在科納島，與吳秀波一起遇見蝠鲼

In November, we came to Kona Island, Hawaii with our WildAid Ambassador Wu Xiubo (Famous Artist in China).Not for the famous sunshine, beaches and palm trees in Hawaii, and not for the hot Hawaii girls wearing hula skirts and garlands, but for an extremely lively treasure this time— the manta ray.

11月，我們和擔(dān)任WildAid公益大使的吳秀波一起來到夏威夷科納島。

不是為了夏威夷最出名的陽光、沙灘、棕櫚樹,也不是為了身穿草裙、頭戴花環(huán)、熱情洋溢的夏威夷女郎，我們的到來，是為了一件富有生命力的珍寶——蝠鲼。

Kona is an rich area with ocean resources; it's one of the most important conservation areas for Manta Ray around the world.科納島海洋資源豐富，是世界上重要的蝠鲼保護區(qū)之一。

Diving around Kona

It took just less than 40 minutes by Boeing jumbo from Honolulu to Kona.

This small volcanic island was not so crowded.Wu said, he fell in love with it from the fi rst time, for it was so tranquil and peaceful.There were nearly no foreign tourists, but every year, hundreds and thousands of scuba divers come here, just for the manta ray.

In diving circles, manta rays are a popular underwater creature.They are very smart and also quite friendly to humans.When they see divers, they often come close out of curiosity, waving their huge wings, just like giving you a stroke, or dancing around you.It's said that when manta rays get accidentally hooked by fi shing gear under the sea, they know how to seek help from humans.When they get free, they usually hover around their saviours, or even swim with the saviours together to the shore.

To visit manta ray, license for Open Water Diving and ability of night diving are must-haves.It was a totally strange fi eld for Wu Xiubo.For the fi rst time, he had been diving with a heavy oxygen cylinder.He tried to remember each rule of using the apparatus, learnt to control buoyancy and the oxygen mask and tried to adapt to a new way of moving and breathing.After 100 hours of exercise, the coach said, this diligent Chinese student was ready for the manta rays.

Later, I came to know that Wu was afraid of con fi ned spaces.If it were not for the shooting of a project intended to protect manta ray, he would not have taken the challenge to try this.

visit Manta Ray at night

7 P.M.to 9 P.M is just right time to visit manta ray.Many diving ships will stop near the shore and start night visits.

Manta ray, a kind of cartilaginous fish.Their pectoral fins can span 7 metres when stretched out.They can weigh up to 1.3 Tonnes.蝠鲼，軟骨魚，身體呈菱形，胸鰭像翅膀一樣，展開有7米長，體重可以達到1.3噸。

The ocean is dark and has a sense of unknown mystery.When you are stirred into this deep blackness, every cell in your body is challenged.The beams from torches attracted a group of plankton, and without waiting too long, a tiny group of hungry manta rays showed up as well.They fl ew over the head of Wu, like huge birds.Gradually they got closer, dancing around him.Wu said, it seemed that his face was touched by their wings tenderly, and that was fascinating.Growing up in a city, he had never seen wild animals before, so when he dived deep into the ocean, he felt a real link with nature.For a long time, he just lay down at the bottom of the sea, watching the rays swimming by.He was excited, but then felt guilty.“Right as we speak, these amazing creatures are disappearing in another corner of the world, and this is all due to us humans.”

Kona Island is one of mere manta ray conservation districts.However, most manta rays all over the world are threatened by hunting.People rumour that using manta rays' gills to make soup has a healthy function for the body, so there are about 100 thousand manta rays dying for this every year.Some countries have forbidden manta ray hunting or banned the trade of manta ray, though the great need for them still makes people hunt illegally.Only without human consumption can manta ray be safe from hunting, and then they may have the possibility to survive.

After seeing the wonderful underwater world of the manta ray, Wu believed humans should do everything possible to protect these animals and their environment.Because, if one day this beauty and diversity do not exist any more, human beings would be so pathetic.

