Why Dive?

潜水究竟有什么好处？

What's so great about diving then? For John 8cullion it's the thrill of exploring a whole new world beyond the reach of non-divers¹. In fact, once you try it you will never see things in quite the same way again. How deep did you go? Were there any sharks? Did you find any treasure? These are the questions normally asked of divers returning from a foray under water.

潜水究竟有什么好处?对于约翰·斯库林而言，潜水是一项能够使人感到兴奋与剌激的运动，那是一个全新的世界，是一个不懂得潜水的人永远也无法探究的世界。事实上，能够潜到多深的水下?会不会遭遇鳖鱼?会不会找到金银财宝?尝试过潜水的人往往都会被问到这些问题。

The answers: divers don't go really deep; sharks are not the dangerous and indiscriminate predators² portrayed³ by the media; and it is not necessary to bring back treasure in order for a dive to be successful. So why go diving? Transport yourself for a moment into outer space and look back at where you came from. You were on a tiny speck⁴ of land sticking up out of the vast oceans of a blue planet. The earth may have mountains and valleys, vast deserts and pockets of high-density habitation, but to the fresh eyes of an intergalactic traveler these are mainly located under water.

答案是:潜水者其实潜得并不深，鳖鱼也并非是像媒体所宣传的那么可怕的、争夺易攻击的食肉动物;而潜水也并不见得能够使人找到什么金银财宝。既然如此，我们为什么还要去潜水呢?如果你能够到太空上停留片刻，那么当你遥望自己的家就会发觉，那不过是在一颗蓝色星球的大海上突起的一块小陆地而已。地球上拥有山脉、峡谷、沙漠和小片的高密度居住区，不过，置身于银河的人却会感觉这些区域大部分都位于水下。

Next time you are in an airplane, look down at the clouds. You know there is plenty going on below them. Next time you look at the sea, put yourself beyond what happens on and above its surface. There is as much going on under it as there is below the clouds.

下次在你乘坐飞机时，请看看窗外的云，你会知道云彩下面还藏有许多"内容下次，当你站在海边，不要仅仅去观望海面上所发生的事情，事实上，正如云彩下面拥有一个多彩的世界一样，海面下也存在着一个神奇的世界。

Divers don't really go very deep, but the apparatus⁵ (and the skill to use it) gives us a foothold in this secret world, and most of its occupants will come up to visit us in the shallows.

潜水并不需要你潜得很深，你只需携带相关设备和掌握一些游泳技能，就可以去探寻那个神秘的世界了!海面下许多"居民"都会前去欢迎我们的。

Then there's the feeling of weightlessness and the freedom of movement associated with diving. Even some people normally limited by their wheelchairs are discovering the benefits afforded once gravity loses its grip.

潜入水中，会使你有一种失重的感觉，同时你还可以自由地活动。即使是那些长年坐在轮椅上、行动受到限制的人也能够在水中感受得到这种自由的感觉。

A casual observer might think that swimming about loaded down with all a diver's paraphernalia⁷ might be regarded as far from weightless, but this weight really does slip away as the diver enters the water.

在一旁看热闹的人也许会认为潜水者背负着许多装备在水中游来游去根本算不上"失重但事实上，当潜水者潜到水中以后，负重感会全部消失。

Diving puts you on a par⁶ with wildlife in a way that few other activities can. A birdwatcher can never fly with a flock of migrating birds, but a diver can loiter in a shoal of fish.

潜水可以使你与野生动物平等相处——除了这项运动外，任何其他运动都不会使你找到这种感觉。因为即便是观鸟者也无法与鸟儿一同飞翔，但潜水者却可以和鱼儿共同在水中畅游。

Scuba-diving really started to take off in popularity only in the late 60s. Because the wildlife under water has not learnt that man is dangerous, it is very approachable. You can get a lot closer even to a shark than you ever can to lions on safari⁸, and it is far less dangerous!

事实上，直到 20世纪60年代末，潜水运动才真正开始流行起来。因为水下生物并没有意识到人类是否具有危险性，因此人类很容易接近它们。与探险队在途中所看到的狮子相比，你完全可以在水中离鳖鱼更近些，而且这种行为远没有靠近狮子危险!

Scuba-divers quickly learn that, generally speaking, it is the sharks that are in danger from man, rather than the opposite. Scuba-divers trek⁹ across the world for the opportunity to dive in close proximity¹⁰ to these magnificent animals.

潜水者们很快就意识到这一点了，一般说来，是鳖鱼，而并非是人类正在受到对方的威胁。潜水者可以在海下世界接近那些不同寻常的生物。

Television has seduced¹¹ us all with the beguiling¹² colours of coral reefs, but these are normally found in the tropics, a long way from home. I would not be telling the truth if I denied the pleasure of diving in warm, clear waters surrounded by the kaleidoscope of life a healthy coral reef provides -but the limits of time, cost and logistics make this a special occasion for most of us.

