In 1971, George Swallow, a fisherman from Maine, found a young harbor seal pup abandoned at Bethel Point. He took the pup home, gave him the name Hoover, and cared for him. During the important early weeks of Hoover’s life, Swallow fed him with a bottle and talked to him often. As Hoover grew too big to keep as a pet, Swallow took him to the New England Aquarium in Boston in 1976.
For several years, Hoover acted like a typical harbor seal. However, five years after his arrival at the aquarium, he surprised everyone by starting to speak English. Experts who studied Hoover’s sounds found that his speech was impressively human-like. He was able to shape vowels and consonants to say phrases such as “Hello there” and “Get out of here,” and he even imitated a strong, gravelly Maine accent, similar to that of the fisherman who raised him. Researchers speculated on why Hoover took five years to start speaking. They concluded that he began to talk when he reached sexual maturity. During the breeding season, Hoover used his English phrases to attract female seals, much like male seals use breeding calls.
Dr. Tecumseh Fitch, a language evolution expert from the University of Vienna, noted that the timing of Hoover’s speech development is similar to how young birds learn songs, waiting until they mature to sing. Hoover passed away in 1985 at the age of 14. He remains the most researched example of vocal mimicry in marine mammals. What do you think about Hoover’s unique ability?
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Source: Upworthy, by Upworthy