Shadowing Practice: Two Different Things Are Killing Sharks - Learn English Speaking with Video
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People tend to think of sharks as fearsome, powerful, untouchable predators.
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They're definitely scary and powerful, but… untouchable?
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Maybe not as much as you might imagine.
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Even the white shark, often considered the largest predatory fish on the planet, is not immune to the unforgiving nature of, well, nature.
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These iconic predators of the sea face all kinds of threats.
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And in two different places, for two apparently different reasons, great whites are dying in large numbers.
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And scientists aren't totally sure why.
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First, let's introduce the Great White Shark, also known as the White Pointer, or just simply the White Shark.
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They were named for their white undersides, despite the fact that most of the shark is actually gray.
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White sharks are common in popular media.
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And why wouldn't they be?
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They grow to around 4 .5 meters long and roughly 1 ,800 kilograms.
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And who doesn't love a massive predator?
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They also make pretty compelling subjects for lots of scientific research, and they can be easier to study than other sharks.
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See, studying migratory species is extremely hard.
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They spend time far offshore and in deep waters that are really hard to reach.
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But even though white sharks are also migratory, their patterns can be pretty predictable,
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and they tend to spend a lot of their time close to beaches and in shallower waters when they're not crossing oceans.
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Bad news if you're a seal.
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But if you're a researcher, this makes your job way easier.
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And the truth is, sharks, including the white shark, are critical to the health of our ocean ecosystems.
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They help regulate the population sizes and behaviors of animals at lower trophic levels, such as sea lions and otters.
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So if we want a healthy ocean, and therefore a healthy planet, we want healthy sharks.
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Which is where our problem lies.
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Let's start with South Africa.
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White sharks are ubiquitous in South African waters, aggregating in several regions around the coast.
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Or, at least, they used to be.
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Over the past decade, people have seen fewer white sharks swimming in those waters, and more of them washing up on beaches.
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Beached shark carcasses were often found with missing livers and perfect slashes on them, so precise and clean they almost seemed surgical.
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Which probably raised more questions than it answered.
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And some people were worried that swordfish had evolved into scalpel fish.
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But the discovery of tooth marks on the bodies led scientists to a more feasible hypothesis — orcas.
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Although we often describe white sharks as if they're the top of the food chain, that's not always the case.
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Orcas are known to hunt white sharks, and they're not interested in a filet -o -shark.
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They really just want the shark's liver.
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Shark livers are massive, making up approximately a third of their body weight.
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They're filled with lipids, and since sharks don't have gas -filled swim bladders like their bony fish cousins,
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this fatty liver is what they rely on for buoyancy regulation.
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Because of how fatty and nutrient -dense shark livers are, it's the perfect meal for a fast -paced, warm -blooded predator like the killer whale.
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Orcas have been known to hunt white sharks in other regions, like California.
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And when an orca pod rolls through, the sharks start to roll out, avoiding their predators like any sensible prey would.
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However, while the new snacking habits of South African orcas sounds like a tidy answer,
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it may not be the only reason the number of white sharks has dipped in the last few years.
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In addition to orca gains, South African white sharks are also dealing with fishing pressure and shark deterrent efforts on local beaches.
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While experts really aren't sure which factor tipped the shark scales, it all adds up to a pretty hostile environment.
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Experts hope that addressing as many of these concerns as possible may bring back the iconic
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South African sharks.
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Not sure how they'll convince the orcas to lay off the liver, but we'll see what happens.
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Our next group of endangered white sharks is found off the coast of North America.
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And what's disrupting the sharks in Canada and the US is even more confusing
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and less visible than it is in South Africa.
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Allow me to explain.
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In 2023, a dead white shark washed ashore on Prince Edward Island in Canada.
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It didn't look injured and seemed otherwise pretty healthy.
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But when researchers did a necropsy, which is just an animal autopsy, they found that the shark had inflammation of the brain and surrounding tissues,
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otherwise known as meningoencephalitis.
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Meanwhile, more seemingly healthy sharks were washing up dead, blood, many with brain swelling.
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One shark was seen displaying some odd behavior, like swimming erratically and bumping into things before dying and washing onto a beach.
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Surely this was another case of brain inflammation, right?
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Shockingly, no. Just when we think we've figured out a pattern, good ol' Mother Nature throws a curveball.
