美国
阿拉斯加州锡特卡海峡的海獭,美国 (© Robert Harding/Offset/Shutterstock)
海上泰迪熊(Teddy bears of the sea)
这些位于阿拉斯加锡特卡湾的海獭被官方称为Enhydra lutris,非官方称为最可爱的漂浮生物,它们正在做水獭所做的事,向我们表明,它确实需要一个村庄,在这里是一个船队。雄性或雌性群体(有时有幼犬)被恰当地命名为筏。男性木筏往往更大,数量超过1000只。它们浮力大的身体确实像木筏一样工作,可以作为摇篮、餐桌或任何固体表面。这很方便,因为水獭的大部分生命都在水中度过,甚至在海里分娩。尽管它们似乎过着无忧无虑的生活,嬉戏、梳洗和潜水,但它们在保持水生生态系统健康方面也发挥着重要作用,这是我们在本周纪念每年9月最后一周举行的海獭意识周时要记住的一件事。
原文:
Officially called Enhydra lutris, and unofficially known as the cutest creatures that float, these sea otters in Sitka Sound, Alaska, are doing what otters do, showing us that it truly does take a village, in this case, a flotilla. Groups of either males or females (sometimes with pups) are appropriately named rafts. Male rafts tend to be larger and can number more than 1,000 individuals. Their buoyant bodies indeed work like literal rafts, standing in as cradles, dinner tables, or any kind of solid surface. That’s handy because otters spend the vast majority of their lives in the water, even giving birth in the sea. Although they seem to live carefree lives, frolicking and grooming, and diving, they also serve an important role in keeping their aquatic ecosystems healthy, something to remember this week as we mark Sea Otter Awareness Week, observed every year during the last week of September.
《© Robert Harding/Offset/Shutterstock》