Orca Mimics Human Speech, Saying “Hello” and “Bye-Bye” in Eerie Recordings

Have you ever thought that an Orca would be able to say the words of a human being? That is exactly what Wikie, a killer whale from France, was able to learn. See more below to hear the words she said and how she was able to do it.

A Talking Killer Whale?

Orca’s nickname, the killer whale, often leads to a lot of people mistaking it for a whale. In reality, they are the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family.

They are often found in colder waters, like Antarctica, Norway, and Alaska, but they exist in all oceans, including the Pacific, the Atlantic, and the Arctic.

If you didn’t know, Orcas are being captured for a variety of purposes, such as for research, for marine park breeding, and sadly, for commercial purposes too.

That is what happened to Wikie’s parents, who both were captured in Icelandic water, which later gave birth to her in 2001. Researchers then trained her, and in a groundbreaking study, she was able to mimic human speech.

She was about 14 years old when she learned how to say the words “hello”, “bye-bye”, “Amy,” and “one, two, three”. She also learned how to howl like a wolf and make the elephant’s trumpet sounds. What is crazy about it, was she mimicked some of these sounds on her first try.

Source: Scientific American

Watch the Video:

You can watch the video and listen to the Orca Wikie here:

Say Hello: Killer Whale Learns To Mimic Human Speech

How Did Scientists Teach an Orca to Speak?

In the study published by the Royal Society, the process to teach Wikie how to speak was simple. They just showed her what to do and made her listen to the different sounds.

From recordings of human speech to sounds made by other animals, they prompted her to mimic them. She then produced the sounds using her blowhole, some in her first try, showcasing the ability of Orcas to learn vocal skills.

Source: The Royal Society

What Does This Mean for Orca Communication?

What this means is pretty straightforward: Orcas are one of the smartest living creatures, and they are capable of learning vocal patterns that most animals can’t.

They have complex vocalizations and sometimes their own dialect in their pods. A pod is a group of orcas travelling and hunting together. This also means that language is learned through socialization and that different organisms adapt to their environment to mimic sounds, including human speech.

Source: NPR

Ethical Considerations

While the study is fascinating and showcases something we have never heard before, it also raises a lot of ethical concerns. Such as the Orcas being an intelligent creature, and making animal advocates and public people alike question if we really should keep them in captivity, even for research purposes.

Source: Wikipedia

Snippet: Listen to an orca imitate a person

Author's Final Thoughts

Wikie’s ability to mimic human sounds highlights that, should the other creatures on this planet need to learn and adapt how to speak because of their environment that some of them would be able to, just like the Orcas.

This discovery opens new avenues for understanding marine mammal communication and intelligence, while also continuing the discussions about the ethics of capturing animals for research and especially commercial purposes.

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