海边来了一条大死鱼

Recently in Australia, there's a news story.

The news says: a very big fish has arrived at the beach.

This fish is eight meters long.

It also weighs twenty-five tons.

Twenty-five tons is about as heavy as thirty cars.

Very heavy.

This big fish is called a whale.

A whale is the biggest animal in the ocean.

Actually it's not a fish — it's a mammal.

But it has always lived in the sea.

So everyone calls it a big fish.

This whale is called a "sperm whale."

A sperm whale is one of the biggest kinds of whale.

How did this sperm whale get here?

It died in the ocean.

After it died, seawater carried it to the shore.

Now it's lying on rocks by the beach.

The name of this beach is Era Beach.

Era Beach is south of Sydney.

Sydney is a big city in Australia.

Near Era Beach there's a park.

This park is called "Royal National Park."

Normally, lots of people love going there.

Some go swimming, some go for walks, some go to look at the sea.

But right now, it's closed.

Not just one beach is closed.

All four beaches are closed.

The four beaches are called:

Era, Garie, Wattamolla, and Burning Palms.

They all sound nice.

But right now, none of them can be visited.

Why are they all closed?

Because of the dead whale.

The dead whale has caused two problems.

The first problem: sharks have come.

Sharks are a kind of fish in the sea.

Sharks have a lot of teeth.

Sharks are very hungry.

The dead whale has a lot of meat.

So when sharks smell it, they all come.

The sharks swim over and eat this whale.

Quite a few sharks have come.

There are great white sharks.

There are also bull sharks.

All big sharks.

People can't go in the water.

Going in the water would be dangerous.

Sharks bite people.

So everyone says: don't go in the water.

Don't swim.

Don't surf.

Just stand on the shore and watch.

The second problem: the whale will stink.

Dead animals stink.

The whale is huge, so it stinks especially badly.

Inside it, there will also be a lot of gas.

What kind of gas?

You can't see it, but you can smell it.

There's more and more gas.

The whale's belly gets bigger and bigger.

One day, it might "pop" open.

Like one really, really big balloon.

Just imagine — that scene is a bit scary.

So people also can't walk too close.

Not only can't go in the water, but also have to stay back on shore.

What can be done?

Park staff are figuring out a plan.

They want to haul the whale away.

But this whale is too big and too heavy.

Vehicles can't get there.

That rocky spot is hard to walk through.

Staff say: it might take a few days.

Their plan is to first push the whale back into the sea.

Let the seawater carry it away.

Then move it somewhere else.

That place specializes in handling things like this.

The man working on it is named Neilly.

He has worked at the park for many years.

He says: this kind of thing looks scary.

But really, it's a natural event.

The whale dies, sharks eat.

After sharks finish, the whale goes back into nature.

He says, this is just how nature works.

It sounds interesting.

There's another man working on it named Pearce.

He's in charge of beach safety.

He says: these next few days, everyone, don't go in the water.

Listen to the park.

Why can't people go in the water?

Because big sharks really are out there.

Someone saw them, said the sharks are huge.

Right now, every day people go to look.

Not to swim — to look at the whale.

Some people find it interesting.

Some people find it sad.

But everyone stands far away.

No one dares to go too close.

No one dares to go in the water.

Back to today.

Today, the whale is still there.

The four beaches are still closed.

The sharks are still in the water.

The gas is still inside the whale's belly.

Everyone is waiting.

Waiting for the whale to be moved.

Waiting for the sea to get clean again.

Waiting for the beaches to open again.

So what does this news tell us?

First, the world by the sea is huge.

There are things in it we don't see.

Second, a dead whale isn't just dead.

It also has a story.

And there are still problems to solve.

Third, when we see something like this,

we should listen to the staff.

Don't, out of curiosity,

walk too close, go in the water, or take photos up close.

That's bad for yourself.

Bad for the whale too.

Bad for the sharks too.

The best thing to do is: stand back, take a look, and walk away.

That's the news story.

One big whale.

Four beaches.

Many sharks.

And a problem that has been waiting a long time.