Whales mimic human voice

26 October, 2012

We know that parrots are animals that can mimic human voice, but now whales have also been added to this category as they are learning to mimic the human voice, as per a new study.

US MARINE biologists were surprised when they heard a human sound coming from an aquarium tank consisting of whales and dolphins. The scientists found that a white whale called the Beluga whale is capable of imitating the human voice. Beluga whales are the smallest species of whales, and are known as 'the canaries of the sea' because of their voice.

The research began when the scientists at the National Marine Mammal Foundation in San Diego in the US noticed some unusual noises coming from the aquarium tank consisting of whales and dolphins. The voices resembled like conversation between two people at a distance.

The sounds were surprising because whales typically produce sounds from the nasal tract, which is completely different from humans, because humans produce sounds from the larynx. But to make a human-like sound the whales have to vary the air pressure in their nasal tract. "Such obvious effort suggests motivation for contact," says Sam Ridgway, President, National Marine Mammal Foundation.

Though the whales cannot communicate with humans at a conversational level, still it is an interesting possibility for future research. "Keepers in aquaria should remain alert to such behavior and see that such events are analyzed with good acoustic methods," says Ridgway, reported AFP.