‘We have really cool sharks’: three-year project to lift lid on Britain’s little-understood species
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EN: The sentence uses the present perfect passive voice ('has been' + past participle 'launched'). This structure indicates an action that was completed recently by an unspecified agent, focusing on the result and its relevance to the present.
A new library has been opened in our neighborhood.
EN: The infinitive of purpose ('to study...') expresses the aim or intention of the main action ('has been launched'). It answers the question 'Why was the project launched?'.
She traveled abroad to study marine biology.
EN: In marine biology and conservation, 'vulnerable' is a specific category on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, indicating a high risk of endangerment in the wild. Additionally, the plural noun 'waters' typically refers to the sea or ocean area belonging to or bordering a specific country.
EN: The present perfect tense ('has received') is formed by 'have/has + past participle'. In news contexts, it is commonly used to announce recent events or achievements that have relevance to the present.
The research team has secured a major grant to develop new clean energy technologies.
EN: Compound adjectives with hyphens: When a number and a singular noun combine with a hyphen (e.g., 'three-year'), they function together as an adjective modifying a noun ('investigation'). The noun inside the hyphenated modifier remains singular.
She enrolled in a four-week intensive training course.
EN: Natural England is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the UK Government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It is responsible for protecting England's natural environment and biodiversity.
EN: The modal auxiliary 'will' is combined with the base verb 'work' to express future plans or intentions. 'Work together with [someone]' is a common phrasal construction meaning to collaborate with someone.
Our team will work together with international researchers to complete the survey.
EN: The infinitive phrase 'to learn more about...' functions as an adverbial infinitive of purpose, indicating why the scientists will work together.
She attended the lecture to learn more about environmental conservation.
EN: In the UK, recreational anglers often play a vital role in citizen science initiatives. The Angling Trust represents game, coarse, and sea anglers in England, regularly partnering with marine research institutions to collect ecological data.
EN: The conjunction 'that' introduces a noun clause (that-clause) functioning as the direct object of the verb 'realize'. It connects the main clause with the fact being realized or overlooked.
Scientists discovered that some whales can live for more than a century.
EN: The phrase 'more than' acts as a comparative quantifier meaning 'greater in number or amount than'. It modifies numerals or quantities such as 'forty different shark species'.
There are more than fifty varieties of birds in this park.
EN: The term 'waters' in the plural often refers to the territorial seas or maritime zones belonging to a specific nation or geographical area (e.g., 'British waters', 'international waters'). People generally associate sharks with tropical seas, so the presence of over 40 species in British waters is surprising to the general public.
EN: The pattern 'range from A to B' is used to express the limits, diversity, or variety within a specific group or spectrum. Here, 'A' and 'B' are noun phrases indicating the extremes or different examples within the range.
Prices range from five dollars to fifty dollars.
EN: Multiple adjectives can precede a noun to provide detailed descriptions. In 'large migratory blue sharks', 'large' (size) precedes 'migratory' (characteristic/behavior), which precedes 'blue' (color/species name), following natural adjective ordering before the head noun.
We spotted a rare migratory gray whale off the coast.
EN: The 'basking shark' (Cetorhinus maximus) is the second-largest living shark after the whale shark, reaching lengths of over 10 meters. Despite their formidable size, they are harmless filter feeders commonly observed around the British coastline in spring and summer.
EN: The adverb 'surprisingly' is used to modify the quantifier/determiner 'little', forming an adverbial modifier that emphasizes that the small amount or degree is unexpected. 'Little' here functions as a pronoun meaning 'not much'.
We have surprisingly little time left before the exam starts.
EN: The prepositional phrase 'about most of these animals' functions as an adverbial complement to 'know'. 'Most of' is followed by a definite determiner ('these') plus a plural noun, meaning 'the majority of'.
Most of these books were written in the nineteenth century.
EN: The verb 'aim' is commonly followed by a to-infinitive ('aim to do something') to express purpose, goal, or intention.
The government aims to reduce carbon emissions by thirty percent.
EN: Prepositional phrases often act as post-modifiers to nouns. Here, 'of marine biodiversity' describes what kind of 'understanding' is meant, and 'around Britain's coastline' describes the location of the biodiversity.
We need to protect the natural habitats of endangered animals in this forest.
EN: British coastal waters are home to rich but often under-researched marine ecosystems, including more than 40 species of sharks. Public awareness and conservation projects often focus on protecting these cold-water habitats around the British Isles.
EN: An appositive is a noun or noun phrase placed next to another noun to explain or identify it. Non-restrictive appositives are set off by commas and provide extra information without changing the core meaning of the sentence.
Mr. Davis, our science teacher, organized the school trip.
EN: The prefix 'co-' means 'together' or 'jointly'. Attached to verbs or nouns (such as 'co-lead', 'co-author', 'co-founder'), it indicates shared responsibility or action between two or more people.
Two senior researchers will co-lead the investigation next year.
EN: In academic and news contexts, researchers with a PhD or an MD are commonly addressed with the title 'Doctor' (Dr.) to signify their professional credentials. Additionally, academic ranks such as 'associate professor' reflect seniority and are standard designations within university faculties globally.
EN: The transitive verb 'express' takes a direct object ('her enthusiasm') followed by a prepositional phrase introduced by 'about' to indicate the subject or topic of that feeling or thought.
He expressed his concern about the new policy.
EN: The use of the simple past tense ('expressed') indicates a completed action in the past, standard in news reporting for actions and statements that occurred during an event or interview.
The director praised the team for their hard work.
EN: In academic and formal news reporting, phrases like 'expressed enthusiasm' or 'welcomed the initiative' are standard journalistic conventions used to summarize an expert's positive attitude without relying excessively on direct quotes.
