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珊瑚可以長多大？在澳洲最偏遠的有人居住領地——印度洋上的科科斯（基林）群島（Cocos (Keeling) Islands）外海，科學家找到了一個驚人的答案。根據澳洲廣播公司（ABC）報導，研究人員在這裡測量到一片長達 1.56 公里的玫瑰珊瑚群，是有紀錄以來最大的珊瑚群之一。
EN How big can coral grow? Off the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean, Australia’s most remote inhabited territory, scientists have found an amazing answer. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported that researchers measured a rose coral colony 1.56 kilometers long there. It is one of the largest coral colonies ever recorded.
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圖片來源：ABC News（Australia）
1.56 公里有多長？ABC 形容，大約等於 100 輛公車頭尾相連排成一列；如果算面積，大約是墨爾本板球場（MCG）的 3 倍大。
EN How long is 1.56 kilometers? ABC said it is about the length of 100 buses parked end to end. In area, it is about three times the size of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
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捲尺不夠用，最後改用 GPS
帶領測量的是阿德雷德大學的 JP·霍布斯（JP Hobbs）。他說，一開始團隊用捲尺在水下慢慢量，結果珊瑚群實在太長，潛了好幾次都還沒量到盡頭，氣瓶裡的空氣就快用完了，只好改用 GPS 定位來測量。前前後後，他們一共潛水了 12 次，才把整片珊瑚群的範圍確定下來。
EN The measuring was led by JP Hobbs of the University of Adelaide. He said the team first used a tape measure underwater, but the colony was so long that after several dives they still had not reached the end, and the air in their tanks was running low. So they switched to measuring with GPS. In total, they made 12 dives to map the whole colony.
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其實，最早發現這片珊瑚的是當地潛水業者迪特·格哈德（Dieter Gerhard）。他在 30 多年前就第一次看到這片珊瑚，常跟霍布斯說「根本看不到盡頭」，但他自己也不知道它到底有多大。霍布斯說，格哈德有好幾個潛水點都看得到這片珊瑚，那些潛水點相距大約 600 公尺，他才好奇它們會不會是連在一起的。結果實際一量，珊瑚不但連了起來，還一路延伸到比潛水點更遠的地方。
EN In fact, the coral was first found by local dive operator Dieter Gerhard. He first saw it more than 30 years ago and often told Hobbs that “you can’t see the end of it,” but he did not know how big it really was. Hobbs said the coral could be seen at several of Gerhard’s dive sites, which were about 600 meters apart, so he wondered whether they were connected. When they measured it, the coral was not only connected but also stretched even farther than the dive sites.
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ABC 的新聞畫面，帶你潛入科科斯群島外海看看這片巨大的珊瑚：
EN ABC’s news video takes you diving off the Cocos Islands to see this giant coral.
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影片來源：ABC News (Australia)／YouTube
※ 若影片沒有中文字幕，可點播放器右下角的齒輪 → 字幕 → 自動翻譯 → 中文（繁體）。
是一個生物還是很多個？DNA 會給答案
接下來，科學家最想知道的是：這麼大一片珊瑚，到底是「同一個」珊瑚個體一直長大，還是由很多個體聚在一起？研究團隊已經採集了大約 50 份樣本，會和昆士蘭博物館、詹姆斯庫克大學合作進行 DNA 檢測，找出答案。
EN Next, scientists most want to know whether such a large coral is one single coral that kept growing or many corals living together. The team has already collected about 50 samples. They will work with the Queensland Museum and James Cook University on DNA tests to find the answer.
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霍布斯表示，這片珊瑚也能幫助科學家了解，比較深的海域是否能成為珊瑚躲避白化和氣旋的「避難所」。科科斯群島周邊在 2022 年被劃設為海洋公園，格哈德說，從那之後科學界對這裡的興趣越來越高。霍布斯也表示，科科斯位在印度洋中央、非常偏遠，正因為這樣特別，才能幫研究人員回答許多和全世界有關的問題。在全球珊瑚礁面臨海水變暖威脅的時候，這樣一片長得又大又健康的珊瑚群，就像是大海送來的一個好消息，也提醒人們保護海洋的重要性。
EN Hobbs said the coral can also help scientists learn whether deeper waters can be a “safe place” where corals escape bleaching and cyclones. The waters around the Cocos Islands became a marine park in 2022, and Gerhard said scientists have become more and more interested since then. Hobbs added that Cocos is in the middle of the Indian Ocean and very remote, and that is exactly why it is special and can help answer many questions about the whole world. As coral reefs around the world face warming seas, such a large and healthy coral colony is like good news from the ocean, and it reminds us how important it is to protect the sea.
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精選單字
coral /ˈkɔːrəl/ 珊瑚
colony /ˈkɑːləni/ （生物）群落
remote /rɪˈmoʊt/ 偏遠的
tape measure /ˈteɪp ˌmeʒər/ 捲尺
operator /ˈɑːpəreɪtər/ 業者；經營者
sample /ˈsæmpəl/ 樣本
bleaching /ˈbliːtʃɪŋ/ （珊瑚）白化
marine park /məˈriːn ˌpɑːrk/ 海洋公園
