Shadowing Practice: Two Different Things Are Killing Sharks - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
101 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
People tend to think of sharks as fearsome, powerful, untouchable predators.
2
They're definitely scary and powerful, but… untouchable?
3
Maybe not as much as you might imagine.
4
Even the white shark, often considered the largest predatory fish on the planet, is not immune to the unforgiving nature of, well, nature.
5
These iconic predators of the sea face all kinds of threats.
6
And in two different places, for two apparently different reasons, great whites are dying in large numbers.
7
And scientists aren't totally sure why.
8
First, let's introduce the Great White Shark, also known as the White Pointer, or just simply the White Shark.
9
They were named for their white undersides, despite the fact that most of the shark is actually gray.
10
White sharks are common in popular media.
11
And why wouldn't they be?
12
They grow to around 4 .5 meters long and roughly 1 ,800 kilograms.
13
And who doesn't love a massive predator?
14
They also make pretty compelling subjects for lots of scientific research, and they can be easier to study than other sharks.
15
See, studying migratory species is extremely hard.
16
They spend time far offshore and in deep waters that are really hard to reach.
17
But even though white sharks are also migratory, their patterns can be pretty predictable,
18
and they tend to spend a lot of their time close to beaches and in shallower waters when they're not crossing oceans.
19
Bad news if you're a seal.
20
But if you're a researcher, this makes your job way easier.
21
And the truth is, sharks, including the white shark, are critical to the health of our ocean ecosystems.
22
They help regulate the population sizes and behaviors of animals at lower trophic levels, such as sea lions and otters.
23
So if we want a healthy ocean, and therefore a healthy planet, we want healthy sharks.
24
Which is where our problem lies.
25
Let's start with South Africa.
26
White sharks are ubiquitous in South African waters, aggregating in several regions around the coast.
27
Or, at least, they used to be.
28
Over the past decade, people have seen fewer white sharks swimming in those waters, and more of them washing up on beaches.
29
Beached shark carcasses were often found with missing livers and perfect slashes on them, so precise and clean they almost seemed surgical.
30
Which probably raised more questions than it answered.
31
And some people were worried that swordfish had evolved into scalpel fish.
32
But the discovery of tooth marks on the bodies led scientists to a more feasible hypothesis — orcas.
33
Although we often describe white sharks as if they're the top of the food chain, that's not always the case.
34
Orcas are known to hunt white sharks, and they're not interested in a filet -o -shark.
35
They really just want the shark's liver.
36
Shark livers are massive, making up approximately a third of their body weight.
37
They're filled with lipids, and since sharks don't have gas -filled swim bladders like their bony fish cousins,
38
this fatty liver is what they rely on for buoyancy regulation.
39
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.
40
Orcas have been known to hunt white sharks in other regions, like California.
41
And when an orca pod rolls through, the sharks start to roll out, avoiding their predators like any sensible prey would.
42
However, while the new snacking habits of South African orcas sounds like a tidy answer,
43
it may not be the only reason the number of white sharks has dipped in the last few years.
44
In addition to orca gains, South African white sharks are also dealing with fishing pressure and shark deterrent efforts on local beaches.
45
While experts really aren't sure which factor tipped the shark scales, it all adds up to a pretty hostile environment.
46
Experts hope that addressing as many of these concerns as possible may bring back the iconic
47
South African sharks.
48
Not sure how they'll convince the orcas to lay off the liver, but we'll see what happens.
49
Our next group of endangered white sharks is found off the coast of North America.
50
And what's disrupting the sharks in Canada and the US is even more confusing
51
and less visible than it is in South Africa.
52
Allow me to explain.
53
In 2023, a dead white shark washed ashore on Prince Edward Island in Canada.
54
It didn't look injured and seemed otherwise pretty healthy.
55
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,
56
otherwise known as meningoencephalitis.
57
Meanwhile, more seemingly healthy sharks were washing up dead, blood, many with brain swelling.
58
One shark was seen displaying some odd behavior, like swimming erratically and bumping into things before dying and washing onto a beach.
59
Surely this was another case of brain inflammation, right?
