Humpback Whale Swims Thousands of Kilometres
A female whale swam thousands of kilometers from Brazil to Madagascar. Scientists think it is the longest journey ever undertaken by a mammal.
Humpacks normally migrate on a north to south route. They normally don’t travel across oceans to other continents. There are some possible reasons for such a long trip : maybe the whale was looking for a companion or it possibly was just the feeling for adventure. But maybe the whale simply got lost.
Humpacks are normally careful when they travel. They migrate on the same route every year. Whales hunt and feed in the colder waters , then they migrate to warmer parts of the ocean to mate and breed .
The discovery was made when a photo of a humpback was posted on the web by a Norwegian tourist who spotted the whale off the coast of Madagascar. Scentists matched the photo with others in a whale catalog.
In the mid 20th century humpback whales were almost extinct. Scientists have been studying whales to find out how they live and why they migrate.
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Words:
- breed = animals have sex so that they can produce babies ; mate
- companion = friend
- discovery = something you find out for the first time
- extinct = to die out
- feed = eat
- mammal = animal that drinks milk from its mother when it is young
- match = look the same
- mate = animals have sex so that they can produce babies; breed
- migrate = to travel from one place to another
- spot = see
- undertake = here: a journey that you start and end