Exercise 47. Read and translate the following words and word combinations from Russian into English

Ластоногие, сирены (морские коровы), миоглобин, морские млекопитающие, задние конечности, уменьшать, отвертие, цилиндрическая форма тела, конвергентная эволюция,водоотталкивающий подшерсток, подвижность, жировая прослойка, касатка, дыхание, представитель китов, истощение запасов, горбач, горбатый кит, эхолокация, голосовые связки, усатые киты,  зубатые киты, плавучесть, кашалот, добыча, калан, морская свинья, физиологическая адаптация, ламантин, подавать сигналы, замедленный сердечный ритм.

Exercise 40.Look through the text to find out more information about:

- whales are mammals, not fish;

- major behavioral adaptations of marine mammals;

- marine mammals are often very social animals;

- marine mammals are capable of sophisticated communication;

-  s ea otters are the smallest of all marine mammals.

 

Exercise 48.  Make up collocations using words from both columns.

 

marine	disorders
sophisticated	evolution
physiological	environment
humpback	similarities
water	whale
behavioral	repellent
convergent	communication

 

Exercise 48. Give the explanation for the following words and remember them.

 Blubber, myoglobin, convergent evolution, sea otter, echolocation.

Exercise 51. Test yourself by answering these questions and summarize given information.

Who determined whales to be mammals?

What changes have occurred in the structure of marine mammals?

What allows marine mammals to keep warm?

What is the major behavioral adaptations of marine mammals?

What can you say adout the diving skills of marine mammals?

What kind of marine mammals do you know?

What types of whales do you know?

Who are sirenians?

What can you say about interactions between marine mammals and humans?

Are sea otters the smallest of all marine mammals?

 

It is interesting to know

Text C

Part I

Can We Start Speaking To Dolphins?

Recently scientists have made a significant breakthrough in inter-species communication. Researchers in the UK and USA have proved that the clicking sounds dolphins use for echolocation actually form reproducible holographic pictures that the researchers suggest may be the basis of dolphin language.

With the use of cutting edge technology such as the CymaScope and 3D print technology, the scientists at Speak Dolphin  believe they have been able to see what dolphins see for the first time. This amazing discovery has exciting implications for the future, as the first step in being able to potentially communicate with dolphins in their own language.

 

Dolphin Communication

Dolphins communicate in a wide variety of ways, just as we do. They use body language, using touch to communicate both affection and aggression. They have even been known to hold flippers, just as we hold hands. Dolphins don’t have vocal cords, but instead have a complex system, including a balloon-like structure in their foreheads called a melon.

They have two sets of lips near the blowhole that force air through, much as air is squeezed through the nozzle of a balloon, to create sounds. This air is recycled through the system so the dolphin can remain underwater for extended periods while echolocating or communicating. Through these lips, dolphins can both whistle and make clicking sounds or click bursts, sometimes at extremely high speed.

Deciphering The Dolphin Code

Early on in dolphin research, scientists discovered that each dolphin has an individual whistle that they use to identify themselves, and that other dolphins use to call them in return. When a dolphin is in trouble it sends out a series of these whistling sounds, as if calling for help from friends. The clicking sounds were discovered to be a form of echolocation, using sound to create mental images of the surroundings, which dolphins can use with extreme accuracy, focusing in on one fish in a swarming school, to track elusive prey.

Some scientists also believed that dolphins could use their clicks to transmit information to other dolphins in their vicinity. Click bursts, or high speed clusters of clicks, are thought to have additional meanings, beyond simply identifying objects. Dolphin researchers suggested that these click bursts are a form of communication that dolphins use when they’re playing or to indicate aggression. Mother dolphins have been observed to focus an angry click burst at a misbehaving calf, for example.

Findings like these have spurred great interest in how dolphins communicate and raised questions about their cognitive abilities. At first, scientists and animal trainers were only interested in what they could teach dolphins. These days there is interest in what they can teach us. Especially since this latest breakthrough, which begins to prove that the suppositions of these early researchers may be correct.