--- description: One of few species capable of learning new vocal sounds. title: Captive Orcas Can Learn How to Speak Dolphin, Researchers Say image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27ea3aaadd250b94/69875f36cd68489cb3096ea3/orca-whale.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Captive Orcas Can Learn How to Speak Dolphin, Researchers Say  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 7, 2014 11:30 PM CUT  Killer whale Killer whaleAmanda Fletcher—Flickr RF/Getty Images  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 7, 2014 11:30 PM CUT Captive orcas who live with dolphins are capable of imitating their sounds, joining an exclusive list of species that are capable of modifying their voices or learning new vocalizations, according to a new [study](http://scitation.aip.org/content/asa/journal/jasa/136/4/10.1121/1.4893906 "undefined") published this month in _Acoustical Society of America_. Researchers analyzed 10 captive orcas, seven who lived with only other orcas, and three who lived with only bottlenose dolphins. They discovered that the three orcas who interacted with only dolphins made dolphin-like whistles, clicks and buzzes, while the other seven orcas communicated almost entirely with typical whale pulses. The findings build on two-year-old research that showed that dolphins could similarly mimic sounds of whales and other animals, according to [_Science Magazine_](http://news.sciencemag.org/2012/01/do-dolphins-speak-whale-their-sleep "undefined")[.](http://news.sciencemag.org/2012/01/do-dolphins-speak-whale-their-sleep "undefined") Only a few species are capable of vocal learning, a group that includes humans, birds, elephants, bats, seals and dolphins, along with now the orcas, whose acoustic imitation abilities previously had been studied only anecdotally. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3479692/captive-orcas-dolphin/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3479692/captive-orcas-dolphin/"},"headline":"Captive Orcas Can Learn How to Speak Dolphin, Researchers Say","datePublished":"2014-10-07T23:30:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:38:47.295Z","description":"One of few species capable of learning new vocal sounds","url":"https://time.com/3479692/captive-orcas-dolphin/","keywords":["animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27ea3aaadd250b94/69875f36cd68489cb3096ea3/orca-whale.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27ea3aaadd250b94/69875f36cd68489cb3096ea3/orca-whale.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Orca Whale","caption":"Orca Whale","creditText":"Amanda Fletcher—Flickr RF/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3479692/captive-orcas-dolphin/","name":"Captive Orcas Can Learn How to Speak Dolphin, Researchers Say"}}]}] ```