Whales are definitely more like humans than we might think. They have quite an advanced culture, they have quite an advanced communication methodology and we can learn a lot about humans by looking at that culture.

Whales have their own dialects, and they build communities which are centred around where they’re from. So, for whales, community and understanding that –  and being connected to the community with which they were born and live their entire lives together –  is so important. For us, being able to know your identity and hold it, is so important as well.

Whales will pass down information from generation to generation through whale song. And similarly, we as humans, will share information through our stories: often folk tales and nursery rhymes and fairy stories.

The males express themselves through sound, but the females have a form of physical expression, … … through slapping their tails on the surface of the ocean. It’s just another way for them to communicate, but physically.

So, we know that one group of humpback whales, they’ll be singing their song that they all prefer, their number one hit if you like, …… and it will change very slightly over time, as they sing it to each other, as the males sing during the breeding season, but just very small changes.

Now, there might be another group, say the other side of Australia, … … and that group’s singing an entirely different song that’s number one in their pop charts, if you like. And what happens is, occasionally, one or two of the whales from the other side of Australia will be heard by the first bunch of whales and something extraordinary occurs: … that song that was number one for that first group of whales, it changes very quickly and becomes exactly the same, practically,…… as the song that was the number one hit for the other bunch of whales on the other side of Australia. This is a revolutionary song change. You can think of it almost as a total remix done by one bunch of whales on the other.

During the summer months, they actually stay in the colder waters, and they feed – that’s their feeding ground. But then during the winter, they kind of go on holiday to these warmer tropical waters and that’s their breeding ground, …… that’s the breeding season for humpback whales – sort of like a holiday.

With all of the seriousness of what we can learn from these animals, it’s so important to remember that, …… actually, the pure joy of life is this wonderful added dimension that we can’t forget. It’s so important to have fun.
***

• Advanced (adjective): highly developed and more complex than others of the same type.
• A culture (noun): a way of life; the learned behaviours, habits, and ways of doing things.
• A methodology (noun): a system of how to do something.
• A dialect (noun): a form of a language that is used in a particular area, including different words and pronunciation.
• A community (noun): a group of animals or plants that live together.
• To centre around something (phrasal verb): to focus on, have something as the main subject.
• Connected (adjective): related to, or feeling similar to something else.
• Entire (adjective): whole or complete.
• Identity (noun): who or what something thing is, or the feeling of knowing yourself.
• To hold something (verb): to have and keep something.
• To pass down something (phrasal verb): to teach or give something to someone who will be alive after you.
• Generation to generation (phrase): passing information to younger members of a family, group, or society.
• Whale song (noun): the sounds through which whales communicate.
• A nursery rhyme (noun): a short and often old song or poem for young children.
• A fairy story/ tale (noun): a traditional children’s story that usually involves imaginary creatures and magic.
• To express yourself (verb): to communicate what you think or feel by speaking, writing, or in another way.
• To slap something (verb): a quick hit with a flat object on a surface.
• A surface (noun): the top part of something, the outer layer.
• A number one hit (phrase): something that is the most popular or successful.
• Breeding (noun): the process in which animals reproduce and have offspring or babies.
• A season (noun): the time of the year when an annual event happens.
• To say (verb): used to give an example of something.
• Entirely (adverb): completely.
• A pop/ singles chart (noun): a list of the most popular or best-selling pop music at a certain time.
• A bunch (noun): a group.
• Extraordinary (adjective): something unusual, special, or unexpected.
• To occur (verb): to happen.
• Practically (adverb): almost or very nearly.
• Revolutionary (adjective): completely new and having a great effect.
• A remix (noun): a piece of music that has been changed in some way to make a new recording.
• A feeding ground (noun): an area where animals feed.
• A breeding ground (noun): a place or area where animals breed and produce their babies.
• Seriousness (noun): the quality of being important and needing careful attention.
• Pure (adjective): complete, total.
• Joy (noun): great happiness.
• Added (adjective): extra.
• A dimension (noun): a part or feature of something.

In this text, there are several examples of will to talk about typical behaviour. Will can be used in various ways, to: express beliefs about the present or future; make promises, offers and requests; and to talk about what people are willing to do (and their typical behaviour).

Expressing beliefs

We use will to express beliefs about the present or future:

‘Emma will be at the library right now.’ (present)   ‘They’ll win the match if they score now.’  (future)

We use would as the past of will to describe past beliefs about the future:

‘I assumed the meeting would finish early, so we would have time for lunch.’

Promises, offers, and requests

We use I will… or we will… to make promises and offers:

‘I’ll call you as soon as I arrive.’   ‘We’ll help you set up the decorations.’

We use will you …? or would you …? to make requests:

‘Will you turn down the music?’   ‘Would you mind opening the window?’

Willingness

We use will:

To talk about willingness (what people want or are willing to do):

‘I’ll see you very soon.’   ‘Maybe Jake will explain the homework to me.’

To describe typical behaviour, things we often do (because we are willing to do them):

‘Every weekend, we visit our grandparents. We’ll have lunch together and then we’ll go for a walk in the park.’

‘I often hang out with friends at the weekend. We will get a coffee, and we’ll just chat for hours.’

Examples in the text:

• Whales will pass down information from generation to generation: will is used here to talk about typical behaviour, explaining how whales give information to younger generations because they want to and are ‘willing’ to do it.
• … we as humans, will share information through our stories: will is used here to talk about typical behaviour, explaining how humans tells stories to pass on information because we want to and are ‘willing’ to do it.
• … they’ll be singing their song that they all prefer: will + be + -ing is used here to talk about typical behaviour, giving a typical example of behaviour in action, using the continuous (-ing) form to emphasise what is happening at a specific moment.
• … it will change very slightly over time: will is used here to talk about typical behaviour, describing how whale songs change slowly as time passes.
• … one or two of the whales from the other side of Australia will be heard by the first bunch of whales: will is used here to talk about typical behaviour, using the passive form will + be + heard (past participle) to describe how whale song is spread to other groups of whales.

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference/will-would

https://www.englishpodcastscollected.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/BBC-Ideas-What-whales-can-teach-us-about-living-our-best-life.pdf

https://www.englishpodcastscollected.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/BBC-Ideas-What-whales-can-teach-us-about-living-our-best-life.docx