我们回家了：受石油污染小企鹅重返大海

英语自学网

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        Waddling as fast as their little legs can carry them, these excited penguins have good reason to be happy. Their delighted flight towards the sealine on Mount Maunganui beach in Tauranga, New Zealand, follows almost two months in humane captivity. With a mixture of confusion and excitement some ran in the wrong direction, some of the 49 Little Blue Penguins peeked out carefully before emerging onto the sand.小企鹅们摇摇晃晃地迈着它们的小短腿，尽可能快地踏上了“回家”的道路。这群兴奋的小家伙在人类的监管保护下生活了两个月，现在终于可以重返新西兰陶朗加海岸啦！它们能不高兴吗？49只小小的蓝企鹅探头探脑地走向海滩，它们既兴奋又迷惘，有的还跑错了方向。
        Wildlife officials nursed some 343 of the penguins back to health after they were effectively tarred and feathered when a cargo ship ran aground on a reef near Tauranga in early October, covering them in oil. The vessel called the Rena became stranded on the rocks and its torn hull released some 400 tons of fuel into the ocean. It was New Zealand's worst sea pollution disaster and it killed more than 2,000 sea birds. But these penguins were the lucky ones and, though they were a little weaker for their time being cleaned and pampered by the wildlife rescue staff, they were always destined to return to the ocean.10月初，一艘名为Rena的油轮在陶朗加海岸附近触礁搁浅，船上的400吨原油全部倾倒进了大海。这是新西兰历史上最严重的一次海洋污染，造成了2000多只海鸟的死亡。而这343只小企鹅在被焦油严重污染后，在野生动物专家的精心照顾下，恢复了健康，现在已经可以重返大海了。这群小企鹅真的很幸运，野生动物救援专家对它们进行了全面的清洗，还把它们喂得饱饱的。现在它们比起当时是消瘦了一点，但是它们始终都是要回归大海的。