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And it's not just the Great Whites.
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Dead sharks with swollen brains seemed to be on the rise in several species, like sandbar sharks and thresher sharks.
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Even stranger, this is happening in the Atlantic and the Pacific, meaning whatever the problem is, it's really widespread.
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So, some mysterious thing is causing sharks' brains to swell up and die, and we still don't know exactly what.
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But, as it turns out, the answer may be hidden in a bunch of decades -old frozen salmon sharks.
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In the early 2000s, 18 beached salmon sharks were found to have died of meningoencephalitis.
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And in 2012, researchers analyzed some of them and found that a type of bacterium called
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Carnobacterium malta rheumaticum was the likeliest culprit.
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Which was weird, because this bacterium has been found in other fish species and in the water they swim in.
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And those guys all have perfectly unswollen brains.
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But for some unknown reason, this bacterium may be becoming pathogenic in some fish, including sharks.
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And we have an idea of how it could be reaching their brains.
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Through the endolymphatic system, which aids in hearing, balance, and orientation.
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Sharks have small pores on their heads that lead to their endolymphatic ducts, which provide access to the cranium.
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And we know that when these structures get invaded by pathogens in the water,
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it can cause disease and even death in several shark and ray species.
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So what do we know?
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We know that, for a decade, sharks have been washing up on beaches.
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We know that their deaths are often caused or accompanied by meningoencephalitis.
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And we know that this disease is sometimes attributed to a particular bacterium.
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What we don't know is probably the biggest piece of this medically mysterious marine puzzle,
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which is why this is happening and how concerned we all should be about it.
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Scientists are worried for some reasons and not so worried for others.
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Seeing sharks wash up on shore doesn't seem like it could be positive in any way,
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but it could be a sign that shark populations are recovering.
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A bigger population of sharks that are living also means there's a bigger population of sharks that are dying, hence an increase in washed up carcasses.
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And if this thing is contagious, more sharks also means more of a chance for diseases to be passed around,
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simply because the population is bigger and might be more densely packed into an area.
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So while we don't love a disease, if it means that shark populations are rebounding, it's not all bad.
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The concern comes in though
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when we start to think about a bacteria that's been living on other fish species without a problem, suddenly becoming a deadly pathogen in sharks.
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If this truly is what is happening, we need to understand why.
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Is it climate change?
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Pollution?
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Or a secret third option?
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Knowing what causes the bacterium to go rogue can help us figure out how to stop it from spreading
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and prevent it from happening with other bacteria in the future.
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These two shark -killing mysteries have two different causes, and therefore two different solutions, at least.
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But that also means they're teaching us two different lessons about our planet, our oceans, and all the big and not so big creatures in them,
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from the sharks and the orcas down to tiny bacteria.
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And maybe the biggest one is that the driving force behind ecosystem shifts is never really black and white.
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Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección
Esta lección de conversación se basa en el vídeo “Two Different Things Are Killing Sharks”. Las palabras que más se repiten: shark, orca, brain, liver, fish. Este vídeo tiene 101 frases y 1404 palabras para practicar shadowing. La parte hablada dura 7:32. El hablante habla rápido, unas 186 palabras por minuto, así que espera sonidos enlazados y reducidos. Solo el 77 % de las palabras está entre las 3.000 más comunes del inglés, por lo que el vocabulario es exigente.
