Lecture on Marine Life - IELTS Listening Sample Answer

Jan 28, 2023

Lecture on Marine Life - IELTS Listening Sample Answer is a monologue by the speaker in the IELTS listening section. This IELTS listening audio provides information about marine life. This topic comprises a total of 10 questions. This section in IELTS requires candidates to solve several types of questions within a time frame of 40 minutes. Lecture on Marine Life IELTS Listening Answers of IELTS listening section, candidates are required to answer the following types of questions: choose the correct letter, choose your answer and complete the notes.

To solve these types of questions, candidates must listen to the audio carefully and understand the perspectives and scenarios. There is a necessity for candidates to mark the major keywords and answer these questions. Candidates can undertake IELTS listening practice tests to gain accuracy and proficiency.

Check: Get 10 Free Sample Papers
Check: Register for IELTS Coaching - Join for Free Trial Class Now

Audio Transcript:

Host: How many fish in the sea?” is a hot topic for many scientists. Today we have invited a famous scientist who spent 10 years studying marine life to give us an introduction of the latest survey called “The Census of Marine Life”. Let’s welcome Alok Jha.

Alok: Thanks Ella. The Census of Marine Life has been the biggest and most comprehensive attempt ever to answer that question - how many fish are in the world’s oceans? The Census of Marine Life, which hopes to indicate a baseline of marine life, estimates that there are more than 230,000 species in the sea. The study covers from coast to the open ocean, from the shallows to the deeps, from little things like microbes to large things such as fish and whales. Our team of over 360 scientists from all over the world have spent the past ten years surveying 25 regions, from the Antarctic through the temperate and tropical seas to the Arctic to count the different types of plants and animals. The findings indicate that crustacean such as lobsters, crabs, krill and barnacles account for a fifth of the number of species in the world’s oceans and half of the world’s marine species is mollusk (squid and octopus) and fish (including sharks). The charismatic species usually used in propagating environmental protection for example whales, sea lions, turtles and sea birds account for less than 2% of the species in the world’s oceans. The study has also focused on major fields of concern for conservationists. In every region, they got the same experience of a major collapse of what we were usually very abundant fish stocks or crabs or crustaceans that are now only 5-10% of what they used to be. The main reasons include overfishing, degraded habitats and pollution. But more problems are presented: rising water temperatures and acidification brought by climate change and the growth in areas of the ocean that are low in oxygen and, therefore unable to support marine life. The Census of Marine Life shows that enclosed seas such as the Mediterranean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, China’s shells, Baltic, and the Caribbean have the most threatened biodiversity. The pollutions in enclosed seas are mainly from chemicals or garbage that people throw into it. Dense coastal populations of humans also tend to be packed along enclosed seas, meaning rising contaminations and extraction of more biodiversity from the water.

The Mediterranean Sea, which contains around 17,000 identified species, has been a region with high threat. Scientists in our team studying the Mediterranean identified problems related to increased litter from shipping and munitions across the sea as well as bombs discharged during the Kosovo war. The Mediterranean also has to face problems with invasive species displacing the creatures that already live there. The Census of Marine Life shows that the Mediterranean Sea has the most alien species — more than 600 among all the 25 regions that have been surveyed. It looks like that the region with coral reefs has always had a very high rate of speciation. It also has a very diverse range of habitats from the deepest regions of the oceans to large regions of shallow seas, which can afford coral reefs.

The most diverse regions I did find by The Census of Marine Life are around Australian and Japanese waters which contain more than 30,000 species each and are among the most biologically diverse in the world. Next in line are the oceans of China, the Mediterranean sea and the gulf of Mexico. Besides algae and the sea birds and mammals that travel around the sea viperfish has been regarded as the most “cosmopolitan” marine creature by The Census of Marine Life. Its presence was recorded in around a quarter of the world’s seas.

And for every marine species of all kinds known to science, scientists of The Census of Marine Life estimate that at least four have yet to be discovered. For example, about 70% of species of fish have been discovered but for most other groups likely less than one-third are known. Our research team has found the number of marine fish species was about 6,764, and was growing at around 100 a year. So scientists estimate that there are almost 22,000 fish species in the world’s oceans. The most fruitful potential areas for discovery include the tropics, deep seas and southern hemisphere. Although most ocean organisms still remain nameless and their numbers unknown at the end of The Census of Marine Life, we still gained an important and exciting start.

Section 4

Question 31-40

Question 31

Choose the correct letter, A, B, or C , and write answers next to 31 on your answer sheet.

How many species in oceans are there according to the latest search?

23,000
230,000
2,300,000

Answer: B
Explanation:There are 2,30, 000 species in the sea, according to reports on marine life. The Census of Marine Life, which aims to provide a baseline for marine life, reports that the water is home to more than 230,000 different species.

Questions 32-34

Choose your answer and write the letters A-E next to questions 32-34 on your answer sheet.

Crustacean
Music and fish
Species for environmental protection

Question 32:

Answer: C
Explanation: It is stated that 20% of all organisms are crustaceans, which include lobsters, crabs, krill, and barnacles. Hence, the right answer is option C.

Question 33:

Answer: D
Explanation:According to the monologue, mollusks like squid and octopuses, as well as fish that include sharks, make up half of the marine species. Hence, the right answer is option D.

Question 34:

Answer: A
Explanation: Less than 2% of the overall number are "charismatic species" including whales, sea lions, turtles, and seabirds, claims monologue. Therefore, the right answer is option A.

Questions 35 and 36

Complete the notes below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

The main threats to marine life are:

overfishing

35__________________

pollution

Contaminations in enclosed sea:

chemicals

36_________________

pollution from dense coastal population

Question 35:

Answer: degraded habitats
Explanation: It goes without saying that overfishing and deteriorating habitats are the biggest risks to marine life. According to the claim, overfishing, damaged habitats, and pollution are the main causes. Climate change is causing ocean acidification, rising ocean temperatures, and the expansion of oxygen-poor ocean regions that cannot support marine life.

Question 36:

Answer: garbage
Explanation: It is said that confined oceans contain the most endangered biodiversity, according to the Census of Marine Life. Including the Caribbean, the Baltic, the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Mexico, and China's shells. The main sources of pollution in confined waters are chemicals and human waste.

Questions 37-40

Complete the notes below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

“The Census of Marine Life” indicates:

There are over 37______________ invasive species in the Mediterranean Sea.

Answer: 600’
Explanation: According to the Census of Marine Life, out of the 25 locations examined, the Mediterranean Sea has more than 600 foreign species. As a result, the Mediterranean Sea has the greatest number of foreign species (600) in the entire planet.

The area with 38________________ has a high rate of speciation.

Answer: coral reefs
Explanation:It is said that there has always been a very high rate of speciation in the area with coral reefs. It is obvious that there is a high rate of speciation in the region where coral reefs are found.

The two countries, 39______________, have the most marine species in the world.

Answer: Australia and Japan
Explanation: The Census of Marine Life reports that the areas closest to Australian and Japanese oceans are the most diversified. They are perhaps some of the most biologically varied places on earth, with each having more than 30,000 different species. In summary, there are over 30,000 species in the regions surrounding Japan and Australia.

There will be around 40_____________ fish species in the world according to the survey.

Answer: 22, 000
Explanation: The world's oceans are said to contain around 22,000 different species of fish, according to biologists. The tropics, deep seas, and the southern hemisphere are among the most promising prospective discovery locations.

Read More IELTS Listening Related Articles