60
Shockingly, no. Just when we think we've figured out a pattern, good ol' Mother Nature throws a curveball.
61
And it's not just the Great Whites.
62
Dead sharks with swollen brains seemed to be on the rise in several species, like sandbar sharks and thresher sharks.
63
Even stranger, this is happening in the Atlantic and the Pacific, meaning whatever the problem is, it's really widespread.
64
So, some mysterious thing is causing sharks' brains to swell up and die, and we still don't know exactly what.
65
But, as it turns out, the answer may be hidden in a bunch of decades -old frozen salmon sharks.
66
In the early 2000s, 18 beached salmon sharks were found to have died of meningoencephalitis.
67
And in 2012, researchers analyzed some of them and found that a type of bacterium called
68
Carnobacterium malta rheumaticum was the likeliest culprit.
69
Which was weird, because this bacterium has been found in other fish species and in the water they swim in.
70
And those guys all have perfectly unswollen brains.
71
But for some unknown reason, this bacterium may be becoming pathogenic in some fish, including sharks.
72
And we have an idea of how it could be reaching their brains.
73
Through the endolymphatic system, which aids in hearing, balance, and orientation.
74
Sharks have small pores on their heads that lead to their endolymphatic ducts, which provide access to the cranium.
75
And we know that when these structures get invaded by pathogens in the water,
76
it can cause disease and even death in several shark and ray species.
77
So what do we know?
78
We know that, for a decade, sharks have been washing up on beaches.
79
We know that their deaths are often caused or accompanied by meningoencephalitis.
80
And we know that this disease is sometimes attributed to a particular bacterium.
81
What we don't know is probably the biggest piece of this medically mysterious marine puzzle,
82
which is why this is happening and how concerned we all should be about it.
83
Scientists are worried for some reasons and not so worried for others.
84
Seeing sharks wash up on shore doesn't seem like it could be positive in any way,
85
but it could be a sign that shark populations are recovering.
86
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.
87
And if this thing is contagious, more sharks also means more of a chance for diseases to be passed around,
88
simply because the population is bigger and might be more densely packed into an area.
89
So while we don't love a disease, if it means that shark populations are rebounding, it's not all bad.
90
The concern comes in though
91
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.
92
If this truly is what is happening, we need to understand why.
93
Is it climate change?
94
Pollution?
95
Or a secret third option?
96
Knowing what causes the bacterium to go rogue can help us figure out how to stop it from spreading
97
and prevent it from happening with other bacteria in the future.
98
These two shark -killing mysteries have two different causes, and therefore two different solutions, at least.
99
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,
100
from the sharks and the orcas down to tiny bacteria.
101
And maybe the biggest one is that the driving force behind ecosystem shifts is never really black and white.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
Same Channel
B25
What’s Ruining Our Ruins?
American AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C19
Why Do We Sneeze?
American AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C13
The Science Behind The Odyssey's Greatest Challenge
American AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B21
Do Penguins Control the Weather?
American AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C12
The Most Important Picture in the History of Science
American AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C14
Why Can’t We Have Unicorns?
American AccentKids
B2Does Aloe Really Treat a Sunburn?
American AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C1What's Really Behind The Adderall Shortage?
American AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C1Ticks Can Spread An Allergy To… Red Meat?
American AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C1The ONE Disease That Smoking Can Help Treat
American AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C1How Onions ACTUALLY Make You Cry (And How to Stop Them)
American AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
FOR YOU
Recommend Video
C11
70 sentences
Why no aquarium has a great white shark
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C111
39 sentences
You Will Only Like Half of This Video
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
49 sentences
What is a Keystone Species? - Wild Education
Daily ConversationUniversity Students
B21
172 sentences
Why The Entire Ocean Is Terrified of Sperm Whales
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C12
560 sentences
The Most Dangerous Woman in Science Says We Got the Dinosaur Extinction Totally Wrong
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C1291 sentences
Why did white men conquer the world?
