As the spring sunshine strengthens, the broken pack ice off the coast of Greenland becomes a nursery.
当春天的阳光变得炙热,格陵兰海岸的破碎浮冰成为育婴室。
A harp seal pup... Born just a week ago.
一只刚出生一周的菱纹海豹宝宝。
He has little fat.
它几乎没有脂肪。
His thick fur is his only protection from the arctic chill.
它的厚重皮毛是抵御北极寒冷的唯一保护。
In between dozes, he waits for his mother to return.
在打盹之间,它等待母亲归来。
She has only one pup a year.
它一年只会生一只海豹。
And will produce milk for only 12 days, one of the shortest nursing periods in nature.
而且仅仅只会分泌12天的奶水,大自然之中最短的哺乳期之一。
That is just long enough for him to develop a thick layer of blubber.
这已足够让它长出一层肥厚的油脂。
Thanks to his mother's milk, which is 50% fat.
这是因为它母亲的奶水含有50%脂肪。
And his mother stays alongside while he learns an important survival skill for any seal... How to swim.
母亲在旁陪伴的同时,它也学会海豹的重要求生技能...也就是游泳。
He may not be keen to take the plunge.
它可能不太愿意跳进水里。
The salt water is minus two degrees celsius, after all.
毕竟海水只有摄氏零下两度。
Pups start with a doggy paddle.
海豹宝宝从狗爬式开始。
Mum stays reassuringly close.
妈妈保持令它安心的近距离。
Still developing his insulating blubber, a pup is at risk of hypothermia, so needs to rest and warm up.
在还没长出御寒油脂之前,海豹宝宝会有失温风险,所以需要休息和取暖。
Each day, he puts on another two kilos.
它每天会增加两公斤。
And practises swimming for just a little longer.
并慢慢延长练习游泳的时间。
Since birth, this pup has tripled in weight, and he is now at ease at this curious other world, 12 days gone by.
这个海豹宝宝从出生至今,体重已成为原本的三倍,如今它自由地在这个奇妙的世外桃源探索,12天过去了。
A mother's work is done.
母亲的任务已经完成。
In producing milk, she's lost a third of her body weight.
因为制造奶水,它失去了三分之一的体重。
Now she must return to her feeding grounds.
现在它必须回到它的觅食地区。
She will never see her pup again.
它将与它的宝宝永别。
The next four weeks he spends alone, sticking close to the ice platform.
接下来的四周它会独自生活,待在靠近海冰平台的地方。
Surviving on his fat reserves, as his downy fleece is replaced by a sleek coat more suited to swimming.
靠着它保存的脂肪生存,身上的绒毛被适合游泳的光滑外衣取代。
But temperatures in the arctic are now rising faster than ever before.
但北极的温度前所未有地急遽上升。
Creating storms that break up the ice floes earlier each spring.
制造的风暴令浮冰在每年春天都更早裂开。
Harp seal pups are being tipped into freezing waters before they're ready to endure long periods at sea.
海豹宝宝在尚未具备长期待在海中的耐力之前,就被迫进入冰冻的水里。
In some pupping areas, almost none survive.
在某些海豹的育儿地区,几乎没有一只能存活下来。