Vocabulario clave de este vídeo
15 palabras del vídeo que vale la pena aprender, con su pronunciación y significado:
| Palabra | Pronunciación | Significado |
|---|---|---|
| wash verbo | /wɑʃ/ | lavar |
| predator sustantivo | /ˈpɹɛd.ə.tɚ/ | predador, depredador |
| swim verbo | /swɪm/ | nadar |
| scientist sustantivo | /ˈsaɪəntəst/ | científico, científica |
| liver sustantivo | /ˈlɪvɚ/ | hígado |
| researcher sustantivo | /ˈɹiˌsɝ.t͡ʃɚ/ | investigador, investigadora |
| swell verbo | /swɛl/ | hincharse, inflarse |
| mysterious adjetivo | /mɪˈstɪɹi.əs/ | misterioso |
| salmon sustantivo | /ˈsæmən/ | salmón |
| ecosystem sustantivo | /ˈikoʊˌsɪstəm/ | ecosistema |
| inflammation sustantivo | /ɪnfləˈmeɪ̯ʃən/ | inflamación |
| meal sustantivo | /ˈmiːl/ | comida, pitanza |
| meanwhile adverbio | /ˈmiːnwaɪl/ | mientras tanto |
| killer sustantivo | /ˈkɪlɚ/ | matador, matadora |
| lesson sustantivo | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | lección |
Phrasal verbs que vas a escuchar
| Palabra | Pronunciación | Significado |
|---|---|---|
| figure out verbo | averiguar, captar | |
| lay off verbo | despedir, destituir | |
| make up verbo | /ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/ | reponer, suplir |
| roll out verbo | desplegar, distribuir | |
| turn out verbo | resultar |
Gramática en este vídeo
Las estructuras que más usa el hablante, con las palabras exactas del vídeo:
| Estructura | En el vídeo |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — una acción que empezó antes y continúa | have been washing · that's been living |
| Voz pasiva be + participio pasado — importa lo que ocurre, no quién lo hace | were named · were often found · are known |
| Present perfect have/has + participio pasado — una acción pasada que sigue importando ahora | have seen · have been known · has dipped |
Pronunciación a tener en cuenta
El hablante usa 21 contracciones y formas reducidas, como they're, don't, aren't. Dilas en su forma corta, tal como las oyes.
- Los sonidos de “th”: tooth /tuθ/, hypothesis /haɪˈpɒθɪsɪs/, pathogen /ˈpæθəd͡ʒn̩/, pathogenic /pæθəˈd͡ʒɛnɪk/, thresher /ˈθɹɛʃə(ɹ)/
- Los sonidos de “sh” y “zh”: wash /wɑʃ/, inflammation /ɪnfləˈmeɪ̯ʃən/, regulation /ˌɹɛɡjʊˈleɪʃən/, shore /ʃɔɹ/, tissue /ˈtɪʃ.(j)u/
- Palabras largas — cuida el acento: mysterious /mɪˈstɪɹi.əs/, ecosystem /ˈikoʊˌsɪstəm/, inflammation /ɪnfləˈmeɪ̯ʃən/, regulation /ˌɹɛɡjʊˈleɪʃən/, orientation /ˌɔː.ɹi.ənˈteɪ.ʃən/
Sonidos difíciles para hispanohablantes:
- s + consonante al inicio — sin añadir una “e” delante: swim /swɪm/, swell /swɛl/, scary /ˈskɛə.ɹi/, snack /snæk/, scalpel /ˈskælpəl/
- /v/ — no es /b/: los dientes tocan el labio inferior: liver /ˈlɪvɚ/, discovery /dɪˈskʌv.ɹi/, visible /ˈvɪzɪb(ə)l/, recover /ɹɪˈkʌvɚ/, convince /kənˈvɪns/
- /z/ — sonora, no /s/: cousin /ˈkʌz(ə)n/, visible /ˈvɪzɪb(ə)l/, freeze /ˈfɹiːz/, puzzle /ˈpʌzəl/, analyze /ˈæn.əˌlaɪz/
Cómo practicar con este vídeo
- Escucha el vídeo entero una vez sin hablar y anota las palabras que no conoces.
- Empieza a velocidad 0,75×, haz shadowing frase por frase y vuelve a la velocidad normal cuando te resulte fácil.
- Grábate y compara con el original, prestando atención a palabras como wash, predator, swim.
¿Qué es la Técnica de Shadowing?
Shadowing es una técnica de aprendizaje de idiomas respaldada por la ciencia, desarrollada originalmente para la formación de intérpretes profesionales y popularizada por el políglota Dr. Alexander Arguelles. El método es simple pero poderoso: escuchas audio en inglés nativo y lo repites en voz alta de inmediato, como una sombra que sigue al hablante con solo 1-2 segundos de retraso. A diferencia de la escucha pasiva o los ejercicios de gramática, el shadowing obliga a tu cerebro y músculos de la boca a procesar y reproducir simultáneamente patrones de habla reales. Las investigaciones muestran que mejora significativamente la precisión de la pronunciación, la entonación, el ritmo, el habla conectada, la comprensión auditiva y la fluidez al hablar, convirtiéndola en una de las metodologías más efectivas para la preparación del IELTS Speaking y la comunicación en inglés en el mundo real.