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Hello, this is 6 Minute English
from BBC Learning English. I'm Phil.
And I'm Georgie.
Encountering an animal in its natural
habitat is a magical experience.
Have you ever seen an animal
in the wild, Georgie?
Yes, I have actually.
I was on a walk
and we saw a baby badger.
It was on its own and it was
really cute. What about you, Phil?
Ooh, the most impressive one
I've ever seen is actually a whale.
I was driving by the coast in Patagonia
and you could see them in the sea.
Well, that sounds amazing.
And funny you say that because
whale watching has become popular
in many coastal parts of the world.
But watching whales is very different
from what humans used to do:
hunt and kill them for their oil and
meat – an activity known as whaling.
Last year marked
the 40th anniversary
of the International Whaling
Commission's global moratorium –
that's a temporary ban
on the commercial killing of whales.
Although Japan, Iceland
and Norway continue to hunt whales,
there's no doubt the ban has saved
many whales species from extinction.
In this programme, we'll discuss
our past and present relationship
with these giants of the ocean.
And, as usual, we'll learn some
useful new words and phrases too.
Plus, you'll find all the vocabulary
for this episode,
along with a quiz and worksheet,
on our website:
bbclearningenglish.com.
But first,
I have a question for you, Georgie.
You probably know that the world's
largest whale is the blue whale,
growing up to 30m long.
But which whale species is
the smallest?
Is it: a) the beluga whale,
b) the vaquita whale,
or c) the pygmy right whale?
Hmm. Well, pygmy
makes me think small
so I'm going to go with
c) the pygmy right whale.
OK. We'll find out later
in the programme.
Humans have hunted whales
for at least a thousand years,
starting with small groups of hunters
in slow moving wooden boats.
Catching whales like this was often
unsuccessful, especially big whales
like blue and humpback whales,
which can swim up to 30km/h.
But all that changed
in the late 1800s,
as Jayne Pierce of the
South Georgia Heritage Trust
explained to BBC Radio 4
programme Rare Earth:
Something happened in Norway
in the late 1800s.
A chap called Svend Foyn,
who was a whaler –
he invented what we now know
as the exploding harpoon,
and that was a turning point for the
for the whale.
The whale couldn't stand a chance.
In 1870, a chap – that's
an informal word for a man –
called Svend Foyn
invented the exploding harpoon,
a weapon for killing whales.
This was a turning point.
The phrase, turning point, means a time
when a situation starts to change,
especially in a positive way,
although sadly not in this case.
After this,
the whales didn't stand a chance,
meaning they had no chance
of successfully avoiding the hunters.
Foyn's exploding harpoon, added to the
invention of faster steam-powered boats,
increased whaling massively
throughout the 20th century,
to the point where over
three million whales had been killed
and many species faced extinction.
By the 1970s, there were
only a few great whales left
and environmental groups like Greenpeace
started the Save the Whales campaign
to make people aware
of devastation in whale populations
and the cruelty of whaling.
It became popular to listen
to the Song of the Whale,
recordings
of whales communicating at sea,
which sound something like this:
Here's marine biologist Joe Roman
discussing the
Save the Whales campaign
with BBC Radio 4's Rare Earth:
People started thinking about whales
in different ways.
And then we have to give
a shout-out to activist groups
like Greenpeace, who put their
RIB boats – they put their Zodiacs
in between Soviet hunting vessels
and sperm whales.
And they were very good at media.
Joe gives a shout-out to Greenpeace
activists for protecting whales.
To give a shout-out to someone
means to praise them in public.
Videos and photos taken by Greenpeace
changed public opinion about whaling.
Joe says Greenpeace were
good at media,
meaning they skilfully used
media outlets like TV and newspapers
to convey their message
to the public.
Many whale species
are still endangered
and all whales still face danger
from ocean acidification
and plastic pollution.
But the moratorium –
that means the temporary suspension –
on hunting them has lasted 40 years
and hopefully will help
protect whales for decades more.
OK. Phil, isn't it time you revealed
the answer to your question?
OK. I asked you which was
the smallest species of whale.
And I said
the pygmy right whale, didn't I?
You did. Unfortunately, the answer
is actually the vaquita whale,
which is about 1.5m long.
Oh, so cute!
OK. Let's recap the rest
of the vocabulary we've learned.
A chap is an informal word for a man.
A turning point is
when a situation starts to change,
especially for the better.
If someone doesn't stand a chance,
they have no chance of success.
To give a shout-out to someone
means to publicly praise them.
And finally, if you're good at media,
you are skilful at using media outlets
to convey a message to the public.
Once again, our six minutes are up
but remember you can find worksheets,
quizzes and loads more resources to
improve your English on our website:
bbclearningenglish.com.
See you there soon but for now,
it's goodbye!
Bye!
Vocabulary
Word 1 of 12natural habitat
collocation
0:14
"the natural environment where an animal normally lives."
More Listening Practice
About this lesson
Learn about whales, their habitat, and conservation in this 6 Minute English episode.