Adept English
Уровень A2· 473 слова
Imagine standing on a rocky coastline looking out at a grey, empty ocean. You've been told that once, not that long ago, thousands of enormous creatures filled this water with splashes and song.
S-O-N-G. But you've never seen them. Because they were hunted, killed, almost to nothing, almost to extinction.
But then, one morning, a dark shape surfaces in the water. Then another, and another. Until the whole bay is alive with movement again.
Today's podcast is a story about three environmental comebacks. Returns that prove nature still knows exactly what to do.
We just need to give a helping hand. And because you're listening in English, you'll pick up some great vocabulary for describing recovery and hope, as well as environmental matters.
All through recent news. I'm Hilary and this is your Learn Through Listening podcast from Adept English.
Let's start with those dark shapes in the water. What are they? I'm talking here about humpback whales.
That's W-H-A-L-E-S, the largest mammal of all. And where are they? In the South Atlantic. If you've ever seen a photograph of a whale 'breaching', that means 'breaking the surface of the water'.
The whole body is above the waterline. That's 'breaching'. If you've seen that, you'll know how breathtaking whales can be and how huge and enormous.
But a century ago, a hundred years ago, humpback whales were nearly lost altogether. The whaling industry, the fishing of whales, if you like, happened all across the South Atlantic.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, in just 12 years, whalers killed 24,000 humpbacks in a single bay, Cumberland Bay, in the South Atlantic, in South Georgia.
Humpback whales were, as one scientist put it, 'absolutely wiped out'. This behaviour, it's the opposite of sustainability, isn't it?
