Animals do impressive things all the time, but people weren’t quite ready to hear orcas imitating people speaking English.

Orcas, also known as killer whales, have a reputation as one of the most dominant animals in the ocean and are regularly praised for their intelligence, but this trick they can seem to do is a little eerie.

Just like any animal, they are studied vigorously by researchers, and recently, a 2018 study has been brought to people’s attention.

Apparently, the ocean behemoths can imitate human speech. While you might expect this to be rather cute, it has actually been called ‘demonic’ by some social media users.

Explaining the research behind this wild discovery, professor in evolutionary origins of mind at the University of St Andrews and co-author of the study Josep Call spoke to CBSN.

He said: “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.

“They can also copy body movements, we knew this from before, but now we know that they can also copy sounds and sounds that are not in their natural repertoire.”

But how did they do it?

Well, the recording of the killer whale speaking is part of a 2018 study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

This saw experts from Germany, Spain, the UK, and Chile documenting how they discovered orcas could mimic human language.

The orcas regularly get a treat after speaking like humans(CBSN)

Call also explained the researchers initially wanted to see ‘how flexible a killer whale can be’ when it comes to copying sounds they’re not used to.

The team carried out the research by first training a 14-year-old orca named Wikie to copy three familiar orca sounds made by her three-year-old calf, then exposing her to five orca sounds she had never heard before.

Wikie heard a human make three orca sounds, then six human sounds including the words ‘hello’, ‘Amy’, ‘ah ha’, ‘one, two’ and ‘bye bye’.

Now, it might not be the most convincing parrot or human speech, since we have, well… parrots, but it is still impressive.

People couldn’t believe what they were hearing online (CBSN)

After listening to Wikie’s responses, the team found that the orca was able to quickly copy the sounds, including nailing two of the human utterances on the first attempt.

Recordings of Wikie capture her attempts to mimic the human speaking to her, and while admittedly some of the attempts sound like they’ve come from a terrifying goblin, others are eerily accurate.

After hearing the orca, one Twitter user commented: “OK, that second hello was a little demonic. Was that really an orca, or the Devil speaking through a ghost box LOL.”

Another agreed and said: “The hello sounded demonic.”

However one user was particularly impressed and said: “This makes me tear up, the fact that we live in a such a beautiful world filled with wonderful creatures.”

Not only are killer whales the largest of the dolphin family but they’re also recognized as one of the world’s largest powerful aquatic apex predators – but did you know they can speak?

Over time, orcas – also known as killer whales – have evolved to swim up to 40 miles a day, according to National Geographic. They can hunt on land and are actually in possession of the largest marine mammal brain.

Here’s something you may not know about orcas though – they can apparently copy basic human words like ‘hello’ and ‘bye bye’.

Orcas are one of the most intelligent marine mammals in the world (Wirestock/Getty Images)

Orcas mimicking human language

The recording is part of a 2018 study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, which saw experts from Germany, Spain, the UK and Chile documenting how they discovered orcas could mimic human language.

Josep Call, a professor in evolutionary origins of mind at the University of St Andrews and co-author, explained the researchers initially wanted to see ‘how flexible a killer whale can be’ when it comes to copying sounds they’re not used to.

“We thought what would be really convincing is to present them with something that is not in their repertoire – and in this case ‘hello’ [is] not what a killer whale would say,” Call said, per The Guardian.

The team carried out the research by first training a 14-year-old orca named Wikie to copy three familiar orca sounds made by her three-year-old calf, then exposing her to five orca sounds she had never heard before.

The human sounds the orca was able to say

Finally, Wikie heard a human make three orca sounds, then six human sounds including the words ‘hello’, ‘Amy’, ‘ah ha’, ‘one, two’ and ‘bye bye’.

After listening to Wikie’s responses, the team found that the orca was able to quickly copy the sounds, including nailing two of the human utterances on the first attempt.

Recordings of Wikie capture her attempts to mimic the human speaking to her, and while admittedly some of the attempts sound like they’ve come from a terrifying goblin, others are eerily accurate.

Listeners have been left unnerved by the recordings, with one viewer commenting: “The hello sounded demonic.”

Wikie the whale succeeded in mimicking a number of human sounds (Abramson et. al/CBS News)

And another joked: “OK, that second hello was a little demonic. Was that really an orca, or the Devil speaking through a ghost box LOL The funniest and scariest thing EVER! That’s my day, can’t stop laughing my head off lol.”

But as demonic as the recordings might sound, other viewers have pointed out just how amazing it is to hear the whale mimic humans.

“This makes me tear up, the fact that we live in a such a beautiful world filled with wonderful creatures,” one person wrote.

While only one human sound given to Wikie – ‘hello’ – was correctly produced more than 50 percent of the time on subsequent trials, the findings offered the first evidence that orcas may be learning sounds by vocal imitation.

