What an interesting podcast about whales. Use this in class to practice listening while also learning about the incredible creatures that live underwater known as whales.

The podcast is not too hard to follow and comes with beautiful whale sounds. Students will enjoy listening to this, it’s a fantastic way to practice listening in the classroom or as homework. The transcript is also given for those students who still can pick up what they hear too well. That way they can listen and read at the same time.

The answers are at the bottom

Click here for the transcript!

Questions for the Podcast:

1. Why do you think the host wants a story about the coronavirus that is not incredibly depressing?
2. Where are the whales now? Where did they come from?
3. What is a hydrophone? Why do they need it?
4. What is the scientist Christine Gabriele studying right now?
5. Is vision important underwater? What is important, and why?
6. Does human noise bother whales? What do they do about it?
7. What do the killer whales sound like compared to normal whales? What do they use sound for?
8. What is special about the J, K and L pods of killer whales?
9. What is the Port of Vancouver doing to try to reduce underwater noise?
10. Are you surprised that whales and killer whales communicate so much underwater? Why?

Extra Discussion Question:

1. Have you ever seen whales? Would you like to? Why?
2. How does too much noise affect you? Why?
3. Why do you think whales’ stress levels increase with noise?
4. Do you think whales and killer whales are intelligent? Why?
5. Would you go swimming with them? Why?

Answers to the podcast questions:

1. Well, it seems like every story we get nowadays is depressing, so this is a pleasant change of pace.
2. Currently, they are in Alaska, and they came from Hawaii.
3. A hydrophone is an underwater microphone, and they need it to record sounds from underwater.
4. Currently, she is studying how whales communicate naturally without the interference of human noises.
5. Vision is not important, what’s important is sound because animals can use it to locate their prey.
6. Human noise seems to bother whales a lot. They repeat themselves and talk louder to get around it, but it increases their stress levels.
7. Killer whales have a much higher voice. It’s more like bats and they use it to catch food.
8. Those pods are special because, even though they communicate the same way, they have different dialects.
9. The Port of Vancouver is offering incentives for boats who lower the sounds of their boats.
10. I am surprised. It almost seems like they are talking the same way people do.

Downloadable Questions and Answers to the podcast:

Click here for more podcasts and video questions to supplement your class!