I’m not sure I’ll ever view whales the same way again…
Animals are capable of some truly fascinating behaviors, but this discovery might be one of the creepiest yet—people are disturbed after hearing a beluga whale attempt to mimic human speech.
While most of us understand that we can’t communicate with animals in the same way we do with other humans, there are exceptions. Certain species, like parrots, can imitate human speech remarkably well, sometimes learning phrases and full sentences.
Now, imagine the shock of hearing a beluga whale underwater producing sounds that closely resemble human speech. A video from 2012 has resurfaced on social media, and instead of finding it amusing, many viewers are genuinely horrified by the sounds.
Although the news anchors in the clip described the beluga as cute and friendly, the overall online reaction has been far from reassuring.
Check out the eerie footage for yourself:
One YouTube user reacted to the strange video, saying: “pulls up the bloody terrifying beluga whale picture basically saying ‘I will consume your soul’.”
Another commenter noted, “The female reporter: ‘He looks kinda friendly’.”
One viewer admitted, “The thumbnail literally made my SOUL jump out of its body for a second.”
Someone else found humor in the contrast between the reporter’s reaction and the unsettling image, saying, “I laughed so hard when she said ‘he looks kinda friendly’ right as that terrifying picture came up.”
Another person tried to explain the phenomenon, stating, “It makes sense if you think about how the beluga is only mimicking what he can hear.”
Yeah… I really don’t want to hear this thing talk like a person.
“The only times human speech would be audible to him is likely when someone is in his enclosure, underwater, and with scuba equipment in their mouths. If you’ve ever gone swimming and tried to talk, it sounds exactly like that.”
If you thought this was an isolated incident, think again…
Earlier this year, an audio recording from 2018 resurfaced, showing an orca imitating human speech in a similarly eerie manner. This recording was part of a scientific study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences.
Researchers from Germany, Spain, the UK, and Chile collaborated on this study, confirming that orcas can mimic human language.
Discussing the significance of this discovery, Josep Call, a professor in the evolutionary origins of the mind at the University of St Andrews and co-author of the study, spoke to CBSN.
Wikie the whale succeeded in mimicking a variety of human sounds.
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.”
He added, “They can also copy body movements; we knew this from before, but now we know they can also replicate sounds that are not part of their natural repertoire.”