“This is something that could be the basis of the dialects we observe in the wild – it is plausible,” Call said.

Can orcas understand what these sounds mean?

Wikie’s responses are made even more impressive by the fact her vocal apparatus is so different to humans.

Call said: “Even though the morphology [of orcas] is so different, they can still produce a sound that comes close to what another species, in this case us, can produce.”

That being said, Call added: “We have no evidence that they understand what their ‘hello’ stands for.”

Though the research with Wikie has offered some initial insight, Call noted that more trials would need to be carried out with wild orcas to learn more about how they learn sounds.

Resurfaced footage from researchers investigating chimpanzees appears to show one chimpanzee recreating human speech.

Chimpanzees are among our closest relatives in nature, sharing almost 99 percent of our DNA.

They are also highly intelligent, and have frequently shown that they are capable of communicating by using a form of sign language.

But footage from researchers in Italy in the 1960s, and another from the 2000s, shows two chimpanzees appearing to reproduce human speech.

In both cases, the chimps said the word ‘mama’ when they were given cues from their handlers.

Two main factors are necessary for it to ‘count’ as a speech – they need to physically annunciate it, and they need to understand what they are saying.

Parrots are excellent at imitation but can’t comprehend what they’re saying, so it doesn’t count as ‘speech’.

With great apes however it’s more likely that they have the cognitive capability to be able to understand the word.

Johnny the chimpanzee vocalised the sound ‘mama’. (YouTube / OHpink)

A research paper examining the two videos said: “Great ape vocal production capacities have been underestimated.

“Chimpanzees possess the neural building blocks necessary for speech.”

One chimp, Renata, was recorded as having ‘reliably produced ‘mama’.’

The research then suggested that as ‘mama’ could have been one of the first words in human speech, this could suggest chimps might be able to learn.

The research team wrote: “Our data complements this picture: chimpanzees can produce the putative ‘first words’ of spoken languages.”

However, other studies conducted with chimpanzees yielded far less promising results.

A chimp called Viki was taught English for one year, after which she could only do ‘mama’, ‘papa’, ‘up’, and ‘cup’.

Speech might feel very intuitive, but actually it is intimately connected to the physical structure of our bodies.

Chimpanzees have a different palate structure to humans. ( ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images)

The muscles and tissues around our palate are key in how we produce the noises that make up the many languages humans use to communicate.

Some languages even use parts of the palate for letters which a different language may not use at all.

For example the letter ‘qaaf’ in Arabic, a hard sound from the throat, or ‘ã’ in Portuguese, which resonates through the nose, both use parts of the palate which are not used in English.

Some sounds can be difficult for non-native human speakers to master, so you can imagine the challenge for a different species.

That is not to say that chimpanzees aren’t capable of advanced communication however, with the great apes able to exchange complex information between one another.

Terrifying footage has revealed the moment an African elephant tried to flip a safari truck full of tourists.

The shocking moment occurred in Pilanesberg National Park in South Africa, when a bull elephant approached the vehicle and tried to lift it from the ground using its trunk. Take a look for yourself:

The people inside the truck could be heard shouting and screaming as the elephant tried to flip the truck.

Just moments after it nudges the front of the vehicle, the elephant manages to lift the truck off the ground before it crashes back down.

The driver of the vehicle can be seen being lifted out of his seat as he continues to try and scare the animal away.

Eventually, as the truck reverses away, the elephant backs off and the truck manages to escape.

In a video shared on YouTube, people have been commenting on the incident.

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Some people said that the truck shouldn’t have gone so close, with one writing: “Fair game! If you’re in their space, you have to expect a wild animal could do something like this!”

While another added: “Well you’ve entered his territory so be prepared to accept the consequences!”

And a third wrote: “Don’t mess with an elephant!”

But another explained that the video didn’t reveal the full story.

“Unfortunately the video only shows the end of the story and not the complete story,” the person wrote.

“The elephant entered the car park while guests were both on foot in the open and on the walkway (fairly secure).

“The guide sat there quietly with his engine off until the elephant started to approach the vehicle. The elephant didn’t back off and kept coming closer, not responding to warning shouts and door slamming and slapping as they normally will.”

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if you ever encounter an elephant in the wild, there are steps you can take to stay safe.

According to the Journal of African Elephants, it’s best to view elephants from a minimum distance of 100 meters.

“Always assess the elephants’ direction of movement. Do not block them, cut off their escape route, or come between a mother and calf,” the journal explains.

“Allow them a clear path away from the area.”

If an elephant is showing signs of unease, it’s best to retreat slowly.

“If you accidentally drive into a herd, remain calm and quiet. Look for the first opportunity to retreat to a safe viewing distance,” they add.