Unit 4.3, Exercise 4, Page 104.0:01
Biologist and leading conservationist Roger Payne is the man who discovered that whales sing and that their songs can be heard across entire Oceans.0:28
In 1967, a biologist named Roger Payne traveled to Bermuda to see the humpback whales that regularly pass by the island.0:37
An expert in how bats and moths use sound to locate their prey, Paine had recently resolved to use his expertise to help this species which was under threat from mankind.0:44
The decision, Paine says, had come about because of his increasing concern about man's destruction of the natural world.0:54
Whilst in Bermuda, Payne met a man named Frank Watlington.1:01
It was a chance encounter which turned out to be very lucky.1:05
Watlington was using underwater microphones in his job for the US Navy.1:09
He told Payne that every now and then his microphones would pick up strange sounds.1:13
And his guess was that the sounds were coming from whales.1:17
From this chance meeting, Payne, together with fellow researcher Scott McVeigh, went on to confirm not only that the sounds on Watlington's microphones were from humpback whales, that the sounds were in fact songs which they found could travel across1:21
At that time, commercial whaling was still in full force.1:35
Tens of thousands of whales were being hunted and killed every year, and many whale species were dangerously close to extinction.1:39
Payne decided to release a recording of the long and haunting humpback whale songs, which he described as exuberant, awesome, uninterrupted rivers of sound.1:47
This unique recording was an instant hit with the public.1:56
The joyful sounds of whales singing placed the plight of these enormous but gentle creatures firmly at the forefront of the public's mind.1:59
It helped lay the foundation for the Save the Whales movement, which was instrumental in ending commercial whaling.2:07
In 1986, the International Whaling Commission passed a moratorium on whaling.2:14
The humpback whale has partially recovered since then, but they are still an endangered species.2:20
Today, Paine is still turning to this magnificent creature to show mankind its folly.2:25
He has recently collected many tiny skin and blubber samples from sperm whales in order to examine them for pollutants.2:30
Preliminary studies have shown terrifying levels of man made poisons are present in the samples.2:37
Payne hopes that when the results are made public, it will turn the whale into a symbol of how mankind is poisoning the oceans.2:43
Клик по слову — перевод и «+ в мои слова» (в любом режиме). Клик по строке или таймкоду — перейти к этому месту записи.