium had a lot of big fish tanks

ハワイ大学在籍中 ワイキキ水族館で働きました

but not a lot of invertebrate displays,

そこには 魚類用の大水槽はたくさんありましたが

and being the spineless guy, I thought, well

無脊椎動物の展示はあまり多くありませんでした

I'll just go out in the field and collect these wonderful animals

骨なし生物大好き人間の私は

I had been learning about as a student

すてきな仲間を連れてこようと思い立ちました

and bring them in, and I built these elaborate sets and put them on display.

学生として無脊椎動物について学んでいたので

Now, the fish in the tanks were gorgeous to look at,

それらを採集し 入念なセットをこしらえて展示しました

but they didn't really interact with people.

水槽の魚は鑑賞するにはすばらしいですが

But the octopus did.

彼らは人間と関わりません

If you walked up to an octopus tank,

でもタコは違います

especially early in the morning before anyone arrived,

タコの水槽に とくに早朝

the octopus would rise up and look at you

まだ誰もいない時に行ってみてください

and you're thinking, "Is that guy really looking at me? He is looking at me!"

タコは起き上がってあなたを見るでしょう

And you walk up to the front of the tank. Then you realize

「アイツ 俺を見てるのか．．．あ、本当に見てる！」

that these animals all have different personalities:

そして水槽の正面まで近づくと

Some of them would hold their ground,

一匹一匹に個性があることに気づくでしょう

others would slink into the back of the tank and disappear in the rocks,

その場を動かないタコもいますし

and one in particular, this amazing animal ...

水槽の奥の岩陰に隠れるタコもいるでしょう

I went up to the front of the tank, and he's just staring at me,

その中にすごいのが一匹いて

and he had little horns come up above his eyes.

私が水槽の正面に来ると じっと私を見つめました

So I went right up to the front of the tank --

彼の目の上に小さな角が出ていました

I was three or four inches from the front glass --

私は水槽の真正面で ガラスの

and the octopus was sitting on a perch, a little rock,

10センチほどのところにいました

and he came off the rock and he also came down right to the front of the glass.

タコは小さな岩の上に座っていましたが

So I was staring at this animal about six or seven inches away,

岩を離れて水槽の正面にやって来ました

and at that time I could actually focus that close;

ガラス越しに15センチ程の距離でにらみ合いました

now as I look at my fuzzy fingers I realize those days are long gone.

実際このくらいの近さでしたね

Anyway, there we were, staring at each other,

今は老眼でダメですが 昔はよく見えました

and he reaches down and grabs an armful of gravel

私たちはじっとにらみ合いました

and releases it in the jet of water entering the tank

タコは触腕を伸ばし 小石を一握り掴むと

from the filtration system,

濾過装置から水槽に注ぐ

and -- chk chk chk chk chk! -- this gravel hits the front of the glass and falls down.

流水の中に放ったのです

He reaches up, takes another armful of gravel, releases it --

チチチチッ 小石はフロントガラスに当たって落ちました

chk chk chk chk chk! -- same thing.

タコはもう一度小石を掴んでまた放ち…

Then he lifts another arm and I lift an arm.

チチチチッ 同じことを繰り返しました

Then he lifts another arm and I lift another arm.

次にタコは腕を一本上げました 私も上げました

And then I realize the octopus won the arms race,

続いてもう一本 私も もう一本

because I was out and he had six left. (Laughter)

腕競べは私の負けです

But the only way I can describe what I was seeing that day

だって彼はまだ6本ありますからね

was that this octopus was playing,

その日私が見たことは

which is a pretty sophisticated behavior for a mere invertebrate.

遊びという言葉でしか説明できませんでした

So, about three years into my degree,

無脊椎動物には稀な 極めて洗練された行動です

a funny thing happened on the way to the office,

その後 私が博士課程３年の頃

which actually changed the course of my life.

愉快な出来事がありました

A man came into the aquarium. It's a long story, but essentially

実際それはその後の私の人生を変えるものでした

he sent me and a couple of friends of mine to the South Pacific

手短に言うと ある男性が水族館を訪れ

to collect animals for him,

私と数名の同僚たちに 南太平洋に行って

and as we left, he gave us two 16-millimeter movie cameras.

彼のために生物を収集してほしいと言ったのです

He said, "Make a movie about this expedition."

出発の際 彼は16ミリカメラを２台持たせてくれ

"OK, a couple of biologists making a movie --

この調査の記録を映像に残すようにと言いました

this'll be interesting,"

よし 僕たちの映画か

and off we went. And we did, we made a movie,

これは面白いことになるぞ

which had to be the worst movie ever made

私たちは調査を行い 記録を残しました

in the history of movie making,

それは映画史上

but it was a blast. I had so much fun.

最低の映画でしたが

And I remember that proverbial light going off in my head,

最高で最上の体験でした

thinking, "Wait a minute.

そこで頭の中でランプがひらめいて

Maybe I can do this all the time.

待てよ

Yeah, I'll be a filmmaker."

