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After speaking to fellow marine reptile expert Dr.Mark Evans, who was also sent details of the find, we decided to visit the site in February.
与同样收到照片的海洋爬行动物专家的马克·埃文斯讨论后，我们决定在2月份去一探究竟。
And I led a mini excavation, a bit of an exploratory dig to see what we could uncover.
我组织了一次小型挖掘，一种探索性的挖掘，看看我们能发现什么。
On a cold day in February, where the ground was literally frozen right beneath our feet, after spending so much time meticulously removing the Jurassic clay from around the skeleton, we were blown away because we revealed what appeared to be a gigantic skeleton unlike anything ever found in Britain before.
在2月份一个寒冷的日子里，我们脚下的土地被冻得十分僵硬，花了很长时间清理掉骨头上来自侏罗纪时代的泥土以后，我们惊呆了，因为我们发现了一具在英国闻所未闻的巨大骨架。
Clearly, this was a big deal.
显然，这是一件大事。
But we had to be very quick to contain our excitement.
但我们必须马上抑制住我们的兴奋。
Because due to the damp wintery conditions and the fact that this was a super fragile skeleton, it meant it wasn't the right time to collect this ichthyosaur.
由于冬季的潮湿气候，以及这个骨骼的脆弱程度，现在不是挖掘这条鱼龙的合适时机。
So unfortunately, might seem a little bit counterintuitive, but we had to rebury the ichthyosaur.
所以，虽然看起来有点反直觉，但我们不得不把鱼龙重新埋起来。
And we had to cover it with plastic sheets and then Jurassic clay.
我们不得不用塑料把它包裹起来，然后用侏罗纪时期的泥土盖起来。
Because you have to remember, this, of course, is an active nature reserve.
你得知道，那里是个还在运营的自然保护区。
And so the nature reserve, they had to raise the water levels.
因此工作人员需要把水位升上去。
Then the ichthyosaur went back under the water, but it was actually protected.
这样鱼龙就又回到了水下，但它实际上是受保护的。
And then waiting for what felt like millions of years.
假装它等了几百万年。
In six months we were back on site, but this time with a superb team of paleontologists.
六个月后，我们再次回到现场，但这一次我们带来了一支由出色的古生物学家组成的团队。
When we arrived on site, we had to pick up where we left off.
到达现场后，我们不得不从之前中断的地方继续。
And so we removed those plastic sheets, remove the Jurassic clay, and start to expose some more of the skeleton.
我们去掉了那些塑料布，清理了侏罗纪的粘土，更多骨架暴露出来。
We were overly ambitious in February.
2月份的时候，我们过于自信了。
We thought, based on that little dig that we did, the one-day excavation, we thought, OK, we could probably get the entire skeleton out of the ground in just one week.
我们想，基于我们之前2月份那天的小型挖掘，我们应该可以在短短一周内就把整个骨架从地下挖出来。
Yeah, we were wrong.
但我们错了。
The skeleton was much larger, more important and more complete than any of us would have imagined.
这具骨架比我们任何人想象的都更大，更重要，也更完整。
And it doubled our time on site.
挖掘的时间比我们预计的增加了一倍。
We spent 14 and a half days altogether, spread over three weeks, and this was also working very long hours, from sunrise to sunset.
我们总共花了三周14天半的时间挖掘，从早到晚工作。
Whilst the team was excavating the ichthyosaur, we also had to look out for all sorts of other pieces in the surrounding matrix of the ichthyosaur.
在挖掘鱼龙的同时，我们还必须寻找鱼龙周围基质中的各种其它碎片。
So in my hand here, I'm actually holding one of the isolated teeth from this ichthyosaur.
我手中的，是这只鱼龙的一颗牙齿。
We also found hundreds of these squid-like ammonites, we found lots of fossil shells, and these are all really important because they help to build up this bigger picture of the ancient Jurassic ecosystem in which this ichthyosaur lived.
我们还发现了数百个类似鱿鱼的菊石，很多化石贝壳，这些都非常重要，因为它们有助于我们建立鱼龙生活的古侏罗纪生态系统的更大图景。
The team also had to move fast as well.
团队还必须行动迅速。
This really was quite a race against time, because once we exposed the skeleton, there was more chance that it could end up degrading further.
这真的是在与时间赛跑，因为一旦骨架挖掘出来，它就有可能进一步分解。
So team members like Dr.Emma Nicholls here, had to apply a consolidant, a thin glue that seeps into the bones and helps them to become more robust to remove the skeleton out of the ground.
因此，为了将骨骼从地下挖出来，艾玛·尼科尔斯博士不得不在骨架上涂上固化剂，也就是一种能够渗透到骨骼中的稀薄胶水，让骨架更结实。
Once we fully exposed the skeleton, we then could eventually record all of our measurements and get a full data set.
完整的骨架全部发掘出来后，我们就可以最终记录所有的测量结果，并获得完整的数据集。
For example, like for the skull.
以头骨为例。
Nigel here, who I co-led the excavation with, so Nigel focused on the conservation side of things, ensuring that the ichthyosaur remains safe and secure throughout the entire excavation, Nigel is holding an ichthyosaur, a regular-size ichthyosaur skull.
奈杰尔和我共同领导了这次挖掘，奈杰尔专注于保护方面的工作，确保鱼龙在整个挖掘过程中是安全的，奈杰尔拿着的是一个常规尺寸的鱼龙头骨。
Look at the size comparison to this Jurassic giant that we're excavating.
但看看我们正在挖掘的这个侏罗纪巨兽的体型。
Pretty phenomenal.
相当惊人。
And this ichthyosaur, I should say, that Nigel's holding, this is actually of a species I named after him a few years ago, called Ichthyosaurs larkini.
而奈杰尔拿着的那只鱼龙，实际上是我几年前以他的名字命名的物种，叫做拉基尼鱼龙。
