Heartbreak turtles 心碎的烏龜

A broken heart is the feeling of being very, very sad. Not just feeling like you might cry because you got a bad grade on a test, or sad because your mother won't let you have another scoop of ice cream, but much, much sadder. But what could make a turtle so sad?

The turtles in this picture are Kemp's Ridley turtles. Many fishermen call them “heartbreak turtles.” The fishermen do not actually know if the turtles are sad, but they say that when they catch these heartbreak turtles in their nets, the turtles lie on their backs as they die in a way that makes them seem like they are dying of an intense sadness. Of course, they are actually just dying from having been caught in the net.

But if they were broken-hearted no one could blame them. These turtles are also some of the most endangered turtles in the world. These same fishermen who gave them their names have caught too many of these turtles in their nets over the years. So not only did they give them a name of sadness, they also gave them a reason to be so sad. 



(Lynn Steger, Staff Writer)

心碎是一種非常非常傷心的感覺，不只是考試成績不好想哭，或是因為媽媽不讓你再吃一匙冰淇淋而難過，而是更深更痛的悲傷，但是一隻烏龜為什麼會這麼難過呢？

照片中的烏龜是肯普氏蠵龜，許多漁夫稱牠們為「心碎烏龜」。漁夫其實不知道這些烏龜是不是真的難過，他們說，當他們網捕到這些心碎烏龜時，烏龜四腳朝天的姿勢彷彿是死於劇烈痛苦，當然，牠們其實是因被捕入網才會死亡。

然而，這些烏龜要心碎也是無可厚非，牠們是全世界瀕臨絕種的烏龜之一。多年來為牠們命名的這批漁夫們用網子過度濫捕。他們不只給了這些烏龜傷感的名字，也給牠們傷心的理由。

（翻譯︰鄭湘儀）