The Whale Whisperer
Move over dog whisperer, a Japanese scientist says he has taught a beluga whale to "talk." Talk might be a little strong, but the beluga can apparently communicate. Using sounds, Nack the whale can apparently identify three different objects. When sounds are played at him, he will also correctly pick the right object.
Marine mammals have trained for a while to identify objects, but this is the first time I have heard about them using sounds to do so, and I guess there in lies the Japanese scientist "talking" to him. Training animals is an interesting way to study them, and not just used for commercial shows.
The scientist wants to get to the point where the whale can communicate its likes and dislikes, but says he needs better quality sound instruments to do so.
Funny, this is the first really interesting scientific whale news I have heard out of Japan, and it happends to be from an alive whale..
