Researchers trained killer whale to speak English words

Researchers at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile trained an orca named Wikie to mimic words like "hello," "bye-bye," and other human speech sounds. John Lilly, I wish you were around to be part of this conversation. From the New York Times:

"We wanted to study vocal imitation because it's a hallmark of human spoken language, which is in turn important for human cultural evolution," said Josi(C) Zamorano-Abramson, who led the study as a postdoctoral researcher at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. "We are interested in the possibility that other species also have cultural processes...."

The learning of culture, including vocal traditions, "is a key capability in the intertwining lives of killer whales," he said, "and one that is critically harmed in captivity," where animals are isolated and unable to develop the depth of emotions they would in the wild...

"Imitation of novel conspecific and human speech sounds in the killer whale (Orcinus orca)" (Royal Society)