Regardless of the reason, fewer diatoms meant fewer krill, which in turn meant fewer whales.

不管原因是什么，硅藻数量减少意味着磷虾数量减少，进而意味着鲸鱼数量减少。

And we're making sure that this doesn't have any bad effect on the phytoplankton diatoms in the ocean.

我们还要确保这不会对海洋中的浮游植物硅藻造成任何不良影响。

During the Pleistocene, the waters grew colder, and the new and improved productivity at the poles meant diatoms bounced back.

在更新世期间，水域变得更冷，两极新改善的环境意味着硅藻得以恢复。

And starting around 3 million years ago, the oceans began to experience a serious drop in diatom diversity.

从大约300万年前开始，海洋开始经历硅藻多样性的严重下降。

ROSS COEN: They look at the diatoms.

罗斯·科恩：他们观察硅藻。

ELISA BERGSLIEN: Put that all together, where would you find these diatoms, these minerals, that you wouldn't find coral?

ELISA BERGSLIEN：把所有这些放在一起，你会在哪里找到这些硅藻、这些矿物质，而你找不到珊瑚？

Diatoms take silicon and use it to form a natural porous shell around themselves.

硅藻吸收硅并用它在自身周围形成天然多孔壳。

These  can be grouped as follows: Phytoplankton – plant-life such as algae  and diatoms that photosynthesise sunlight.

这些可分为以下几类：浮游植物——利用阳光进行光合作用的植物生命，例如藻类和硅藻。

Tiny fossilized skeletons of aquatic creatures called diatoms are swept into the wind and carried westward where they rain down on South America.

被称为硅藻的水生生物的微小骨骼化石被风吹走并向西飘落在南美洲。

Mr. Bowler says almost half of the oxygen we breathe comes from very small algae called diatoms. These plants live in the part of the water where the sun reaches.

鲍勒说我们呼吸的近一半的氧气来自名为硅藻的微小藻类，这些植物生活在太阳能抵达的水中。