An orca has apparently learned to mimic a few words of human speech, like 鈥渉ello鈥� and 鈥渂ye bye鈥� 鈥� although whether or not it is actually making those sounds relies on a bit of very creative listening.
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But even if the female orca called Wikie is really capable of mimicking us, it is more than just a cute finding. It sheds light on the mysterious cultures and dialects that orcas have created. And it is further evidence that these remarkable animals shouldn鈥檛 be held in captivity.
Orcas are also known as killer whales, although they are actually dolphins. at the University of St Andrews, UK, and his colleagues trained Wikie, which lives in an aquarium in France, to copy a range of sounds on command. Wikie quickly learned to do this, and was even able to approximate more 听complex vocalisations like 鈥渙ne, two, three鈥� ().
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Only a handful of animals have previously been shown to be able to mimic human speech. For example, an orangutan called Rocky learned to say simple words like 鈥渉i鈥�.
For many animals, human speech is impossible because their vocal tracts aren鈥檛 built the right way. Even if they wanted to make the sounds, and their brains could generate the complex instructions required, they don鈥檛 have the equipment. Orcas appear to be one of the exceptions to this rule.
Killer whale culture
But the key scientific lesson from Wikie鈥檚 achievement is what it tells us about orca culture.
Although wild orcas are found around the world, the population is actually split into smaller groups called . Each ecotype tends to stick to its own area, and members of one group rarely if ever breed with orcas from another.
Each ecotype also has its own distinctive culture. They often target different prey: one mostly goes for salmon, for example, while another focuses on seals. They also make different calls, apparently with their own unique dialects.
Wikie鈥檚 ability to mimic sounds it had apparently never heard before shows that orcas are skilled imitators. That in turn suggests that imitation is the basis of orca culture, and that young orcas may learn the behaviours from the adults they live with.
No more captive orcas
This diversity of behaviour and culture is also a key reason why orcas aren鈥檛 suited to a life in captivity. The most obvious reason is the large distances over which they roam in the wild, which no tank could hope to approximate. But it is perhaps just as critical that we cannot replicate their social lives.
Wild orcas are social animals that spend much of their time in company. In contrast, captive whales live in small groups or in isolation. If that wasn鈥檛 bad enough, orcas from different ecotypes are often housed together 鈥� and this can lead to clashes.
It might be argued that keeping orcas in captivity protects them against extinction, but this doesn鈥檛 hold up. For one thing, . But in any case, the ultimate aim of such a project would be to reintroduce orcas to the wild, and experience has shown that captive orcas don鈥檛 cope with being in the wild. The only exceptions have been .
Really, the only justification for keeping orcas in captivity is so we can learn more about them. It is unlikely a study like the one performed on Wikie could ever be done in the wild. But most captive orcas will never contribute to science in the way Wikie has.