Manta Ray brings 4 million dollars every year to people in Kona as income through tourism, which is more profitable than selling gill, meat and leather.Developing ecotourism is a very important part of protecting Manta Rays.蝠鲼為科納島的居民帶去每年400萬美元的旅游收入，比捕殺販賣蝠鲼高很多。每年有十萬條左右的蝠鲼因捕殺販賣消失，發(fā)展生態(tài)旅游是保護蝠鲼非常重要的一環(huán)。

潛水科納島

從火奴魯魯乘坐波音小型客機，不到40分鐘，就降落到科納島。

這座火山噴發(fā)物沉積而成的小島，人不多。吳秀波說，他一下飛機就愛上了這里，特別安逸、寧靜。小島上基本沒有什么外來游客，但每年都有數(shù)以萬計的潛水發(fā)燒友，為了蝠鲼而來。

在潛水圈，蝠鲼是特別受歡迎的海洋生物。它們特別聰明，也特別喜歡人。每當(dāng)看見潛水者，它們就會好奇地湊上前，揮動著巨大的翅膀，好像在撫摸你，又像在圍著你跳舞。據(jù)說，有時蝠鲼會被海里的魚線或刺鉤困住，它們懂得主動向人類求救。被解救之后，它們通常會徘徊在“恩人”身邊，甚至還會陪著“恩人”游到岸邊。

要約會蝠鲼，必須擁有公開水域潛水執(zhí)照，以及能夠夜?jié)?，對吳秀波來說，這是完全陌生的領(lǐng)域。生平第一次背著重重的氣瓶下到水里，他努力地記住各個潛水設(shè)備的使用規(guī)則，學(xué)習(xí)控制浮力和氧氣面罩，適應(yīng)用全新的方式來移動和呼吸。100個小時的練習(xí)后，教練說，這個認(rèn)真的中國學(xué)生，可以去見蝠鲼了。

后來，我才知道，吳秀波不喜歡密閉空間，如果不是為了進行保護蝠鲼的拍攝，他不會選擇在現(xiàn)在的年紀(jì)做這樣的嘗試和挑戰(zhàn)。

The abundant volcanic ash in Kona provides sufficient nutrients for ocean creatures.科納島肥沃火山灰，為海洋生物提供了充足的養(yǎng)分。

夜訪蝠鲼

晚上7點到9點，是探訪蝠鲼的好時間。很多潛水船停在離岸不遠(yuǎn)的地方，開始夜?jié)摗?/p>

夜幕下的大海充滿了未知的神秘，一頭扎進這樣的墨黑里，對身體里的每一個細(xì)胞都是一種挑戰(zhàn)。手電筒的光柱吸引了許多浮游生物來此聚集。一會兒工夫，一小群覓食的蝠鲼也出現(xiàn)了。它們從吳秀波的頭頂“飛”過，好像巨大的鳥類。然后，它們慢慢靠過來，圍著他跳舞。海浪輕輕地推過來，吳秀波說，像被蝠鲼溫柔地用“翅膀”撫摸了臉，是一種特別不可思議的感覺。他說，自己從小在城市長大，沒有見過野生動物，置身海底那一刻，真切地與自然連接。有一段時間，他就那么靜靜地躺在海底，看著蝠鲼從他身邊游過，一開始很興奮，但突然地又涌起內(nèi)疚，“就在我們拍攝的這個時刻，這些可愛的家伙還在地球上的某一個地方減少——而這一切都是因為人的緣故”。

科納島是少數(shù)幾個蝠鲼保護區(qū)之一，然而，世界上絕大多數(shù)的蝠鲼都在遭受過度的捕殺。人們傳言用它們的腮耙燉湯有保健功效，每年有十萬條左右的蝠鲼因此消失。雖然一些國家采取禁止或限制貿(mào)易的行動，但高度的需求仍會驅(qū)使人們偷捕和走私。只有拒絕消費，才能終止殺害，蝠鲼才有生存下去的希望。

目睹了蝠鲼所在的海底世界的奇妙美麗后，吳秀波說，他更加堅信，人類必須做一切力所能及的事情，來保護這些生物和它們的家園——海洋。

因為，如果有一天所有這些美麗和豐富不復(fù)存在，人類該是多么可悲。

MEET MANTA RAY IN KONA ISLAND

Text by Lucy &Lan Xiaojiang Translations by Bian Jiajin Photos by Shawn Heinrichs for WildAid&CFP

ABOUT WILDAID關(guān)于野生救援

While most wildlife conservation groups focus on protecting animals from poaching, WildAid works to reduce global consumption of wildlife products by persuading consumers and strengthening enforcement.WildAid's strategy for achieving this goal is to reduce demand for these products using our slogan: When the Buying Stops, the Killing Can Too.野生救援是非營利非政府國際公益組織。野生救援的工作是與國內(nèi)外政商領(lǐng)袖、名人明星合作，宣傳拒絕購買瀕危野生動物制品，鼓勵公眾選擇可持續(xù)的生活方式，從而達到保護瀕危野生動物和保護環(huán)境的目的。自2004年在中國開展工作以來，野生救援已經(jīng)逐漸成長為中國最具影響力的公益組織之一。