In 2012, researchers in the US discovered a beluga whale whose vocalisations were remarkably close to human speech. While dolphins have been taught to mimic the pattern and durations of sounds in human speech, no animal has spontaneously tried such mimicry.

美国的研究人员2012年发现白鲸的发声系统和人类的极其相似。虽然人们曾对海豚进行培训让它们来模仿人类的发声习惯和长度，但是至今为止不曾有动物会自发的去模仿人类的声音。