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B22
28 sentences
English lesson
Daily ConversationUniversity Students
B12
29 sentences
READING EXPLORER 2 Unit 6B THE TRUTH ABOUT GREAT WHITES
Daily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students
C12
193 sentences
What Would Happen If an Asteroid Hit the Ocean?
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
402 sentences
Before We Became the Last Humans:The Lost Species That Once Shared Our World|Prehistoric Documentary
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B213
13 sentences
The Most Dangerous Animal
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C13
742 sentences
The REAL reason China built so much
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Two Different Things Are Killing Sharks”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: shark, orca, brain, liver, fish. This video has 101 sentences and 1404 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:32. The speaker talks fast, about 186 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 77% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| wash verb | /wɑʃ/ | To clean with water. |
| predator noun | /ˈpɹɛd.ə.tɚ/ | Any animal or other organism that hunts and kills other nonplant organisms (their prey), primarily for food. |
| swim verb | /swɪm/ | To move through the water, without touching the bottom; to propel oneself in water by natural means. |
| scientist noun | /ˈsaɪəntəst/ | One whose activities make use of the scientific method to answer questions regarding the measurable universe. A scientist may be involved in original research… |
| liver noun | /ˈlɪvɚ/ | A large organ in the body that stores and metabolizes nutrients, destroys toxins and produces bile. It is responsible for thousands of biochemical reactions. |
| researcher noun | /ˈɹiˌsɝ.t͡ʃɚ/ | One who researches. |
| swell verb | /swɛl/ | To become larger, fuller, or rounder, or expand in size or shape, usually as a result of pressure from within. |
| mysterious adjective | /mɪˈstɪɹi.əs/ | Of unknown origin. |
| iconic adjective | /aɪˈkɑnɪk/ | Relating to, or having the characteristics of, an icon. |
| salmon noun | /ˈsæmən/ | One of several species of fish, typically of the Salmoninae subfamily, brownish above with silvery sides and delicate pinkish-orange flesh; they ascend rivers… |
| ecosystem noun | /ˈikoʊˌsɪstəm/ | A system formed by an ecological community and its environment that functions as a unit. |
| inflammation noun | /ɪnfləˈmeɪ̯ʃən/ | The state of being inflamed. |
| meal noun | /ˈmiːl/ | Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity. |
| meanwhile adverb | /ˈmiːnwaɪl/ | During the time that something is happening, often specifically in a different place. |
| killer noun | /ˈkɪlɚ/ | One who or that which kills. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. | |
| wash up verb | To clean the utensils, dishes etc. used in preparing and eating a meal. | |
| add up to verb | To have a particular effect in combination. | |
| bring back verb | /ˈbɹɪŋ bæk/ | To fetch something. |
| lay off verb | (of an employer) To dismiss (workers) from employment, e.g. at a time of low business volume or through no fault of the worker, often with a severance package. | |
| make up verb | /ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/ | To constitute, to compose. |
| pass around verb | To distribute something through a group by giving several items to one or more people to then give to others in a row, line or circle; to spread something to… | |
| roll out verb | To deploy or release (a new film or software, etc.); to launch (a product or service), especially in a gradual fashion across multiple regions. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | have been washing · that's been living |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | were named · were often found · are known |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have seen · have been known · has dipped |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 21 contractions and reduced forms, such as they're, don't, aren't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: tooth /tuθ/, hypothesis /haɪˈpɒθɪsɪs/, pathogen /ˈpæθəd͡ʒn̩/, pathogenic /pæθəˈd͡ʒɛnɪk/, thresher /ˈθɹɛʃə(ɹ)/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: wash /wɑʃ/, inflammation /ɪnfləˈmeɪ̯ʃən/, regulation /ˌɹɛɡjʊˈleɪʃən/, shore /ʃɔɹ/, tissue /ˈtɪʃ.(j)u/
- Long words — get the stress right: mysterious /mɪˈstɪɹi.əs/, ecosystem /ˈikoʊˌsɪstəm/, inflammation /ɪnfləˈmeɪ̯ʃən/, regulation /ˌɹɛɡjʊˈleɪʃən/, orientation /ˌɔː.ɹi.ənˈteɪ.ʃən/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like wash, predator, swim.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.