字幕表 動画を再生する
-
I first became fascinated with octopus at an early age.
翻訳: HIROKO ITO 校正: Haruo Nishinoh
-
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