I’m not sure I’ll ever look at dolphins the same way again…
Animals can do incredible things, but this discovery may be one of the creepiest yet – people are baffled after hearing a white dolphin mimic human speech.
Human speech
We often think that we can’t communicate with animals the way we do with humans, but some species can mimic human sounds in a way that leaves you speechless. Parrots are a perfect example, often picking up phrases and full sentences with surprising clarity.
But imagine the shock if you hear underwater a white dolphin making sounds that eerily resemble human speech. While dolphins have been trained to mimic human-like sounds before, no animal had ever done it spontaneously – until NOC, a nine-year-old dolphin, came along. He made strange sounds in unusually low octaves, in rapid, short bursts.
It all started when a diver from the National Marine Mammal Foundation in California resurfaced and astoundedly asked, “Who told me to get out?”
The researchers looked at each other in disbelief – something extraordinary had just happened.
White dolphins (also known as beluga whales), nicknamed the “canaries of the sea” for their high chirps, have been the subject of rumors for years about mimicking human speech. But until now, no one had captured this on tape.
Once NOC was identified as the source of the eerie sounds, the researchers immediately recorded the moment, confirming the incredible discovery.
We now move forward and a 2012 video of NOC has surfaced online. Instead of laughing, people are disturbed by the whale’s bizarre attempts to speak, many now wondering what else these ocean giants are capable of.
In the video, ABC news anchors describe the beluga as cute and friendly, but online viewers have a very different reaction.
A YouTube user joked, “pulls up the bloodthirsty, terrifying beluga whale photo that essentially says ‘I will consume your soul’.”
Another pointed out the contrast between the reporter’s cheerful commentary – “He looks friendly” – and the disturbing image. “The thumbnail literally made my SOUL jump out of its body,” one viewer said. Some laughed at the awkward moment, saying, “I laughed so hard when she said ‘he looks friendly’ just as that terrifying picture appeared.”
One person even tried to explain the behavior, “It makes sense when you consider that the beluga only mimics what it can hear.”
Orca mimics human speech
The whale likely hears human speech only when someone is nearby, underwater, with diving equipment in their mouth, distorting their words. “If you’ve ever gone swimming and tried to talk, it sounds exactly like that,” the explanation continued.
But it’s not just belugas. Earlier this year, a recording from 2018 surfaced of an orca producing the same creepy imitation of human speech. This was part of a scientific study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences, where researchers from Germany, Spain, the UK, and Chile confirmed orcas’ ability to mimic human sounds.
Josep Call, a professor at the University of St Andrews and co-author of the study, explained, “It tells us they are flexible vocal learners and that their flexibility is not just in their vocal domain but also in their motor domain.”
He added, “They can also copy body movements, which we knew before, but now we know they can also copy sounds and noises that are not in their natural repertoire.”
If you need more reasons to appreciate whales and the animal kingdom, you’ve found one now – what incredible beings swim in the ocean.
It makes it even more important to fight for them and their way of life. Feel free to share this article if you agree!
