Biologists have taught a whale to say “hi»
The scientists trained the fish to repeat spoken person sounds. Marine mammal can utter sounds similar to such English words as “hello” (“Hello”), “bye-bye” (goodbye), “one” (“one”), “two” (“two”) “three” (“three”).
The scientists trained the fish to repeat spoken person sounds. Marine mammal can utter sounds similar to such English words as “hello” (“Hello”), “bye-bye” (goodbye), “one” (“one”), “two” (“two”) “three” (“three”). The results of the animals contained in the article in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Some animals can successfully imitate human speech. The most successfully do it, of course, parrots. However, in the new work, biologists have learned such behavior unexpected mammal is the orca (Orcinus orca). 14-year-old female named Vicki from Marineland (Antibes, France) learned to speak a few words of English.
For this purpose it is first taught the gestural command, “do it again”, which, in particular, used to teach how to put spray in the air following the example of other orcas.
Then she was given to hear a variety of sounds: five voices of other orcas, and six phrases, uttered by the human trainer. In all experiments, PECs were answered, trying to copy what he heard. Sometimes it would take up to 17 attempts for a successful repetition, but in four cases, she was able to close enough to reproduce the sounds on the first attempt, and it was, including the phrase “hello” and “one, two, three”. The authors note that the repetition does not mean that the animal understands the meaning of spoken, as in this work, orca only asked to repeat.
In nature, orcas live in small close-knit groups, each of which has its own “dialect”. Scientists suggest that the ability to learn new sounds is a key skill, allowing them to communicate and interact with each other.