Environment Concerns 環境大小事 : Let's Leave The Shells Alone ! 沙灘客照過來

「每到夏天就要去海邊～」這不只是段嚷嚷上口的歌詞（現在冷颼颼的似乎有點不應景，哈哈），也是不論古今還是中外皆廣為流行的夏日活動。但下次到沙灘時，要衝浪、要日曬、要蓋沙堡都行，就是別再撿貝殼了阿！這是一篇關於海灘上貝殼大幅驟降的文章，解釋了這個現象可能導致的後果。

(這是在墾丁南灣沙灘拍的～好懷念的溫暖海灘呀/ The photo was taken in Kenting.)

Beachcombers Leave It Shell Shocked
Jan 21, 2014 |By Sophie Bushwick

*beachcomber:常泡沙灘的人

Collecting seashells is a classic part of a beach vacation. But this seemingly innocent pastime（消遣）can have serious environmental effects.
 
到海邊玩總是會順手撿撿貝殼，感覺青春又浪漫。但你不知道的是，這麼做會對沙灘帶來嚴重影響。

Starting 30 years ago, a survey was made of the shells on Spain's Llarga Beach every month for three years. When researchers repeated the count just a few years ago, the number of shells was down by two-thirds（貝殼的數量下降了三分之二） compared with their former numbers. Urbanization（都市化） or commercial fishing （商業性捕魚）were the likely culprits（可能的兇手，culprit原意為罪犯）, but the area experienced no significant increase in either. It did, however, see a threefold bump in tourism. And the number of shells on the beach dropped significantly during times of the heaviest tourism（觀光旺季時）...

三十年前，研究者在西班牙的Llarga 海灘進行貝類調查，並在幾年前發現一項驚人事實：相較於前一次的數據，海灘上的貝類總數居然驟降了三分之二。在過去，都市化與商業性捕魚行為被認為是可能元兇，但海灘上的貝類就算有減少，也沒有這樣大幅度的減少。反而是在旅遊旺季時，來此觀光的旅客絡繹不絕，海灘上的貝殼也欲哭無淚了..

Shells provide homes and hiding places for organisms（有機體，生物） from hermit crabs（寄居蟹） to algae（藻類）, contribute to the global carbon balance（全球碳元素的平衡）, and even help prevent beach erosion（海岸侵蝕，又稱coastal erosion）. If tourists worldwide are taking shells in significant numbers, it could have a major impact on beach environments. In other words, sightseers shouldn't seize seashells by the seashore.

別小看這些貝殼小朋友們～他們其實在海灘生態扮演著重要角色：寄居蟹阿到藻類等生物都需要貝殼當庇護，且具有平衡碳元素的功用，甚至能預防海灘侵蝕（一種地質現象，沙子越來越少，導致沙灘消失）如果觀光客不正視這個問題，繼續撿阿撿，絕對會對海灘帶來嚴重後果。陽光宅男沙灘辣妹們請手下留情阿！

英文文章來源Resource：

http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/scarce-shells-by-the-shore/