GE B1 Unit 6 Reading Test B

Saving blue whales: a success story

Stories about the environment are rarely good news these days: climate change, species in danger, and so on. Occasionally, however, there is a real success story to celebrate. (1)   These days, however, their numbers have thankfully risen to several thousand.

Scientists believe that the blue whale is the largest animal ever to have lived on Earth. It grows to a length of thirty metres and can weigh up to two hundred tonnes. (2)   Whales need to consume a lot of them, as they typically eat around 36,000 kilos of food each day!

During the 19th and 20th centuries, blue whales were killed for their meat and oil. (3)   At its maximum, 30,000 blue whales per year were being caught. A ban on whaling was fi nally introduced in the 1960s.

Since then, the number of blue whales has slowly increased. Scientists think their population in some areas is growing by as much as ten percent per year. (4)   However, blue whales only have a baby once every three years.

Though we can’t hear them on land, of course, blue whales are one of the loudest animals on the planet. Their unusual method of communication sounds a little like low, deep singing to us. (5)  

So although there’s a long way to go until the blue whale’s song is heard in as much of our oceans as it once was, there are highly positive signs that this species is heading in the right direction.