一家因为新冠病毒爆发而关闭的日本水族馆邀请人们跟水族馆的鳗鱼进行视频通话。
The reason? Aquarium workers fear the sensitive creatures may not remember humans exist and do not present a threat.
原因是什么呢？水族馆员工担心这些敏感的生物可能不记得人类的存在以及人类并不构成威胁。
The Sumida Aquarium has been closed since the start of March. Its sea animals have become used to a largely human-free environment during the two-month period of calm.
墨田水族馆自3月初以来一直关闭。在两个月的平静期间，该水族馆的海洋生物已经习惯了很大程度上看不到人类的环境。
But the aquarium said the situation was having some unexpected effects.
但是水族馆表示，这种状况正在产生一些意想不到的效果。
"Creatures in the aquarium don't see humans except keepers and they have started forgetting about humans," it said on its Twitter account this week.
该水族馆本月在它的推特账号上表示：“除了饲养员，水族馆里的生物看不到其他人类，他们已经开始忘记人类的存在。”
"Garden eels in particular disappear into the sand and hide every time the keepers pass by," it noted. That is causing difficulties for keepers trying to check on the health of the animals.
该水族馆指出；“尤其是花园鳗，每次饲养员经过时，它都会躲进沙子里。”这给饲养员检查这些动物的健康状况造成了很大困难。
So the aquarium decided to offer an invitation to the public. "Could you show your face to our garden eels from your home?"
因此这家水族馆决定向公众发出邀请。“你能在家里跟我们的花园鳗见个面吗？”
It is describing the new effort as a "face-showing festival."
它将这项新措施称之为“秀脸节。”
Garden eels are very sensitive by nature. But the 300 garden eels that live in a tank at the aquarium had become used to humans. They rarely hid in the sand from visitors.
花园鳗天生就非常敏感。但是生活在这家水族馆的水族箱中的300条花园鳗过去已经习惯了人类。他们很少躲在沙子里不见游客。
To try to reintroduce the eels to humans, the aquarium is putting five computer tablets in front of their tank. The public can connect through the FaceTime app.
为了尝试让花园鳗重新认识人类，这家水族馆在水族箱前放置了五台平板电脑。公众可以通过FaceTime应用进行连接。
Once the video calls start, people are supposed to show their faces, wave their hands and talk to the eels. But given the quiet nature of the animals, callers are asked not to shout.
视频通话开始后，人们应该露出脸来，跟鳗鱼挥手打招呼。但是鉴于这种动物好静的特质，水族馆要求呼叫用户不要大声喊叫。
The "face-showing festival" is set to take place Sunday through Tuesday, during Japan's Golden Week holiday, when many people usually travel. This Golden Week, however, people have been asked to stay at home while the country remains under a state of emergency.
秀脸节定于周日到周二举行，正值日本的黄金周期间，通常很多人这时候会出门旅游。但是这个黄金周日本仍然处于紧急状态时期，人们被要求呆在家里。
The face-showing festival has gotten plenty of support, under the Japanese hashtag #PleaseRememberHumans.
秀脸节在日语的#请记得人类的话题标签下得到了广泛支持。
"They need training to learn humans are not a threat!" one Twitter user wrote. "Interesting."
一名推特用户写道：“它们需要通过训练来学会人类不是威胁。有趣！”
Another wrote, "When you gaze at the garden eels, the garden eels gaze at you. Understood. I'm happy to take part."
另一位用户写道：“当你凝视花园鳗的时候，花园鳗也在凝视着你。理解。我很高兴能参与。”
I'm Caty Weaver.
我是凯蒂·韦孚。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，禁止转载，违者必究！)