Animals often surprise us with their capabilities, but the idea of orcas mimicking human speech was quite unexpected.
Orcas, often referred to as killer whales, are known for their dominance in the ocean and are frequently admired for their cognitive abilities. However, their ability to mimic human speech is a bit unsettling for some.
These ocean giants have been the subject of extensive research, and a study from 2018 has recently resurfaced, highlighting their vocal skills.
Remarkably, orcas can imitate human sounds, a fact that some social media users have described as ‘demonic.’
In a discussion with CBSN, Josep Call, a professor at the University of St Andrews and co-author of the study, elaborated on the findings.
He explained, “It tells us that they are flexible vocal learners and their flexibility is not only in their vocal domain but also in their motor domain. They can also copy body movements, we knew this from before, but now we know that they can also copy sounds and sounds that are not in their natural repertoire.”
The discovery was documented in a 2018 study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, involving experts from Germany, Spain, the UK, and Chile.
Call mentioned that the researchers aimed to test ‘how flexible a killer whale can be’ in reproducing unfamiliar sounds.
To conduct the study, they trained a 14-year-old orca named Wikie to replicate three familiar orca sounds made by her three-year-old calf and then exposed her to five unfamiliar orca sounds.
Wikie was also introduced to human sounds including ‘hello’, ‘Amy’, ‘ah ha’, ‘one, two’, and ‘bye bye’.
While not as seamless as a parrot’s mimicry, Wikie’s ability to reproduce these sounds remains impressive.
The research team observed that Wikie was able to rapidly mimic the sounds, accurately copying two human phrases on her first try.
Recordings of Wikie reveal her attempts to echo the human voice she heard, and while some may sound otherworldly, others are surprisingly precise.
One Twitter user remarked, “OK, that second hello was a little demonic. Was that really an orca, or the Devil speaking through a ghost box LOL.”
Another user echoed this sentiment, saying: “The hello sounded demonic.”
Yet, there were also those who were moved by the orca’s capabilities, with one user commenting: “This makes me tear up, the fact that we live in a such a beautiful world filled with wonderful creatures.”