They’re calling it a “heart-shaped beach”. Needless to say it quickly went viral after being captured on video from an aircraft patrolling the Yangtze River. And it had viewers immediately commenting as to any possible romantic intentions on the part of our favourite river.
The apparition was in fact a partially-submerged sandbank, which appeared seemingly without reason, along the Yangtze in Zhenjiang City, neighbouring Nanjing in our own Jiangsu Province.
这个幽灵实际上是江苏省南京市镇江市沿长江沿岸的一个部分淹没的沙洲，它似乎毫无理由地出现。
While local media took several days to jump on the unusual story, Modern Express has reported the bizarre phenomenon took place as long ago as 4 January.
虽然当地媒体花了几天时间才报道了这个不寻常的故事，但《现代快报》报道说，这一奇怪现象早在 1 月 4 日就发生了。
That was when officers with the Zhenjiang Yangtze River Porpoise Provincial Nature Reserve Management Office were carrying out their daily airborne-patrol-flyby monitoring of the Reserve.
当时，镇江长江江豚省级自然保护区管理办公室的工作人员正在对保护区进行日常空中巡逻飞越监测。
The videographer, a Mr. Ma, told reporters that the encounter happened to the north of Jiaobei Beach, about 300 metres offshore. The anomaly appeared just after 14:00 that day and lasted no more than 3 minutes.
摄像师马先生告诉记者，此次遭遇发生在胶北海滩以北，距海岸约300米处。该异常现象于当日14:00刚过时出现，持续时间不超过3分钟。
Ma further commented that on the same day, there were waterfowl landing, flying and cruising around from time to time, forming a vivid ecological beauty.
马还介绍说，当天，周围不时有水鸟落地、飞翔、游弋，形成了生动的生态美景。
Staff with the Management Office explained the anomaly is a unique natural phenomenon. At high tide, when the River water rises to a certain level, different-shaped sandbanks can appear in the River’s channel by its banks. The phenomenon occurs only in the dry season in winter and is extremely rare.
管理办公室的工作人员解释说，这种异常现象是一种独特的自然现象。涨潮时，河水上涨到一定水位时，河道两岸就会出现形状各异的沙洲。这种现象只发生在冬季旱季，极为罕见。
Elsewhere, alert and water-minded readers may also remember another very odd incident from last year, one out of Ireland. On 18 June, the waters in harbours at Union Hall in west Cork rapidly drained for no known reason, in a kind of reverse tide, dropping 70 centimetres in just 5 minutes, before filling back up again.
在其他地方，警觉且有水意识的读者可能还记得去年发生的另一起非常奇怪的事件，发生在爱尔兰。 6 月 18 日，西科克的 Union Hall 港口的海水不知为何迅速排干，形成一种逆潮，在短短 5 分钟内下降了 70 厘米，然后又重新注满。
Then there are the unusual water-based phenomena which happen at predictable intervals. Here in Nanjing, we are not far from one of the biggest of all. In Zhejiang Province, the Qiantang River that empties into the Hangzhou Bay produces an extraordinary surging tide on the 18th day of the 8th lunar month, whereby the Bay’s bottleneck shape can give rise to waves over 9 metres in height.
还有一些不寻常的水基现象，它们会按照可预测的时间间隔发生。在南京，我们距离最大的之一不远。在浙江省，注入杭州湾的钱塘江在农历八月十八日会产生异常汹涌的潮汐，海湾的瓶颈形状可引发高度超过9米的波浪。
Finally, once again on almost the other side of the world, the waters of the Firth of Forth in Scotland are unusual for producing not two tides per day, but four.
最后，几乎在世界的另一端，苏格兰福斯湾的水域很不寻常，每天产生的潮汐不是两次，而是四次。
With the incoming tide, waters fall back almost as much as a metre, to then resume their forward flow. The same happens as the tide goes out. Locals have it that St. Mungo, Patron Saint and Founder of the City of Glasgow who was born on the Firth’s shores, ran his vessel aground with the tide going out, and then simply used his miraculous powers to bring the waters back in.
随着潮水的到来，海水会回落几乎一米，然后又恢复向前流动。潮水退去时也会发生同样的情况。当地人认为，格拉斯哥市的守护神和创始人圣芒戈出生于峡湾沿岸，他的船在潮水退去时搁浅，然后简单地用他的神奇力量将海水带了回来。
Or maybe it was his heart-shaped boat…
或者也许这是他的心形船……
