BBC Learnings · Section 6

Can jellyfish help us solve our problems

Of all the weird and wonderful creatures living under the sea, perhaps the strangest are jellyfish those rubbery,

Level: C1 · 105 sentences

Transcript

1. Of all the weird and wonderful creatures living under the sea,
2. perhaps the strangest are jellyfish those rubbery,
3. cone-shaped creatures found floating in the water,
4. their long tentacles trailing behind.
5. Some jellyfish species have a bad reputation for scaring away tourists,
6. clogging up fishing nets and even blocking power station pipes.
7. But with more and more plastic rubbish ending up in the sea,
8. these days you're as likely to swim into a plastic bag
9. as a jellyfish.
10. Now scientific research is discovering that these rubbery sea
11. creatures might provide an answer a sticky solution to the problem of plastic pollution.
12. In this programme,
13. we'll be learning how jellyfish mucus could provide the answer to plastic waste in the seas.
14. and of course we'll be learning some related vocabulary along the way.
15. But first, it's time for my quiz question.
16. Georgina, you mentioned jellyfish scaring away beachgoers with their sting,
17. but what is the best way to treat jellyfish stings?
18. Is it... a with ice, b with salt, or c with vinegar?
19. Well, Neil, I have been stung by jellyfish before
20. and I think the best way to treat them is...
21. sea with vinegar.
22. OK, Georgina, we'll find out later if that's right.
23. Now, as I mentioned, in recent years,
24. tiny pieces of plastic, called microplastic,
25. have been a significant problem for the world's seas and oceans.
26. They've been found all over the world in Arctic ice,
27. at the bottom of the sea and even inside animals, including humans.
28. Slovenian scientist Dr Anna Rotter heads GoJelly,
29. a European research team of jellyfish ecologists looking into the problem.
30. Here she is speaking to BBC World Service programme,
31. People Fixing the World.
32. Microplastics, plastics in general, are being an increasing problem.
33. They're everywhere. When I was a little girl,
34. we were more environmentally friendly,
35. not knowing, so we never used plastic bags to go shopping.
36. We always went with cloth bags.
37. We never used plastic to put our vegetables in it.
38. Single-use spoons or forks and knives.
39. This is for me...
40. something unheard of when I was a little girl.
41. Dr Rotter says when she was a child,
42. people were more environmentally friendly not harmful to the environment
43. or having the least possible impact on it.
44. At that time,
45. there were very few single-use plastics plastic items like spoons and forks,
46. designed to be used just once, then thrown away.
47. Single-use plastic bags, for example,
48. were unheard of surprising or shocking
49. because they were not previously known about or commonly used.
50. The situation since then has changed dramatically.
51. In fact, there's been such an increase in microplastics
52. that today the UN lists plastic pollution
53. as one of the world's top environmental threats.
54. But how do jellyfish fit into the story?
55. Well, it's the jelly part of jellyfish and specifically their sticky,
56. jelly-like mucus that is key.
57. Here's Dr Rotter again explaining
58. more to BBC World Service programme People Fixing the World.
59. The mucus, this is like a viscous substance that is being excreted from a jellyfish,
60. might have the, they are called the absorptive properties.
61. So it means that the particles, various particles,
62. can attach to this mucus.
63. So could we use jellyfish and their mucus
64. as a magnet for the microplastic particles?
65. Jellyfish produce a thick, sticky liquid called mucus.
66. Dr Rotter has discovered that this mucus has strong absorptive properties.
67. It can absorb, take in liquids and other substances
68. and hold them in.
69. One of the substances jellyfish mucus absorbs are the particles that make up microplastics.
70. By trapping these tiny pieces of floating plastic,
71. the mucus acts like a magnet an object that attracts certain materials, like metal.
72. or in this case, microplastic waste.
73. As rising sea temperatures and overfishing of their natural
74. predators have boosted jellyfish numbers,
75. this novel way of using their mucus couldn't have come at a better time.
76. Dr Rotter's research is still in the early stages,
77. but it's hoped that jellyfish mucus could hold the key to a future free of microplastic polluted oceans.
78. Which is a big prize for the cost of a few jellyfish stings.
79. Speaking of which, Neil, What was the correct answer
80. to your quiz question?
81. Right, I asked you the best way to treat jellyfish stings.
82. What did you say, Georgina?
83. I said it's sea with vinegar.
84. Which is the right answer.
85. Well done. Vinegar inactivates the sting's venom,
86. so remember to pack a bottle of vinegar the next time you head to the beach.
87. In this programme,
88. we've been hearing how scientists are using jellyfish mucus a thick,
89. sticky liquid produced in their bodies to break down
90. microplastics in the sea.
91. Our addiction to single-use plastics plastic items which are used only once,
92. then thrown away,
93. and which often get washed out to sea
94. has created a situation which is definitely not environmentally friendly.
95. That means having a minimal impact on the environment.
96. Until quite recently,
97. the problems of micropollution and single-use plastic were unheard of surprising
98. or shocking because of not having been previously known about.
99. Scientists are hoping that the mucus's absorptive qualities
100. its ability to absorb liquids and other substances
101. and hold them will allow it to trap particles
102. of plastic floating in the sea,
103. making jellyfish mucus a magnet for pollution
104. an object that attracts certain materials,
105. usually metals, but in this case microplastic waste.