In the new issue of Current Biology, four marine scientists report on a white whale (a beluga) in an aquarium which began mimicking human sounds in an apparent attempt to communicate with its handlers.

The whale was exposed to speech not only from humans at the surface — it was present at times when divers used surface-to-diver communication equipment (see Supplemental Information ). The whale was recognized as the source of the speech-like sounds when a diver surfaced outside this whale’s enclosure and asked “Who told me to get out?”

One of the researchers gave this comment to the website Underwater Times:

“Our observations suggest that the whale had to modify its vocal mechanics in order to make the speech-like sounds,” said Sam Ridgway of the National Marine Mammal Foundation. “Such obvious effort suggests motivation for contact.”

So here’s a question to ponder: If whales could talk to humans, do you think they’d be complimentary?