Killer whales, also called orcas, are like dolphins and belugas they all have a wide vocal repertoire. But orcas also have unique dialects among different pods. Which suggests the animals can learn new and unique sounds by imitating mom, or another whale. Researchers tested that premise by asking a killer whale named Wikie to imitate novel sounds from another killer whale. And then: Wikie's trainers asked her to imitate them speaking English. Pretty impressive, especially because she's using her nasal passages to imitate sounds we make with our vocal cords. And a technical acoustic analysis of the original and imitated sounds showed that Wikie was doing a reliable job of mimicry, suggesting orcas do indeed possess the ability of vocal imitation. The study is in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. So how long before Wikie's speaking fluent English? Well: "This is not our goal." Study author José Zamorano-Abramson, a comparative psychologist. "We are focusing on one aspect of vocal language, which is capacity for vocal imitation." Because the ability to imitate implies a way to transmit culture and in doing so preserve each orca pod's unique repertoire.