电视节目在描绘海底世界时，经常用珊珊礁那诱人的色彩来吸引我们的视线，但事实上，人们往往只能在热带地区才能够找到这些珊珊礁，可以说，它们距离我们居住的地方十分遥远。我并不会否认，置身于温暖而清澈的水中，周围尽是颜色变化万千的珊珊礁，一定会给我们带来极大的乐趣，但前提是如果我们都能够找到这样的地点的话，否则我也无需在此浪费口舌了。事实上，由于时间、金钱和交通方面的限制，大多数人都把到珊珊礁潜水当做一种奢侈的运动。

Nevertheless, we live on an island, so the coast is never all that far away, and even for those who live in the centre of England there is a famous inland lake that makes a good diving site. Every summer weekend , thousands of divers enjoy visiting British dive sites. And thanks to our rich maritimes history and , in particular, this century's two world wars, our coastline is littered with all manner of shipwrecks¹³ waiting to be explored.

对于住在英格兰中部地区的人而言，那里有一个著名的内陆湖，那湖可是个绝佳的潜水场所。到了夏季，每个周末都会有数以万计的潜水爱好者来到这里游玩。由于这里拥有丰富的航海历史——尤其是第二次世界大战期间，使得海岸线到处都是各类有待探寻的船只残骸。

Wrecked¹⁶ ships may slip beneath the surface and be hidden from the eyes of the world; but, for divers, they are living monuments waiting to be explored. It is an amazing experience to come across a ship lying all but forgotten on the seabed. Some of them are very recent and look it. Others are so old they have become incorporated into the reef.

失事船舶也许可以沉入水下掩人耳目，但是对于潜水者而言，它们就是一座座活生生的纪念碑，等待着人们去探究它们的秘密。当你在海下偶遇一艘长眠于此、几乎被人遗忘的沉船，那绝对是一种神奇的经历。有些船刚沉没不久，而另一些则年代久远，甚至与礁石融为一体。

And wrecks¹⁴, whether they be former vessels¹⁷ , planes or even oil-rigs, quickly get adopted as habitats for marine¹⁹ life. They are magnets to animals looking to escape the dangers of open water.

所有残骸，无论是船只残骸、飞机残骸，还是油井设备，都会很快成为海洋生物的栖息地。对于它们来说，想要避开来自于开放水域的生物，这些残骸是极佳的庇护所。

Some wrecks were severely²⁰ damaged before they sank. Others look uncannily seaworthy, almost as though they are steaming along the seabed. Often a wreck¹⁵ offers the diver a chance to visit a bit of history; a vessel¹⁸ the loss of which made the headlines, or a ship that was a casualty of war.

有的船只在失事前就已遭到严重损坏，有的则看上去还能够经得起风浪，就像它们正在海底航行一样。一块残骸常常会给潜水者带去一个了解历史的机会。

In many parts of the world, notably²¹ in the South Pacific but also in the Mediterranean²² and the Red Sea, war wrecks have become valuable tourist attractions. Modern conservation-minded divers look but don't touch. They take only photographs and leave only bubbles. No its underwater country wants to see. assets taken home in holidaymakers luggage!

在世界上的很多地方，尤其是南太平洋以及地中海和红海，战争遗留下来的残骸已经成为了宝贵的旅游资源。环保意识极强的潜水者仅仅是观看，而不会用于去触摸。他们所带走的仅仅是一张张照片，而所留下的，也不过只有气泡而已。没有哪个国家希望看到海底的宝藏被度假者装进行囊带走!

And what about your holidays? Aren't tired of aimlessly lounging around you in the waiting for the next meal and wondering what has been going at sun on work while you've been away? Then interest in activity full of challenge!

你的假期是怎样度过的?难道在太阳底下漫无目的地闲逛、等着吃下一顿饭，或者想着你不在岗位时，工作进行得是否顺利?难道你还没有对这一切感到厌倦吗?如果你已经厌倦了这种生活，为什么不去尝试一下潜水这项充满挑战的运动呢?

Most holidays are spent at the water's edge. The young and fit may take up at swimming water-skiing windsurfing. The rich squander²³ vast sums on, sailing and motor cruising. The rest of want to do something that is adventurous²⁴ but available to the less athletic²⁵. Get off the water and get under it!

大多数人都是在海边度过假期的。年轻人和身体健壮的人也许会尝试着去游泳、进行水撬运动或是冲浪运动。而富人则会选择帆船运动和摩托艇巡航运动。剩下的就是那些喜欢探险的人了，他们喜欢那种虽说是探险，但却并不需要非常高的身体素质的运动——潜到水里去!