<FONT color=#0080ff>The new finding has been described as "very worrying".
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<FONT face="MS Sans Serif" color=#080000 size=3>Whale sharks spotted off the coast of Australia are getting smaller, researchers have said.
据研究人员介绍，常在澳大利亚海岸出没的鲸鲨变得越来越小。 </FONT>
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<FONT face="MS Sans Serif" color=#080000 size=3>In a decade the average size has shrunk from seven metres to five metres.
鲸鲨的平均长度在十年内从7米减到了5米。 </FONT>
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<FONT face="MS Sans Serif" color=#080000 size=3>Whale sharks, the world's largest fish, are caught for food in some east Asian countries and Australian researchers suspect this is causing a decline.
鲸鲨是世界上最大的鱼。在一些东亚国家，鲸鲨被人捕食，澳大利亚的研究人员们怀疑这是导致鲸鲨体积变小的主要原因。 </FONT>
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<FONT face="MS Sans Serif" color=#080000 size=3>The fish is listed as "vulnerable", and one of the authors of the new study has described the new finding as "a very worrying sign".
鲸鲨已被列为"濒危物种"，研究报告的撰写者之一说这个新发现是个"十分令人担忧的信号"。 </FONT>
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<FONT face="MS Sans Serif" color=#080000 size=3>The data comes from ecotourism companies which run expeditions to watch whale sharks and swim with them in Ningaloo Marine Park off the north-west coast.
数据资料来源于生态旅游公司，这些公司向游人提供观赏鲸鲨的探险业务，在位于西北海岸的宁格罗海洋公园，游人还有机会体验一下和鲸鲨同游的滋味。 </FONT>
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<FONT face="MS Sans Serif" color=#080000 size=3>"The eco-tourism industry logs the position and size and sex of every shark it swims with," said Mark Meekan of the Australian Institute of Marine Science (Aims).
澳大利亚海洋科学研究所的马克·米肯说，在经营业务的同时，生态旅游公司将每条陪同游人游泳的鲸鲨的位置、体积和性别都记录了下来。</FONT><FONT face=宋体> </FONT>
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<FONT face="MS Sans Serif" color=#080000 size=3>"We have obtained those datasets and analysed them over time," he said, "and essentially what we have seen in the last decade is a decline in average size of shark from seven metres to five metres.
他说，"我们对已经获得的数据进行了分析。而分析结果是，在过去的十年里，鲸鲨的平均身长从7米减少到了5米。" </FONT>
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<FONT face="MS Sans Serif" color=#080000 size=3>"Now if you consider that the sharks probably aren't sexually reproductive or mature until they're six or seven metres long - that's a very worrying sign."
"可以想象一下，如果鲸鲨要长到6米或7米才成熟或开始繁殖，那么这个新发现实在是个让人担忧的信号。"
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<FONT face="MS Sans Serif" color=#080000 size=3>Under the IUCN Red List of threatened species, they are categorised as "vulnerable" to extinction.
在国际自然与自然资源保护联合会的濒危物种名单上，鲸鲨已被划入"濒临灭绝物种"之列。 </FONT>
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<FONT face="MS Sans Serif" color=#080000 size=3>"Whale sharks, like many other shark species, are highly vulnerable to over-exploitation due to their long lifespan and low reproductive rate," commented Callum Roberts of York University in the UK, who has researched whale sharks extensively in the Caribbean.
英国约克大学的卡勒姆·罗伯特对加勒比海中的鲸鲨做了大量研究。他说，"由于鲸鲨的生命期很长，繁殖率又低，因此和很多其他的鲸类一样，鲸鲨正面临着被过度捕猎的危险。" </FONT>
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<FONT face="MS Sans Serif" color=#080000 size=3>There are also indications that the number of sharks visiting Australian waters may be decreasing, which would be additional evidence for a decline prompted by over-fishing.
同时也有迹象表明"光临"澳大利亚海域的鲸鲨数量正在减少，这也进一步说明过度渔猎是鲸鲨体积不断变小的罪魁祸首。</FONT>
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(中国日报网站编译)<BR> |
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