How much is a whale worth?
The world’s largest whales are more than mere evolutionary marvels.
世界上最大的鲸远不仅是进化史上的奇迹。
By sequestering carbon in the ocean, they can help humanity fight climate change—an ecosystem service that may be worth millions of dollars per whale, according to a new analysis by economists with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
根据国际货币基金组织经济学家的最新分析，鲸鱼通过将碳封存在海洋内，帮助人类对抗气候变化，因此，每头鲸所提供的生态系统服务价值可高达上百万美元。
sequester: 使……隔绝；把……藏起来；The jury were sequestered during the trial. 审判期间，陪审团被隔离开来。 Everything he owned was sequestered. 他所有的财产都被扣押了。
A team of economists led by Ralph Chami, an assistant director of the IMF’s Institute for Capacity Development, wanted to change the way we think about whales by quantifying the benefit they provide us in dollars and cents.
由国际货币基金组织能力发展研究所助理总监，拉夫尔·沙弥领导的一个经济学家团队想要通过将鲸鱼给我们带来的价值等价到美元、美分，来改变人们对鲸鱼的认识。
The analysis hasn’t yet been published in a peer-reviewed scientific paper, and there are still important scientific knowledge gaps in terms of how much carbon whales can capture.
他们的分析报告还未在业内的科学论文上发表，而且，关于鲸群究竟能吸收多少碳，仍然存在很大的科学知识空缺。
But based on the research that’s been done so far, it’s clear to the economists that if we protect great whales, it will reap major dividends for the planet.
但根据目前的研究情况来看，经济学家可以明确表态，如果大型鲸鱼受到保护，我们的星球将获益颇丰。
reap：收到(好处，报答）the company is poised to reap the benefits of this investment.该公司做好准备收获这一投资的收益。
dividend：回报，收益；Good eating habits will pay dividends later on in life. 保持良好的饮食习惯，将来会受益的。
“We have to agree whales are an international public good,” he says.
他说：“我们必须承认，鲸鱼的存在对整个国际社会都是有益的。”
Great whales, including the filter feeding baleen and sperm whales, help sequester carbon in a few ways.
大型鲸鱼，包括滤食性须鲸和抹香鲸，都能通过一些方式储藏碳。
They hoard it in their fat and protein-rich bodies, stockpiling tons of carbon apiece like giant, swimming trees.
它们把碳偷偷藏在它们的脂肪，以及富含蛋白质的身体部分，它们就像是会游泳的参天大树一般，囤积起上吨的碳。
hoard: 秘藏（贵重物品等） The case involves a hoard of silver and jewels valued at up to £40m. 此案涉及价值高达4000万美元的白银和珠宝的收藏品。
When a whale dies and its carcass descends to the bottom of the sea, that stored carbon is taken out of the atmospheric cycle for hundreds to thousands of years, a literal carbon sink.
当一头鲸死去，沉入海底，它体内的碳在接下来的成百上千年都无缘参与大气循环，这就是字面意义上的碳汇。
carbon sink: 碳汇， A carbon sink is a natural reservoir that stores carbon-containing chemical compounds accumulated over an indefinite period of time 是指能够无限期累计及储存碳化合物（特別是二氧化碳）的天然仓库。
A study published in 2010 estimated that eight types of baleen whales, including blue, humpback, and minke whales, collectively shuttle nearly 30,000 tons of carbon into the deep sea each year as their carcasses sink.
根据2010年发表的一项研究估计，八种须鲸，包括蓝鲸、座头鲸和小须鲸，在它们的尸体下沉时，每年累计向深海运送近3万吨碳。
If great whale populations rebounded to their pre-commercial whaling size, the authors estimate this carbon sink would increase by 160,000 tons a year.
如果巨型鲸鱼的数量能够恢复到商业捕鲸之前，作者估计碳汇每年将增加16万吨。
While they are alive, whales might do even more to capture carbon, thanks to their jumbo-sized excrement.
多亏了它们巨大的粪便，它们生前可能还能捕获更多的碳。
excrement: 排泄物，粪便 the pollution of drinking water by untreated human excrement 未经处理的人体排泄物对饮用水的污染
Great whales feed on tiny marine organisms like plankton and krill in the ocean’s depths before surfacing to breathe, poop and pee—and the latter activities release enormous plume of nutrients, including nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron, into the water.
巨型鲸在浮出水面呼吸、排便和撒尿之前，会吃海洋深处的浮游生物和磷虾等微小海洋生物，而而它们的排泄物则包含了大量的营养物质，包括氮、磷和铁。
poop: vt. 排便；The dog just pooped in the kitchen! 狗刚在厨房拉屎了！
n.排便；dog poop on the sidewalk 便道上的狗屎
So-called poo-namis stimulate the growth of phytoplankton, marine algae that pull carbon out of the air via photosynthesis.
这种所谓的长时间大量排便，将促进浮游植物、海藻的生长，后者通过光合作用从空气中吸收碳。
When phytoplankton die, much of their carbon gets recycled at the ocean’s surface. But some dead phytoplankton inevitably sink, sending more captured carbon to the bottom of the sea.
当浮游植物死亡时，大部分它们捕获的碳都会在海洋表面得以循环，但一些死去的浮游植物不可避免地会下沉，从而将更多捕获的碳送到海底。
Another study from 2010 found that the 12,000 sperm whales in the Southern Ocean draw 200,000 tons of carbon out of the atmosphere each year by stimulating phytoplankton growth and death through their iron-rich defecations.
2010年的另一项研究发现，南半球海洋的12,000头抹香鲸， 每年通过排泄富含铁的粪便， 促进浮游生物的生长和死亡，从大气中带走了20万吨的碳。
defecation: n. 排便， The drug's side effects can include involuntary defecation. 此药物的副作用可能包括无意识的排便。
defecate：v. 排便， I'll still defecate in my pants. 我还是会把大便拉在裤子上。
Altogether, Chami and his colleagues estimated that each of these gentle giants is worth about $2 million over its lifetime. The entire global population of great whales? Possibly a one trillion dollar asset to humanity.
沙弥和他的同事们估计，这些性情温和的巨型动物在它们的一生中，每个都能够创造出总计200万美元的生态价值。全世界的鲸鱼数量有多少？它们很可能能给人来带来等价于1万亿美元的资产。
trillion：万亿；a 4 trillion dollar debt. 一笔4万亿美元的债务。
极多； they yammering of trillions of voices. 无数的哀嚎声。
