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Now when the Treasure sank in 2000, it was the height of the best breeding season scientists had ever recorded for the African penguin, which at the time, was listed as a threatened species.
而当2000年“宝藏(Treasure)”号发生沉船事故时，正值有史以来科学家所记录的南非企鹅繁殖最旺盛的一个时期——而南非企鹅在当时已经被列入濒危物种的名单。
And soon, nearly 20,000 penguins were covered with this toxic oil.
很快的，将近两万只企鹅被有毒的油污浸染。
The local seabird rescue center, named SANCCOB, immediately launched a massive rescue operation, and this soon would become the largest animal rescue ever undertaken.
于是当地的海鸟救援中心，即南非滨海鸟类保育基金会(SANCCOB)，迅速发动了一场浩大的救援行动——而不久后这场行动就演变成一场空前壮大的动物拯救行动。
At the time, I was working down the street. I was a penguin aquarist at the New England Aquarium.
那个时候，我在陆地下面工作，当时我是新英格兰水族馆企鹅馆的管理员。
And exactly 11 years ago yesterday, the phone rang in the penguin office. And with that call, my life would change forever.
然后就在11年前的昨天，一个电话打进我办公室。而正是那个电话，改变了我的生活轨迹。
It was Estelle van Der Merwe calling from SANCCOB, saying, "Please come help.
那是来自南非滨海鸟类保育基金会的埃斯特尔·范·德·米尔(Estelle van der Meer)打来的电话，电话里，他说“请来帮帮忙。
We have thousands of oiled penguins and thousands of willing but completely inexperienced volunteers.
我们这儿有上千只被油污浸染的企鹅和数千名兴致勃勃，却毫无企鹅救助经验的志愿者。
And we need penguin experts to come train and supervise them." So two days later, I was on a plane headed for Cape Town with a team of penguin specialists.
因此我们急需这方面的专家来为志愿者们作培训指导。”就这样两天后，我便与一行企鹅专家坐上了前往开普敦(Capetown)的飞机。
And the scene inside of this building was devastating and surreal. In fact, many people compared it to a war zone.
而当时救援所内的场景简直不堪入目。事实上，很多人把它比作战区现场。
Last week, a 10-year-old girl asked me: "What did it feel like when you first walked into that building and saw so many oiled penguins?"
上星期，一个十岁的小女孩问我，“当你一开始踏入那屋子，看到那么多被污染的企鹅是怎样的一种感觉？”
And this is what happened. I was instantly transported back to that moment in time.
她这么一问，接着就发生了下面的一切。刹那间我仿佛又回到了一开始踏入那屋子的那一刻。
Penguins are very vocal birds and really, really noisy, so I expected to walk into this building and be met with this cacophony of honking and braying and squawking.
企鹅按理说是很喜欢叫喊的，而且的确叫起来会非常、非常吵。所以当时在进入屋子之前，我是做好了心理准备来面对那些刺耳尖叫的，
But instead, when we stepped through those doors and into the building, it was eerily silent.
但出乎意料的是，当我们穿过重重大门，最终进入抢救室时，迎接我们的是一片死寂。
So it was very clear these were stressed, sick, traumatized birds.
据此也可以看出眼前的这些鸟儿还惊魂未定，惶恐而虚弱。
