Unusual Jobs: Shark Scientist

Материалы могут быть использованы в старших классах по теме Professions to Choose.

Vocabulary

Which of the adjectives below can describe the job of a shark scientist? Give reasons.
• interesting • exciting • dangerous• stressful • boring • relaxing • difficult• demanding • tiring • rewarding

I think a shark scientist’s job is …. because they …. .

[audio:http://fortee.ru/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Shark-Scientist.mp3 ]

Shark Scientist (duration 2 min)

Sink your teeth into this

Sharks terrify most of us, but Daniel Weaver, shark scientist, swims with them for a living! We asked him some questions about his curious career.

So Daniel, what’s it’s like to be a shark scientist?

Well, it’s an extremely rewarding job. I often travel to faraway places like South Africa and Fiji to study sharks. We attach tags to them and follow them by satellite. Then, I analyse the data and discover new and amazing things about the sharks. It’s very exciting! On the other hand, a shark scientist sometimes does boring desk work, such as writing reports. Also, shark scientists don’t usually got paid a lot.

What qualities do you need to become a shark scientist?

Shark scientists need to be intelligent and physically fit. They enjoy working outdoors and they have to be calm and patient. They also have to be quite brave!

So do you think it’s a dangerous job?

Well, sharks have up to 15 rows of sharp teeth, extremely strong jaws and excellent senses. They also swim very fast! However, sharks rarely attack humans. There are over 350 species of sharks in the world and only about 10 are dangerous to us. In fact, dogs kill more people every year than sharks! Humans kill over 12 million sharks a year for food and sport!

How do you become a shark scientist?

A shark scientist usually studies Marine Science or Zoology at university. It’s also good to get some work experience in an aquarium. It’s not an easy job, but sharks are beautiful, fascinating creatures. In my opinion, I have the best job in the world!

(По материалам учебного пособия Upstream Elementary SB by V. Evans and J.Dooley)