# Beluga Whale Imitates Human Speech **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 23, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625 "2012-10-23T16:01:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/1 "2012-10-23T16:01:00Z")
Story [here](http://news.yahoo.com/male-beluga-whale-mimics-human-voice-161104476.html). Hear him [here](http://www.livescience.com/24163-white-whale-speaks-human-video.html). Sounds like my old roommate on a wild Saturday night. But I have a bad feeling about this. Isn’t this how they eventually ended up with Planet of the Apes? ---
**Author:** ![Coustralee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Coustralee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coustralee)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/2 "2012-10-23T16:02:07Z")
i thought it sounded like the swedish chef at first ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/3 "2012-10-23T16:04:05Z")
> [@Coustralee](#): > > i thought it sounded like the swedish chef at first Maybe his keepers left the TV tuned to the Muppets. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/4 "2012-10-23T16:09:52Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Isn’t this how they eventually ended up with Planet of the Apes? No. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/5 "2012-10-23T16:12:42Z")
Well, that’s a relief. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/6 "2012-10-23T16:16:30Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Well, that’s a relief. No! ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/7 "2012-10-23T16:30:34Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Story [here](http://news.yahoo.com/male-beluga-whale-mimics-human-voice-161104476.html). Hear him [here](http://www.livescience.com/24163-white-whale-speaks-human-video.html). Sounds like my old roommate on a wild Saturday night. But I have a bad feeling about this. Isn’t this how they eventually ended up with Planet of the Apes? Planet of the Apes came about because humans were abusing them for being bad hairdressers. The worst I can see with whales is having to negotiate with them on fishing rights. Things would get even more complicated if dolphins start making claims. Maybe we could use some whales to patrol beaches and shout “Look out! Shark!” if needed. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/8 "2012-10-23T16:51:41Z")
The new frontier for off-shoring call center operations. They get paid in fish! ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/9 "2012-10-23T17:43:10Z")
What language was that? Apparently not english. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/10 "2012-10-23T17:47:21Z")
It sounds like [this guy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5Hd04mh9V4). ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/11 "2012-10-23T17:49:22Z")
I can’t hear the video yet, but this raises interesting questions. If the whale -should become- capable of asking a diver to “get out” of his tank, would the request be respected? what if he could ask to be returned to the sea? ---
**Author:** ![dimmy\_derko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/43a26b/32.png) [@dimmy\_derko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dimmy_derko)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/12 "2012-10-23T17:52:42Z")
I’ll name that tune in 300. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/13 "2012-10-23T18:06:09Z")
This will be helpful when the whale probe shows up in a few hundred years. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/14 "2012-10-23T18:12:08Z")
Looked to me like it came in the mid-seventies. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/15 "2012-10-23T18:14:52Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > If the whale -should become- capable of asking a diver to “get out” of his tank, would the request be respected? Yes - in much the same way that the 6’6", 300-lb guy who asks you to get off his lawn is respected. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/16 "2012-10-23T18:28:02Z")
Listening to that, I kept thinking of the [creepy violin music](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN7AaphF3kk) from _Young Frankenstein_. ---
**Author:** ![Deadhead\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@Deadhead\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deadhead_Dave)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/17 "2012-10-23T18:44:34Z")
It’s not the first time that a captive animal was heard to mimic human speech. Anybody remember[Hoover](http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_(seal))the harbor seal? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/18 "2012-10-23T20:57:15Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > what if he could ask to be returned to the sea? The keeper would probably ask him how he is going to get lunch in that little tank. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/19 "2012-10-24T05:20:35Z")
Did anyone notice that the story, while new, is describing ancient events? That whale died 5 years ago at age 30, and the human-like vocalizations apparently occurred over four years early in the whale’s life. > [@(from near the end of the story)](#): > > Noc’s speechlike sounds subsided after about four years, after he matured. Still, he remained quite vocal in other ways for the rest of his 30-year life. (Noc passed away five years ago.) So why is this story coming out just now? ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625/20 "2012-10-24T12:20:26Z")
I can’t find anything online, but many years ago there was a [BBC Radio 1] DJ who had a jingle of someone saying “lemonade!” which was allegedly a dolphin. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beluga-whale-imitates-human-speech/638625.md?page=2)