SCIENCE

Killer whales able to copy words such as ‘hello’ and ‘bye bye’ as well as sounds from other orcas. (Guardian)

What other animal sounds can whales imitate?

Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of resources in our Teachers Toolkit.

Discussion Ideas

• An orca named Wikie has quasi-successfully imitated basic human speech. According to the Guardian, what two elements make genuine human speech possible?
  • brain pathways. According to this “brain atlas”, words seem to organize in “neighborhoods” in our cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is the wrinkly outer region of our brain associated with higher brain functions such as memory and voluntary movement.
    • Learn more about the fascinating brain atlas here.
  • vocal apparatus. A human vocal apparatus includes all the biological organs and tissues used to vocalize. “The human vocal apparatus is like two kinds of musical instruments at once: a wind instrument and a string instrument. This apparatus includes a source of wind (the lungs), components that vibrate (the vocal cords in the larynx), and a series of resonant chambers (the pharynx, the mouth, and the nasal cavities).”
  • Worth noting: Whales have very different brains and biology than humans.

 

• How was the experiment conducted?
  • The experiment was carried out in four parts. All the sounds in the study were requested and performed when Wikie’s head was above water with her blowhole exposed.
    • First, Wikie was trained with a “copy” command.
    • Second, Wikie was trained to copy three orca vocalizations made by her own calf, Moana. These were familiar sounds coming from a familiar source.
    • Third, Wikie was trained to copy five orca sounds she had never heard before, including those sounding like a creaking door and blowing a raspberry. These were new sounds, but familiar vocalizations (pitches and patterns). (Wikie was really good at blowing a raspberry, by the way.)
    • Finally, Wikie was trained to copy six unfamiliar human sounds, including “hello,” “bye-bye,” “one-two” and “Amy.” These were entirely unfamiliar (novel) sounds. Click the Guardian audio to judge how well Wikie imitated these sounds.

 

• Does this study indicate that whales can learn human language?
  • No. Whales are mimicking or imitating sounds, not really communicating. “We have no evidence that they understand what their ‘hello’ stands for,” says one expert.

 

• What is the point of this study? To be Dr. Doolittle?
  • No. Whale pods in the wild have been recorded communicating in “dialects”—clicks and whistles in different, distinct pitches and patterns. The study provides evidence that orcas may be “learning sounds by vocal imitation, and this is something that could be the basis of the dialects we observe in the wild—it is plausible,” says one expert.
    • Go batty for animal dialects with our study guide here.

 

TEACHERS TOOLKIT

Guardian: Orcas can imitate human speech, research reveals

Nat Geo: Whale Goes Native in the Dolphin Pool study guide

Nat Geo: ‘Brain Atlas’ Charts How We Navigate Language study guide

Nat Geo: Activate the Bat Signal! Bats Crowdsource Their Dialects study guide