A Talking Beluga Whale

"Beluga wants a squid."

Whales don't talk--or do they?  Do they imitate human speech like parrots?

"Get out!" was what an ocean diver thought he heard a captive Beluga whale tell him.  The diver was in the tank that held this talkative whale.

Curious scientists started to record the sounds this male Beluga made.  Listen to this video and tell us what you think the whale is talking about. 

We think it sounds like the Muppets' Swedish Chef.

Beluga whales live in the Artic Ocean.  They like to swim around icebergs.  They are  social and they sing so much that Beluga whales are also called "canaries of the sea."  But talk? 

We know they won't ask for crackers, like a parrot.  But if they could, they would ask for octopus, squid, crabs, shrimp, clams, mussels, snails, sandworms,  salmon, capelin, cod, herring, smelt, flounder, sole, sculpin, lamprey, and lingcod.

A Beluga whale can nod and turn its head, unlike other whales.