Counting Stars on Whale Sharks数鲸鲨身上的“星星”

NASA is well known for its finding out in space， but it is now also looking at the earth. It is helping save the largest fish in the ocean—whale sharks.

The problem with saving whale sharks is that researchers dont know much about them like how they live or where they go. To better understand and protect the endangered fish， they need a way to find them first.

Dr Brad Norman， an expert from Murdoch University in Australia， created a “photo library” of whale sharks. In the library， there are photos of different whale sharks.

Dr Brad Norman hopes that by comparing the dates and places of the photos， researchers can find out about those whale sharks location and migration routes.

美国国家航空航天局因在太空中的发现而闻名，但现在它也在关注地球。它正在帮助拯救海洋中最大的鱼类——鲸鲨。

拯救鲸鲨的问题在于，研究人员对它们知之甚少，比如它们如何生活或去往哪里。为了更好地了解和保护濒临灭绝的鲸鲨，研究人员首先需要一种追踪它们的方法。

澳大利亚莫道克大学的专家布拉德·诺曼博士创建了一个鲸鲨“图库”。图库里有各种鲸鲨的照片。

布拉德·诺曼博士希望，通过对比照片的日期和地点，研究人员可以找出这些鲸鲨的位置和迁徙路线。

There are spots on whale sharks back. They look like stars in the night sky. Although each whale sharks spots are unique， its almost impossible for researchers to tell the difference by eye. Then NASA steps in. It once developed a technology for mapping stars in the sky. Now it uses it to compare the spots on whale sharks， and then identify them. With the information about whale sharks locations and migration routes， researchers can make proper decisions on how to protect the large fishs habitats.

Now more and more people contribute to the photo library. They have helped the researchers find more than 10 thousand whale sharks. They make better protection of the large fish possible.

鲸鲨的背上有斑点，它们看起来像夜空中的星星。虽然每条鲸鲨的斑点都是独一无二的，但研究人员几乎不可能用眼睛分辨出它们。于是美国国家航空航天局加入了进来，它曾经开发了一种绘制天空中恒星的技术。现在它用这项技术来比对鲸鲨身上的斑点，然后识别它们。有了鲸鲨的位置和迁徙路线的信息，研究人员可以就如何保护鲸鲨的栖息地做出适当的决定。

现在越来越多的人为图库提供照片。他们已经帮助研究人员发现了一万多头鲸鲨。他们帮助鲸鲨获得更好的保护。

Word Bank

protect v. 保护

compare v.（现在分词形式comparing）对比；比较

unique adj. 唯一的；独一无二的

habitat n. （复数形式habitats）栖息地

contribute to 捐助；捐獻