EN: Non-defining relative clause: 'which looks like...' uses 'which' preceded by a comma to give extra descriptive information about 'the porbeagle'. It does not define or restrict the noun.
He admires the blue shark, which travels vast distances across the ocean.
EN: Dummy 'it' structure: 'It is amazing that...' uses 'it' as a preparatory subject to introduce an extraposed noun clause ('that we share the water...'), placing the heavy content at the end.
It is fortunate that divers can observe these gentle creatures safely.
EN: In the UK, public perception often associates sharks exclusively with tropical regions or dangerous attacks (often fueled by media depictions of great white sharks). Dr. Hawkes deliberately humanizes and demystifies British sharks by playfully comparing the porbeagle (Lamna nasus) to a 'baby great white shark,' promoting ocean coexistence rather than fear.
EN: The conjunction 'even though' introduces an adverbial clause of concession, meaning 'despite the fact that'. It is used to contrast a surprising or unexpected reality with another fact.
He decided to go swimming, even though the water was freezing.
EN: The phrase 'be dangerous to' indicates that something poses a threat or risk to a specific person or thing. Here, 'humans' is the prepositional complement specifying who is at risk.
These chemicals are dangerous to small children.
EN: Porbeagle sharks resemble smaller versions of great white sharks, which often causes alarm among beachgoers and surfers in coastal areas of the UK. Marine scientists frequently communicate with the public to dispel fears, as porbeagles feed primarily on small fish and pose virtually no threat to humans.
EN: The infinitive of purpose ('to gather...') is used here to explain why the subject performs the action ('will use several methods'). It answers the question 'why?' or 'for what purpose?'.
Scientists set up cameras in the forest to observe nocturnal animals.
EN: The modal auxiliary 'will' expresses future intention or plans, followed by the base form of the main verb ('use').
The committee will announce the competition results tomorrow.
EN: The verb 'plan' is commonly followed by an infinitive ('to + verb') to express future intentions or goals.
We plan to visit the marine biology museum next weekend.
EN: The past participle 'reported' functions as a reduced relative clause (short for 'which were reported'), modifying the noun 'sightings'.
The data collected by local volunteers was very helpful.
EN: In Britain, 'angling' specifically refers to recreational rod-and-line fishing, distinguished from commercial net fishing. Citizen science projects frequently rely on recreational anglers to contribute valuable ecological observation data.
EN: Non-defining relative clauses are set off by commas and provide extra, non-essential information about a noun. They must use 'which' (never 'that') when referring to things.
The town library, which was built in 1920, will undergo major renovations next month.
EN: The phrasal verb 'go back to' combined with a present participle (-ing) acts as a reduced relative clause (which goes back to...) functioning as an adjective to express origin in past time.
We found old letters going back to the eighteenth century.
EN: In the UK, recreational sea angling records—such as the Pat Smith Database—represent valuable citizen-science assets. Because formal marine biological surveys began much later, historical recreational catch logs from the mid-20th century offer modern researchers irreplaceable baseline data on past fish populations.
EN: The conjunction 'while' can be followed directly by a present participle (-ing form) when the subject of both clauses is the same, effectively shortening an adverbial time clause (e.g., 'while fishing' instead of 'while they are fishing').
Please wear protective gloves while handling these chemicals.
EN: The subordinate conjunction 'Because' introduces an adverbial clause of cause and effect. When placed at the beginning of the sentence, a comma separates it from the main clause.
Because the weather was severe, the ferry service was temporarily suspended.
EN: In the UK, recreational sea angling is a popular pastime with a strong community that frequently participates in 'citizen science' initiatives. Anglers collaborate with scientific organizations by reporting catches and tagging fish to aid wildlife monitoring.
EN: The verb 'hope' is followed by a to-infinitive ('to discover'), which here takes an embedded interrogative clause (wh-clause) introduced by 'where and when' as its direct object.
Researchers want to know how and why the birds migrate each winter.
EN: Parallel structure with present participles: When listing multiple ongoing actions connected by conjunctions, the forms should match grammatically ('feeding, mating, and migrating').
The students spent the afternoon reading, discussing, and writing essays.
EN: The sentence uses an embedded question (noun clause) acting as the direct object of the verb 'monitor': 'how shark populations have been changing...'. In English, indirect questions follow normal statement word order (Subject + Verb), not question inversion.
Researchers want to determine how climate factors affect animal migration.
EN: The phrase 'in terms of' is an idiomatic prepositional expression meaning 'with regard to' or 'concerning'. It is used to specify the particular aspect or criterion being discussed.
The project was successful in terms of both speed and quality.
EN: The passive structure 'be expected to + verb' is frequently used in news and formal writing to express anticipation, projection, or likelihood based on current knowledge.
The new policy is expected to create thousands of jobs next year.
EN: The verb 'help' can be followed by a bare infinitive (help do something) or a full infinitive (help to do something). Here, 'help protect' and the coordinated '(help) support' are joined by 'and' to share the subject and auxiliary structure.
Regular exercise can help reduce stress and improve sleep quality.
EN: The term 'British coastline' highlights the United Kingdom's extensive island geography. Despite being known for cold and often turbid waters, Britain's surrounding seas host a surprisingly rich variety of marine megafauna, including several species of sharks that migrate through or inhabit regional waters.
Key vocabulary words with IPA pronunciation, definitions, example sentences, and interactive quizzes.
Phrases with type tags, bilingual definitions, usage notes, and example sentences.
to include a variety of different things between two extremes
the variety of plant and animal life living in the sea
with regard to the particular aspect or subject being discussed
to have existed since a particular time in the past