Whale
mimicking human speech
Scientists
have been stunned to discover an amazing recording of a whale mimicking a human
voice.
The
beluga whale, named NOC died in 2007 but had spent 30 years amongst humans at
the National Marine Mammal Foundation based in San Diego in California.
Dr
Sam Ridgeway, the main author of the study in the journal Current Biology, said
that in 1984 they started hearing sounds near the whale enclosure that recalled
two people speaking in the distance, too far away to be understood.
When
a diver surfaced from the whale enclosure to ask his puzzled colleagues ‘Who
told me to get out?’, the team concluded the word ‘out’ which was repeated
several times, had come from NOC.
Dr
Ridgway reckons NOC would have heard human speech from speakers above the
water, and divers communicating below the water.
The
team realised they had a rare case of whale mimicry on their hands and were
able to record NOC, then nine-years old.
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