European scuba divers swept away in strong currents survived 12 hours in shark-infested waters and then scrambled onto a remote Indonesian island where they faced yet another threat: a Komodo dragon.
The divers — three from Britain and one each from France and Sweden — came face to face with the giant, carnivorous lizard on Rinca island and fought it off by pelting it with rocks and pieces of wood, port official Pariman said.
“Luckily, they were able to chase it away,” said Pariman, who, like many Indonesians, goes by only one name.
PHOTO: AFP
The beasts have sharp teeth and often come out when they smell something new, including humans, whom they’ve been known to kill, Pariman said.
The divers encountered treacherous currents after plunging from their wooden boat off Tatawa island on June 5. They drifted 30km from their dive site before swimming to Rinca, their last chance to avoid being swept into the open ocean.
“We struggled against the current for several hours, but eventually stopped,” 31-year-old Laurent Pinel, of France, said. “We tied ourselves together by our diving vests to preserve energy.”
They ran into the Komodo dragon on June 6. The next day rescuers plying the waters in more than 30 boats spotted them waving frantically on the shore and took them to Flores island for medical treatment.
“We’re safe but absolutely exhausted and dehydrated,” said Charlotte Allin, a 25-year-old British diver.
Komodo dragons, which can grow up to 3m long and weigh as much as 165kg, are only found in the wild on Rinca and Komodo island.
Thousands of tourists visit the area in eastern Indonesia each year to see the lizards in their natural habitat. They are normally shown around the arid and rocky island by guides who carry large, forked sticks to ward off the lizards. (AP)
一群被強勁洋流沖走的歐洲潛水客,在鯊魚出沒的海域漂流了十二小時後,游上了印尼一座孤島。在那裡,他們又遇到另一個威脅:一隻科摩多巨蜥。
港務人員帕里曼表示,這五名潛水客中有三人來自英國,另外兩人分別來自法國與瑞典。他們在林卡島迎面遇上這隻肉食性的大蜥蜴,朝著牠丟擲石塊和木頭後才把牠驅離。
就像許多印尼人一樣,單名的帕里曼說:「幸運的是,他們成功把牠趕跑。」
帕里曼說,這種巨蜥的牙齒很銳利,只要聞到牠曾吃過的新鮮味道,包括人類在內,就會現身。
這群潛水客本月五日在塔塔瓦島海域一下木舟就遇上急流。五人在海上漂流了三十公里後,才游向林卡島,這裡是他們免於漂入汪洋大海的最後機會。
三十一歲的法國潛水客勞倫.品諾說:「我們在洋流中游了幾個小時,最後實在是游不動了; 為了保存體力,我們穿上潛水背心綁在一起。」
他們在六日碰到這隻科摩多巨蜥。隔天,三十多艘搜救船在海上來回搜尋,終於發現了在岸上激動揮手的他們,並將他們帶回佛羅勒斯島就醫。
二十五歲的英國潛水客夏蘿特.愛琳說:「我們很平安,只是整個人感到精疲力竭又出現脫水症狀。」
科摩多巨蜥最大可長到三公尺長、重一百六十五公斤;只有在林卡島和科摩多島上,才能看到牠們的蹤跡。
每年都有數以千計的遊客來到印尼東部的這個區域,為的是要在科摩多巨蜥的自然棲息地一睹牠們的風采。這些遊客通常是在隨身攜帶驅蜥大叉棍的導遊帶領下,參觀這不毛的岩石島。
(美聯社�翻譯:袁星塵)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
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