夏威夷僧海豹鼻子被鰻魚堵住 陷入窘態

Seals keep getting eels stuck up their noses -- and scientists have no clue why, according to a report.

一份報告指出，海豹經常會被鰻魚堵住鼻子，而科學家們也不知道這是爲什麼。

A photo of a Hawaiian monk seal with the wormlike sea creature dangling from its schnoz went viral this week -- and at least three more have been spotted enduring the booger-like invaders, according to the Washington Post.

據《華盛頓郵報》報道，一張夏威夷僧海豹鼻子上懸掛着一蠕蟲狀海洋生物的照片本週在網上瘋傳。至少有三隻僧海豹被發現忍受着類似鼻屎的入侵者。

"It's just so shocking," monk seal expert Claire Simeone told the paper. "It's an animal that has another animal stuck up its nose."

僧海豹專家克萊爾·西蒙尼告訴報社：“這太令人震驚了。一種動物的鼻子裏有另一種動物。”

Researchers say the eels -- which can grow more than 2.5 feet long -- may burrow into seals' noses because they think they are part of the coral reef.

研究人員表示，這些鰻魚可以長到2.5英尺長，它們可能會鑽進海豹的鼻子裏，因爲它們認爲海豹是珊瑚礁的一部分。

A seal's prey, including eels, often hide in reefs to avoid being eaten. Seals hunt with their faces, making them an easy target for the nasal invaders.

海豹的獵物，包括鰻魚，通常躲在暗礁裏以避免被吃掉。海豹用它們的臉捕獵，這使得它們很容易成爲鑽鼻入侵者的目標。

But many scientists are still baffled.

但許多科學家仍然困惑不解。

"We have no idea why this is suddenly happening," Simeone said. "You see some very strange things if you watch nature long enough, and this could end up being one of these little oddities and mysteries of our careers that 40 years from now, we'll be retired and still questioning quite how this happened."

西蒙尼說道：“我們不知道爲什麼會突然出現這種情況。如果你長時間觀察大自然，你會發現一些非常奇怪的事情，這可能最終成爲我們從業40年來職業生涯中的一件小奇聞。我們退休後仍然會質疑這究竟是怎麼回事。”