Like many creatures, humpback whales migrate long distances for feeding and mating purposes. How animals manage to migrate long distances is often puzzling. In the case of humpback whales, we may have found the answer: they may be navigating by the stars,

Essay topics:

Like many creatures, humpback whales migrate long distances for feeding and mating purposes. How animals manage to migrate long distances is often puzzling. In the case of humpback whales, we may have found the answer: they may be navigating by the stars, much as early human sailors did. What we know about humpback whales makes this a distinct possibility.

First, humpback whales seem to be intelligent enough to use stars to navigate by. Whales’ brains have a high degree of complexity’a common determiner of intelligence. This suggests that the whales’ brain power far exceeds that of most other animals. The whales’ well-developed cognitive ability seems to provide a sound basis for the ability to use a complex, abstract system of sensory stimuli such as the night sky for orientation.

Second, humpback whales migrate in straight lines. Animals can maintain movement in a straight direction for long distances only if they orient themselves by some external objects or forces. Many birds and other terrestrial creatures, for example, use physical landmarks to help them stay on track as they migrate. Whales, which swim in the open ocean, cannot rely on land features; they could, however, rely on starts at night to provide them with external signs by which to maintain direction over long distances.

Third, humpback whales exhibit an unusual behavior: they are sometimes observed floating straight up for minutes at a time, their heads above the water as though they were looking upward. The behavior is known as spy-hopping, and it is very rare among marine animals. One explanation for the function of spy-hopping is that the whales are looking at the stars, which are providing them with information to navigate by.

Based on the given materials, the article as well as the lecture discusses humpback whales ability to migrate for long distances. The author states that they use stars to navigate for migration and orientation. The lecturer provides several ideas to repudiate this claim.

Initially, it is alleged in the reading that these whales have a complex brain which is an indicator of their inteligence and as a result they have a cognetive ability to use the stars as a guide. However, the lecturer asserts that there is no evident connection between inteligence and brain complexity. He alludes to the fact that ducks use night sky to navigate for migratoin but have an average brain. So this is only an instinct abilty rather than a cognetive one and having a complicated brain does not particularly suggests the use of sky for navigation.

Second, the writer proclaims that whales swim in straight lines and to do so they need to orient themselves base on external objects but land objects are not a reliable source as they move so they use the night sky. Yet again, the lecturer underscores that animals can maintain in a straight line using external forces such as earth magnetic field. Whale have a bio-magnetite in their brains which makes them sensitive to earths magnetic field so they are capable of swimming in a line using this feature.

The last point of contention between the reading and the listening passages is their spy-hopping, an unsual behavior during which whales swim straight upward. The author mentions that they do this to look at the sky and navigate. On the other hand, the lecturer points out that whales are not the only animals that do spy-hopping. Sharks exhisbits such a behavior but they do not migrate. Also Whales demonstarte this behavior during the day too when there is no star in the sky. This makes the authors claim a matter of speculation.

Votes
Average: 7.6 (1 vote)
Essay Categories

Comments

Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 5, column 523, Rule ID: DID_BASEFORM[3]
Message: The verb 'does' requires base form of the verb: 'suggest'
Suggestion: suggest
...complicated brain does not particularly suggests the use of sky for navigation. Sec...
^^^^^^^^
Line 13, column 390, Rule ID: SENT_START_CONJUNCTIVE_LINKING_ADVERB_COMMA[1]
Message: Did you forget a comma after a conjunctive/linking adverb?
Suggestion: Also,
...uch a behavior but they do not migrate. Also Whales demonstarte this behavior during...
^^^^

Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, but, however, look, second, so, well, as to, such as, as a result, as well as, on the other hand

Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments

Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 9.0 10.4613686534 86% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 2.0 5.04856512141 40% => OK
Conjunction : 11.0 7.30242825607 151% => OK
Relative clauses : 13.0 12.0772626932 108% => OK
Pronoun: 31.0 22.412803532 138% => Less pronouns wanted
Preposition: 30.0 30.3222958057 99% => OK
Nominalization: 8.0 5.01324503311 160% => OK

Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1571.0 1373.03311258 114% => OK
No of words: 321.0 270.72406181 119% => OK
Chars per words: 4.89408099688 5.08290768461 96% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.23278547379 4.04702891845 105% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.63547351257 2.5805825403 102% => OK
Unique words: 162.0 145.348785872 111% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.504672897196 0.540411800872 93% => More unique words wanted or less content wanted.
syllable_count: 492.3 419.366225166 117% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.5 1.55342163355 97% => OK

A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 3.0 3.25607064018 92% => OK
Article: 10.0 8.23620309051 121% => OK
Subordination: 0.0 1.25165562914 0% => More adverbial clause wanted.
Conjunction: 1.0 1.51434878587 66% => OK
Preposition: 1.0 2.5761589404 39% => More preposition wanted as sentence beginning.

Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 16.0 13.0662251656 122% => OK
Sentence length: 20.0 21.2450331126 94% => OK
Sentence length SD: 47.9438147731 49.2860985944 97% => OK
Chars per sentence: 98.1875 110.228320801 89% => OK
Words per sentence: 20.0625 21.698381199 92% => OK
Discourse Markers: 6.375 7.06452816374 90% => OK
Paragraphs: 4.0 4.09492273731 98% => OK
Language errors: 2.0 4.19205298013 48% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 8.0 4.33554083885 185% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 2.0 4.45695364238 45% => More negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 6.0 4.27373068433 140% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?

Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.135025480947 0.272083759551 50% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0499165183421 0.0996497079465 50% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0527166935921 0.0662205650399 80% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.0971281352807 0.162205337803 60% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0624379245496 0.0443174109184 141% => OK

Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 11.6 13.3589403974 87% => Automated_readability_index is low.
flesch_reading_ease: 59.64 53.8541721854 111% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 5.55761589404 56% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 9.9 11.0289183223 90% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 11.08 12.2367328918 91% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.47 8.42419426049 101% => OK
difficult_words: 78.0 63.6247240618 123% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 8.5 10.7273730684 79% => OK
gunning_fog: 10.0 10.498013245 95% => OK
text_standard: 10.0 11.2008830022 89% => OK
What are above readability scores?

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Rates: 76.6666666667 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 23.0 Out of 30
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.