I don’t think I’ll ever see whales the same way again after learning about this incredible, yet unsettling discovery.

While animals are capable of some pretty remarkable feats, this one takes the cake—beluga whales can mimic human speech, leaving people both baffled and a little creeped out.

Beluga Whales Mimicking Human Speech

It’s widely assumed that humans are unique in our ability to communicate with words, but some animals are capable of imitating human sounds in surprising ways. Parrots are a prime example, often copying words and phrases with surprising clarity.

However, what if you were to hear a beluga whale underwater making noises that eerily resemble human speech? Dolphins have been known to imitate human-like sounds, but nothing like this had ever happened spontaneously—until a beluga named NOC came along. At nine years old, NOC stunned researchers at the National Marine Mammal Foundation in California when he produced sounds at unusually low frequencies and in quick, clipped bursts.

It all began when a diver surfaced and, confused, asked, “Who told me to get out?” To the astonishment of the researchers, they realized the sound came from NOC, the beluga whale. The researchers were in disbelief—what they had just witnessed was something extraordinary. Whales are often referred to as the “canaries of the sea” due to their high-pitched vocalizations, but no one had ever recorded a whale imitating human speech until this moment.

Upon realizing that NOC was the source of the strange noise, the researchers quickly recorded the moment, confirming this groundbreaking discovery.

Online Reaction

Fast forward to 2012, and a video of NOC resurfaced, sparking a range of reactions from viewers. While ABC News anchors described the beluga as cute and friendly, viewers online reacted differently. The sight of the whale attempting to speak disturbed many, with some even humorously calling it “terrifying.”

One YouTube user joked, “pulls up the bloody terrifying beluga whale picture basically saying ‘I will consume your soul,’” while another highlighted the contrast between the cheerful remark and the whale’s unnerving image. “The thumbnail literally made my SOUL jump out of its body for a second,” one viewer commented. Some people found humor in the situation, laughing at the awkward juxtaposition of the reporter’s upbeat tone and the eerie image that appeared on screen.

Others offered possible explanations for NOC’s behavior. “It makes sense if you think about how the beluga is only mimicking what he can hear,” one person noted. It’s likely that the whale only hears human speech when a person is nearby, underwater, with a scuba mask on, which distorts the words they hear. As one user explained, “If you’ve ever gone swimming and tried to talk, it sounds exactly like that.”

Orcas Mimicking Human Speech

But it’s not just belugas making these strange noises. Earlier this year, a recording of an orca whale from 2018 surfaced, demonstrating its ability to imitate human speech. This discovery was part of a scientific study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences, in which researchers from Germany, Spain, the UK, and Chile confirmed orcas’ ability to mimic human-like sounds.

Josep Call, a professor at the University of St Andrews and co-author of the study, explained, “It tells us that they are flexible vocal learners, and their flexibility is not only in their vocal domain but also in their motor domain.” He went on to say, “They can copy body movements, something we knew before, but now we know they can also mimic sounds outside of their natural repertoire.”

This remarkable ability to mimic human speech further highlights the intelligence and adaptability of these majestic ocean creatures. It’s a reminder of how much we still have to learn about the abilities of animals and how much more we may discover in the future.