STR/AFP/Getty Images

A visitor admires a beluga or white whale, the latest attraction at the Beijing aquarium on September 20, 2011. Beijing is expecting a surge of tourist arrivals during the upcoming national day holidays.

New research shows the first documented case of a whale spontaneously mimicking human speech. Producer Meghan McCarty explains the curious case of Noc, the talking white whale.



Listen to Noc the Beluga whale warbling in a human voice, several octaves lower than typical whale calls. The National Marine Mammal Foundation in San Diego first made the discovery in 1984 when they heard mumbling coming from a tank containing whales and dolphins that sounded like two people chatting far away. The research was published on Monday.