これからもこれをずっとやれるのでは？

So I literally came back from that job,

そうだ 映画制作者になろう！と決心したのです

quit school, hung my filmmaking shingle

その仕事から帰るやいなや

and just never told anyone that I didn't know what I was doing.

何をやったら良いのかもよくわからないままに

It's been a good ride.

大学院を中退し 映画制作の看板を掲げました

And what I learned in school though was really beneficial.

幸運でした

If you're a wildlife filmmaker

それまでに学んだことがとても役立ちました

and you're going out into the field to film animals,

野生動物の映画制作者が

especially behavior,

自然の中で動物を撮影する

it helps to have a fundamental background

特に行動を撮影する場合

on who these animals are,

対象がどんな動物で

how they work and, you know, a bit about their behaviors.

どのように振る舞うか 行動するかなど

But where I really learned about octopus

基礎的な知識はとても役に立ちます

was in the field, as a filmmaker

しかし タコの本当の姿は 海の中で

making films with them,

映画制作の過程で学びました

where you're allowed to spend large periods of time

彼らを映画に撮り

with the animals, seeing octopus being octopus

海中の彼らの住み家で

in their ocean homes.

彼らが本来の生活を送る様子を

I remember I took a trip to Australia,

長期間共に過しながら学んだのです

went to an island called One Tree Island.

以前 オーストラリアの

And apparently, evolution had occurred

ワンツリー島に行きました

at a pretty rapid rate on One Tree,

明らかにその島では進化が

between the time they named it and the time I arrived,

かなり早いペースで起こっていて

because I'm sure there were at least three trees

私が行ったときには

on that island when we were there.

少なくとも３本以上の木が

Anyway, one tree is situated right next to

島に生えていました

a beautiful coral reef.

とにかく 一本の木が

In fact, there's a surge channel

美しいサンゴ礁のすぐそばに生えていました

where the tide is moving back and forth, twice a day, pretty rapidly.

そこは1日2回の満潮時に かなり激しく

And there's a beautiful reef,

潮が出入りする水路になっていました

very complex reef, with lots of animals,

そこは美しいサンゴ礁で

including a lot of octopus.

入り組んだ岩礁にはたくさんのタコを含む

And not uniquely

多くの生物がいました

but certainly, the octopus in Australia

タコにはよくあることですが

are masters at camouflage.

オーストラリアのタコは

As a matter of fact,

まさに変装の名人です

there's one right there.

実際

So our first challenge was to find these things,

ほら ここに一匹いるでしょう

and that was a challenge, indeed.

最初の難関は 彼らを見つけることで

But the idea is, we were there for a month

それは本当に大変でした

and I wanted to acclimate the animals to us

だからこう考えたのです １ヵ月滞在して

so that we could see behaviors without disturbing them.

タコたちが私たちに慣れれば

So the first week was pretty much spent

彼らを脅かさずに 生態を観察できるだろうと

just getting as close as we could,

最初の約一週間で

every day a little closer, a little closer, a little closer.

近づける限界を探りました

And you knew what the limit was: they would start getting twitchy

毎日少しずつ近づいて行き

and you'd back up, come back in a few hours.

彼らが落ち着かなくなる距離を測ったのです

And after the first week, they ignored us.

数時間毎に 近づいたり離れたりを繰り返すうち

It was like, "I don't know what that thing is, but he's no threat to me."

一週間後には 私たちを無視するようになりました

So they went on about their business

「どうやら悪さはしないらしい」と考え

and from a foot away, we're watching mating

普段通りの生活を始めました

and courting and fighting

ほんとうにごく近い距離から 交尾や

and it is just an unbelievable experience.

求婚や喧嘩を見守りました

And one of the most fantastic displays

それはほんとうに信じられないような経験でした

that I remember, or at least visually,

目撃し 記憶している中で

was a foraging behavior.

一番すばらしかったのは

And they had a lot of different techniques

採餌行動です

that they would use for foraging,

彼らはさまざまな技術を持っていて

but this particular one used vision.

それを餌を捕まえるために使っているのです

And they would see a coral head,

そのうちの１つは視覚を使うものでした

maybe 10 feet away,

3メートル先から

and start moving over toward that coral head.

珊瑚の塊を見つけて

And I don't know whether they actually saw crab in it, or imagined that one might be,

泳ぎ寄ります

but whatever the case, they would leap off the bottom

カニが見えるのかどうかはわかりませんが

and go through the water and land right on top of this coral head,

海底から跳び上がり

and then the web between the arms

珊瑚の塊の上に乗るのです

would completely engulf the coral head,

そして触腕を広げると

and they would fish out, swim for crabs.

珊瑚をすっぽり覆い

And as soon as the crabs touched the arm, it was lights out.

隠れているカニを探し出すのです

And I always wondered what happened under that web.

触腕に触れたが最後 カニはお陀仏です

So we created a way to find out, (Laughter)

この中がどうなっているのか知りたかったので

and I got my first look at that famous beak in action.

