Warming up and pre-reading Unit 3 Warming up and pre-reading

A documentary, Oceans

Oceans is a 2009 French nature documentary film by Jacques Perrin distributed in the United States by Disneynature. It was released on April 22, 2010 in 1,200 theaters in the US for Earth Day. It was filmed in over 50 different places and took four years to film. It is a high-quality filming documentary featuring ocean animals. It reflects the need to respect nature and demonstrates the negative aspects of human activity on animals.

Warming up Have you seen plants and animals that live under the sea? Where did you see them? Find out from your classmates where they saw them. Use the list below to help you. on a snorkeling trip at an aquarium on a boat tour in books in films on TV nature programmes on the Internet

Can you name some plants and animals that live under the sea?

kelp 海带 sea star 海星

dolphin coral sea cucumber 海参

shark sea horse 海马 turtle

butterfly fish sea lion squid

If you like, you can go to see more about them at an aquarium. snorkeling If you like, you can go to see more about them at an aquarium.

Which one of the plants and animals under the sea do you like best? Why?

dolphins: clever and friendly to people sea lion: clever & can play game coral: colourful and in charming shapes kelps: tasty and nutrient butterfly fish: beautiful in colors

Guess what is the name of this animal? A Killer Whale !

What do you know about “killer whales”?

Scientific name: Orcinus Orca Male whales can reach lengths up to 27 feet and can weigh up to 12,000 lb. You can tell an adult male from an adult female by the shape of their dorsal fin (male’s longer, up to 6 feet tall). Killer whales are found in all oceans of the world. As a group, killer whales are known to eat fish, squid, seals, sea lions, penguins, even other whales. Thus, they are called “Killer Whales”.

What about baleen whales?

Baleen whales are whales that have no teeth Baleen whales are whales that have no teeth. They take in huge mouthfuls of water and filter it, trapping small fish and invertebrates. There are several species of baleen whale such as the blue whale, the humpback whale and the right whale.

Whaling operated between the 1830s and the 1920s on the southeastern coast of Australia at a place called Eden, where Clancy’s stories are set. There are many stories of killer whales cooperating with the whalers there to catch the baleen whales that migrated and later down the coast every winter and spring. Old Tom was one of the killer whales and his skeleton is displayed in the Killer Whale Museum in Eden.

Eden Killer Whale Museum

In real life, whales are harmless to us. We should protect them, just like any other animal on earth. Still, nowadays we kill thousands of whales and most of us don’t know that whales are endangered.

Japan, Norway, and Iceland which are pro-whaling nations killed thousands of whales which have been seen by ant-whaling nations and organisations, such Greenpeace, to be in humane and unnecessary. These nations want the ban on commercial whaling lifted. Japan argues that they have right to whaling for scientific research. This is the main area of controversy as many anti-whaling countries and organisations see this as excuse for commercial whaling. This situating is complex and a solution to this conflict is unlikely to be reached in the near future.

Discussion Are you for or against the banning whaling? Consider the problem carefully and have a discussion.