'Talking' killer whale mimics human words including 'hello'
Wikie, a 17-year-old orca , was taught a series of phrases during a study.
Killer whales can learn to mimic human speech, a new study has found.
Wikie, a captive 17-year-old orca, was taught a series of simple words and phrases including "hello" and "bye-bye".
She can be heard copying a human trainer in recordings made at Marineland in Antibes, France.
The international team behind the study included Professor Josep Call, a psychologist from St Andrews University's school of neuroscience.
Their newly-published research suggests whales' ability to imitate sounds helps them communicate in the wild.
It potentially explains why groups from different areas have different "dialects".
However, Wikie cannot understand the words she was taught by the researchers. Dolphins, parrots and elephants have also been heard mimicking human speech.