On a suburban estate… a pop-up seal sanctuary.
With the local rescue centres full, these orphaned pups are having to be housed in a garage near St Ives (UK). Father and son, David and Dan, are fully trained and caring for the seals 24-7.
Dan Jarvis, British Divers Marine Life Rescue
“We are at the point where we really are (struggling). I mean, this sort of speaks for itself really having all of these guys here. The rehab centres just don't have the space to handle this many pups in such a short amount of time.”
Every day, volunteers from the group are racing to the Cornish coast to rescue unprecedented numbers of sick and starving pups, orphaned and injured in the winter storms.
Providing emergency food is the easy bit. Finding them somewhere to recuperate is much more difficult. They've had nearly 300 call-outs already this winter.
So why are things so bad this winter?
Sue Sayer, researcher, Cornwall Seal Group
“Because we've had a succession of storms over really high tides; (it’s) flooded all the beaches, washed all those seal pups out without enough food inside them to survive.”
Rescue teams all around the UK are reporting record numbers of seals needing help.
Once these pups have recovered, they'll be sent back into the sea.
Conservationists say if we're going to avoid an accommodation crisis next winter, we need to start planning now.
在英国一个郊外的住宅区里，有一个给海豹提供的临时避难所。
在当地各处救助中心均已满员的情况下，这些无依无靠的海豹幼崽如今只能被安置在英格兰圣艾夫斯附近的一间车库里。这对名为大卫和丹的父子接受过充分的训练，他们正在全天候地照顾这些海豹。
丹·贾维斯 英国潜水员海生救援队
“目前我们的处境（很糟糕）。我的意思是，这些小海豹们的情况是不言自明的。当地的康复中心真没办法在这么短的时间内提供用来安置这些幼崽的地方。”
该机构的志愿者们每天都会赶到康沃尔海岸去救助数量空前的海豹幼崽，它们病饿交加，因冬季风暴而沦为孤儿且负伤。
给海豹提供救急食品还不算是最难的。相比之下，更难的是给它们找到休养的场所。在今年冬天，工作人员们已经应招了近300次救护行动。
那么，今年冬天的情况为什么如此糟糕？
苏·塞尔 康沃尔海豹保护中心研究者
“这是因为，近来汹涌的海潮常伴随着接连不断的风暴；海水淹没了所有沙滩，小海豹们都被冲上了岸，但它们的体内并没有足以维持生存的食物。”
英国各地的救援团队表示，目前需要救助的海豹数量创下历史新高。
等这些海豹幼崽康复后，它们将会被送回海洋。
环境保护工作者们说，要想在下个冬天避免海豹“住宿”危机，我们从现在就要开始计划。
词汇
sanctuary
避难所、庇护所
rescue centre
（动物）救助站，收容中心
rehab
康复，“rehabilitation”的缩略形式
recuperate
（伤病后）恢复健康、休养
你知道吗？
Like humans, grey seals take approximately nine months to gestate inside the womb. Once born, pups take up to six years to reach sexual maturity. Seals have an average lifespan of 25-30 years.
和人类一样，小灰海豹要在妈妈的子宫内孕育约九个月后才能出生。出生后的幼崽要成长接近六年时间才能达到性成熟。海豹的平均寿命是25到30年。
问题答案
A succession of storms over really high tides has flooded all the beaches and washed out all the seal pups without enough food inside them to survive.
