Modern Primate

For a few years in the early 2000s, divers at the National Marine Mammal Foundation (NMMF) in San Diego reported hearing a mysterious sound they described as ”two people [were] conversing in the distance just out of range for our understanding.” Eventually, the source of the peculiar vocalisations was discovered in NOC, one of the aquariums beluga whales.

The sounds that NOC was making were entirely unlike normal whale sounds: they were much lower in pitch, and had a bursty rhythm that was very similar to human speech patterns. Furthermore, NOC never made the sounds when communicating with other whales: he just made them while alone, or when humans were around.

- DVICE

Researchers studying the whale do not believe that NOC was attempting communication with the humans, but was instead simply curious about the sounds they made.

Click here to hear the audio.