#MARINE WILDLIFE - US marine science experts have been baffled by a beluga whale whose speech-like vocalisations sound an awful lot like Donegal Irish!

BBC News reports on research out of San Diego into the sounds made by a nine-year-old whale named NOC, who surprised his investigators by spontaneously mimicking what seems like human speech.

Dolphins have been taught to mimic the sounds of human speech before, but no marine wildlife had been previously recorded ever doing so on their own - though beluga whales already have a reputation as the 'canaries of the sea' for their chatty high-pitched calls.

"Our observations suggest that the whale had to modify its vocal mechanics in order to make the speech-like sounds," said Sam Ridgway, president of the National Marine Mammal Foundation and lead author on the research paper.

"The sounds we heard were clearly an example of vocal learning by the white whale."

BBC News has more on the story HERE - including audio of the beluga whale's 'speech'.