📙 Part 2: Describe a wild animal you have seen

This episode's vocabulary

Coast (noun) - the land next to or close to the sea..

Predator (noun) - an animal that hunts, kills, and eats other animals.

Apex predator (noun) - a predator that exists at the very top of the food chain.

Encounter (verb) - to meet someone unexpectedly.

Do someone/something justice (idiom) - to treat someone or something in a way that is fair and shows their or its true qualities.

Dorsal (adj.) - of, on, or near the back of an animal.

Sheer (adj.) - used to emphasize how very great, important, or powerful a quality or feeling is; nothing except.

Glory (noun) - great beauty, or something special or extremely beautiful, that gives great pleasure.

Crop up (phrasal verb) - to occur or appear, esp. unexpectedly.

Hot spot (noun) - a place that is popular.

Migration (noun) - the process of animals travelling to a different place, usually when the season changes.

Portray (verb) - to represent or describe someone or something in a painting, film, book, or other artistic work.

Nutritious (adj.) - containing many of the substances needed for life and growth.

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Questions and Answers

M: Rory will describe a wild animal he has seen. He will say what the wild animal looks like, where he can see it, what it likes to eat and do and why he likes it. Rory, could you start speaking now, please?

R: I'd like to talk about great white sharks since I've been cage diving with them off the coast of South Africa. And that was about five years ago. But the creatures themselves haven't changed in millions of years since they're the apex predators of their environment. Well, unless they encounter orca whales. But we should focus more on the sharks here, to be honest with you. I have to say I've seen them up close and they're absolutely massive. They grow up to six and a half metres long. That's over three average sized people in length. There are smaller ones. Typically, males are smaller than females, but even the smallest are over three metres in length, which is still a lot bigger than I think every person. I don't think anyone's over three metres tall. The pictures and videos of them really don't do them justice. When you get into the water with them and you see their dark grey dorsal sides and their white underbellies, you appreciate the sheer size of them. And like all of its glory. They crop up a lot in warmer waters but I think South Africa is a particular hot spot for them because of the abundance of prey. Especially during the migration periods of the fish species that live in the area. And to be honest with you, they eat everything. Some have been found with car number plates in their stomachs, for example. This is quite common behaviour for sharks. They usually feed on large fish and seals. Some movies portray them as man eaters, but generally they aren't interested in people. Since we're not as nutritious as animals or at least as the animals I previously mentioned. Despite being so well covered in various media, very little is actually known about them. For example, there are not many, or at least I don't think there are many recordings of like the reproductive process, for example. Despite this, perhaps because of this sense of mystery I absolutely loved seeing them since I'm fascinated by predatory animals and how they move, especially given how large many of them are. And they're almost always graceful. I think if it wasn't for the size and the appearance of their faces, they'd actually be quite relaxing to watch.

M: What about your friends? Do they like these animals?

R: I don't know. I've not asked them.

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