Wikie is quite possibly the first 14-year-old French female to make world headlines for having a vocabulary consisting of six English phrases.

Her linguistic feat is remarkable because she is a killer whale. A talking orca is novel. But the fact we are fascinated by an orca learning new tricks says more about us than it does about her.

We’ve known for a long time that Wikie and many other cetaceans communicate with each other – we just haven’t yet understood exactly what they are saying.

Orcas can live for more than 100 years in the wild.

Like humans, whales and dolphins communicate in many different ways. They use signature whistles to identify each other and respond when their names are called. Dolphins have been known to help fishermen by tail-slapping the water, indicating where they should throw nets to best catch fish.