I’m not sure I’ll ever look at whales the same way again…
Animals can do some incredible things, but this discovery might be one of the creepiest yet — people are confused after hearing a beluga whale try to mimic human speech.

Beluga human speech
We often think we can’t communicate with animals the way we do with humans, but some species can mimic human sounds in ways that will leave you speechless. Parrots are a perfect example, often picking up phrases and full sentences with surprising clarity.

But imagine the shock of hearing a beluga whale underwater, making noises that sound uncannily like human speech. While dolphins have been trained to mimic human-like sounds, no animal had ever done this spontaneously—until NOC, a nine-year-old whale, came along. He made strange noises at unusually low octaves, in quick, clipped bursts.

It all began when a diver at the National Marine Mammal Foundation in California surfaced, puzzled, asking, “Who told me to get out?”

The researchers looked at each other in disbelief—something extraordinary had just happened.

Whales, known as the “canaries of the sea” for their high-pitched chirps, have been the subject of rumors about mimicking human speech for years. But until now, no one had captured it on tape.

Once NOC was identified as the source of the eerie sounds, the researchers immediately recorded the moment, confirming the unbelievable discovery.

Fast forward to today, and a 2012 video of NOC has resurfaced online. Rather than laughing, people are disturbed by the whale’s bizarre attempts to speak, with many now questioning what else these ocean giants are capable of.

In the video, the ABC news anchors describe the beluga as cute and friendly, but viewers online have a very different reaction.