We sometimes think that humans are the only creatures on the planet to have a way of communicating with each other vocally. As has been demonstrated time and time again, there are many other animals able to do so as well.
Perhaps you are familiar with some of the studies involving dolphins and their abilities to communicate through whistling, chirping, and making other noises. That is amazing, but some of their close cousins, killer whales, are capable of perhaps even more.
It’s amazing to think that a killer whale could swim up to 40 miles a day. They have the largest marine mammal brains in existence and the water-based creature can even hunt on land.
Something that you may not know about orcas, however, is the fact that they can mimic some human words. They have been taught to say words, such as ‘hello’ and ‘bye-bye’.
They were able to record the phenomena and you get to hear it for yourself. I just want to let you know that it is a little creepy sounding.
The recording came from a 2018 study that was published in the Journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Experts from various countries documented how orcas could mimic the language of humans.
A professor in evolutionary origins of mind, Joseph Call, is a co-author of the study. He said the researchers were trying to see how flexible a killer whale could be when it comes to copying noises they aren’t accustomed to.
He said: “We thought what would be really convincing is to present them with something that is not in their repertoire – and in this case ‘hello’ [is] not what a killer whale would say.”
Wikie is a 14-year-old orca that was the first to be trained. The killer whale was prepared and then exposed to five orca sounds she had not heard before.
When Wiki heard a human make three orca sounds then six human sounds, including the words ‘hello’, ‘Amy’, ‘ah ha’, ‘one, two’ and ‘bye bye’, she was able to copy those sounds. She even got two of the human sounds on her first attempt!
Orcas may not be ready for a casual conversation, but it still is interesting that we continue to learn more about these beautiful creatures constantly.