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A captive orca has been taught to imitate human words by scientists.
Her name is Wikie, she’s 14 years old and she lives at Marineland Aquarium in Antibes
france.
I’m going to tell you her fasciniating story, here for you on IO.
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Before I get into this video, tell me in those comments where you’re from, I’m from Canada.
Orcas or killer whales are vocal creatures.
They make 3 different types of sounds in the wild.
They use whistles, pulse calls and echolocation clicks, which cant be heard by humans.
Researchers have even found that certain pods of killer whales have different accents and
dialects.
Much in the way that humans sound different based on where they were brought up, killer
whales adopt these specific methods of communication based on the group they hang out in.
SO COOL.
The basic reason why we all have accents and dialects, is because we are imitating those
around us.
So Researchers from spain, the UK, Germany and Chile conducted a study to see if orcas
could learn how to imitate human speech.
With a ton of repetition, Wikie was able to imitate hello, goodbye, count from one to
three and also say her trainers name, amy.
Granted, wikie’s ability to imitate was not spot on.
She correctly saidhuman words 14 to 55 percent of the time.
This could have been the case for a couple of reasons.
1, amy didn’t reward wikie when she got the word right to avoid influencing how she
spoke.
And 2, ocras do not talk the way humans do with our mouths and vocal cords.
They inflate air sacks in their nose.
The progress has been so great that researchers actually believe that a full on conversation
with Wikie might be possible in the future.
All of this research might suggest that orcas have complex cultures.
Imitation and the ability to learn dialect through imitation is a form of culture.
Very cool stuff guys, tell me what you think about this story down there in those comments.
LOL said = these vids are more interesting than the news on tv keep it up thanks.
Ok will do, thanks!
Dan w – charlotte if you put me in the next video I’ll strip butt naked, run around
my neighbour hood, and yell subscribe to IO.
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Hey if you enjoyed this one, you’ll definitely be interested int his one over here.
You know that video of a showering rat that’s going viral?
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