観察する方法を工夫しました

It was fantastic.

話に聞いていたくちばしの動きを初めて観察できました

If you're going to make a lot of films about a particular group of animals,

すばらしかったです

you might as well pick one that's fairly common.

特定の種類の生物の映画をたくさん撮りたいならば

And octopus are, they live in all the oceans.

広範囲に分布している生き物を選ぶでしょう

They also live deep.

タコはどの海にもいて

And I can't say octopus are responsible

深海に住んでいるものもいます

for my really strong interest

潜水艇に乗って深海へ行きたいという

in getting in subs and going deep,

私の強い願望が

but whatever the case, I like that.

タコのせいかどうかはわかりませんが

It's like nothing you've ever done.

とにかく私は深海が大好きなのです

If you ever really want to get away from it all

それはまったく新しい体験です

and see something that you have never seen,

もしあなたがすべてから逃れて

and have an excellent chance of seeing something

これまで見たこともないものを見たいと思うなら

no one has ever seen, get in a sub.

絶好のチャンスは

You climb in, seal the hatch, turn on a little oxygen,

潜水艇に乗ることです

turn on the scrubber,

潜水艇に乗り込んでハッチを閉め

which removes the CO2 in the air you breathe, and they chuck you overboard.

酸素のバルブをひねり

Down you go. There's no connection to the surface

空気浄化装置をオンにして 出発です

apart from a pretty funky radio.

下へと降りてきます 地上とのつながりは切れ

And as you go down, the washing machine

陽気なラジオともお別れです

at the surface calms down.

潜水艇が下降するにつれ

And it gets quiet.

外は静まり

And it starts getting really nice.

静寂が広がります

And as you go deeper, that lovely, blue water you were launched in

楽しい時間の始まりです

gives way to darker and darker blue.

潜行するにつれ 水の青さは

And finally, it's a rich lavender,

どんどん深く濃くなり

and after a couple of thousand feet, it's ink black.

やがて深いラベンダー色になり

And now you've entered the realm

さらに600mほど潜ると漆黒です

of the mid-water community.

ここは中深海の

You could give an entire talk

領域です

about the creatures that live in the mid-water.

中深海の生物についてだけでも

Suffice to say though, as far as I'm concerned,

たっぷりお話しすることがあります

without question, the most bizarre designs

私が知る限り 疑いもなく

and outrageous behaviors

最高にへんてこな形状の

are in the animals that live in the mid-water community.

とんでもない振る舞いをする

But we're just going to zip right past this area,

生物が 中深海にいる といえば十分でしょう

this area that includes about 95 percent

この領域は海の95%の領域を占めます

of the living space on our planet

ここをさっと通り過ぎて

and go to the mid-ocean ridge, which I think is even more extraordinary.

中央海嶺に降りて行きましょう

The mid-ocean ridge is a huge mountain range,

ここはさらに驚くべき所です

40,000 miles long, snaking around the entire globe.

中央海嶺は広大な海底山脈で

And they're big mountains, thousands of feet tall,

64万kmの長さで地球の海底をうねっています

some of which are tens of thousands of feet

海嶺は巨大な山脈で数百から

and bust through the surface,

数千メートルの高さにもなり

creating islands like Hawaii.

それが海面にまで至ると

And the top of this mountain range

ハワイ諸島のような島を形成します

is splitting apart, creating a rift valley.

この山脈の頂は

And when you dive into that rift valley, that's where the action is

パックリと開いていて地溝帯を作っています

because literally thousands of active volcanoes

この地溝帯こそ 活動の現場なのです

are going off at any point in time

ここには文字通り数千の活火山が

all along this 40,000 mile range.

6万kmの長さに渡って

And as these tectonic plates are spreading apart,

常時噴火を続けているからです

magma, lava is coming up and filling those gaps,

大陸を載せたプレートが動き

and you're looking land -- new land --

マグマがわき上がって隙間を埋めます

being created right before your eyes.

新しい海底が 目の前で

And over the tops of them is 3,000 to 4,000 meters of water

形成されていくのを目撃できます

creating enormous pressure,

地溝帯の上にある3千～4千mの海水は

forcing water down through the cracks toward the center of the earth,

すさまじい圧力となり 海水を地球の中心まで

until it hits a magma chamber

押し込もうとします

where it becomes superheated

マグマ溜りにぶつかった海水は

and supersaturated with minerals,

超高温に熱せられて

reverses its flow and starts shooting back to the surface

ミネラルで過飽和の状態になり

and is ejected out of the earth like a geyser at Yellowstone.

逆流し 海底近くまで押し戻されて

In fact, this whole area

イエローストーンの間欠泉のように噴き出すのです

is like a Yellowstone National Park with all of the trimmings.

実際この辺り一帯は 飾りたてた

And this vent fluid is about 600 or 700 degrees F.

イエローストーン国立公園のようです

The surrounding water is just a couple of degrees above freezing.

噴出する熱水は摂氏300～400度にもなる一方

So it immediately