Wednesday 25 March 2009

Animal: Humpback Whales

I have been a shark and whale lover since I was 2 and could paint a very realistic whale at the same age of 3. I still remember very vividly that my teacher didn't believe that I drew such a picture and requested to see my mum. My mum told my 3 teachers and the principal, who were there to interrogate me, that I really drew it. They didn't believe me and would only let me go if I could paint one more right on the spot. At last, my mum and I walked out of the school with a gift toy car of my choice after painting a picture of a whale right in front of them.

And so the anecdote ends here, but my passion for whales and sharks continues.

Recently, there was a humperback whale in the Hong Kong waters and I really wanted to go and see it!!! However, as you all know that this whale should have been left alone so that she could find her way back to the deep, I only took the effort to chase her on the news. (picture source: Discovery News)

Humpback whale is one of my favourite whales because it is a singer whale and it sings the best whale songs.

Click on the movie below and listen for yourself.






Don't you think they are just amazing?

The humpback whales are also really nice dancers. Their dances express their joy and their superior artistic minds. When they are jumping out of the water, or breaching, you can see the movements of their fins like they are really dancing ballet!





From this clip above you can see the bond between the mother and the cub, the cub was so attached to the mother and the mother was ever more protective. Aren't they behaving just like human beings? I absolutely think that these amazing animals should be well-conserved and at the same time, kept in distance from any man's activities. Man has already done enough of disturbance and created too much pollution in their natural habitat, it's high time for man to make some compensations.

Whale meat is considered as one of the most prestigious delicacies in the Japanese society. Their fondness for dolphin and whale meats have led to the large decline in the number of whale populations. Pictures can be easily found abundantly in any search engines by typing "whale meat".

Quoting from Wikipedia, "In 1982, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) voted on a moratorium on commercial whaling to go into force in 1986. Japan has maintained its interest in the resumption of commercial whaling, but has not succeeded in persuading the IWC to lift the ban." Nonetheless, from what I have read from the news, every once in a while the Green Peace will have to hold tough fights to stop illegal "data-collection" of the Japanese whalers.






Resourceful encyclopedia Wikipedia has a list of whale songs sung by different types of whales, you can listen to them from the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_whale_songs


If you still want to hear these lovely whale songs, or if you want your next generation to have a chance to hear and see these awesomely beautiful mammals, you can help Green Peace or WWF by making some donations whenever you feel like it. I personally do that every now and then.




Lastly, thanks to those of you who have read my entries and even more thanks to those of you who left comments and tried the exercises.

I really appreciate your effort and passion. Hope you can continue to learn with me. Next time I will talk about sharks. Well, after a few other different entries first.



Answers for the previous entry:

1. What is the meaning of ‘plus’ in the second paragraph? (and)
2. In paragraph 3, can you list a few examples of each tea type? (I'm sure you can find)
3. Why did I use double-quotes for the word “fermented”?
(it is not a true fermentation: it is not caused by micro-organisms, and is not an anaerobic process)
4. In paragraph 4, what is the range on pH scale that shows acidity? (below 7)
5. What is the name of the book that China’s Lu Yu wrote? Which dynasty did he live in? (Cha Jing or the Classic of Tea; Tang)
6. Who said “Tea is the ultimate mental and medical remedy and has the ability to make one’s life more full and complete”? (famous Zen priest Eisai)
7. In paragraph 9, I used 4 different verbs to show my preference for different types of tea, can you list them? (love, fancy, have enjoyed, like)