TPO 49

The lecturer and the listening section discuss how humpback whales migrate a long distance for feeding and mating. Although the reading suggests that these whales use stars for navigation and provides three theories about this, the speaker refutes this idea for several reasons, which I will describe in this report.

First, the passage points out that humpback whales are very intelligent to use stars to navigate their ways, and their brains are so complex and powerful. The lecturer, in contrast, rejects this by claiming that between intelligence and using stars for finding ways is no real connection. Some other animals and birds, such as duck, use stars for finding ways when they want to migrate. But, ducks do not have a highly developed brain and intelligence; they have a medium level of intelligence, and they are born with star-based navigation ability. So, we cannot find a real connection between intelligence and using stars.

Furthermore, the reading passage states that many animals use external force or object to find their ways in the migration process, and the humpback whales use the stars as external objects for finding their ways and migrate in straight lines. However, the lecture argues that these whales use external force such as the Earth magnetic field for finding their ways. The brain of the humpback whales has bio magnetic in their brains, like birds to use the Erath magnetic field for navigation. So, they do not use stars to migrate in a straight line.

Finally, although the passage says that humpback whales may do spy-hopping to watch the stars and navigate by them, the speaker disagrees by mentioning that other animals such as sharks are doing spy-hopping. But, they do not migrate, and they use it for seeing their food. Furthermore, these whales also do spy-hopping during the day, and the stars do not exist during the day.