A beluga whale thought to be a spy trained by the Russian navy, has reappeared off Sweden’s coast.
Man-made harness, action camera mount
He first appeared in 2019 in Norway’s northern Arctic region, Finnmark. Back then, marine biologists removed an attached harness that has a mount suitable for an action camera, and the words Equipment St Petersburg printed on the plastic clasps.
Many speculated if the whale escaped a Russian enclosure, where it was trained for espionage. The whale is also accustom to humans.
Residents in Norway nicknamed the beluga Hvaldimir. It is a play on the native word ‘hval’ for whale, and ending in ‘dimir’ a nod to the suspected Russian connection.
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OneWhale protecting Hvaldimir
Sebastian Strand, a marine biologist from the organisation tracking the beluga, says it is puzzling that the whale is moving “very quickly away from his natural environment”.
Strand works for the OneWhale organisation. He told the French news agency, AFP, that it could be “hormones driving him to find a mate” or loneliness. This as beluga whales are a social species.
Strand says Hvaldimir is 13-14 years old. This is the age “where his hormones are very high,” reports The Guardian.
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BREAKING NEWS: Hvaldimir has left Norwegian waters and is now in Sweden. We are working with the Swedish authorities. pic.twitter.com/9JQpVdcB6T
— OneWhale (@onewhaleorg) May 29, 2023
OneWhale, in a press release, says it is working with the Swedish authorities to “move the whale far north to arctic waters” where it can be closer to other belugas. It notes that Hvaldimir spent over three years slowly moving down the top half of Norway’s coastline, before suddenly speeding up to cover the second half, and move on to Sweden.
On its website, OneWhale says that the beluga is “not a wild whale”. And that in fact, he “behaves like a lost or abandoned domesticated animal”. It says that instead of avoiding people, Hvaldimir seeks them out.
Moscow has yet to issue any official reaction to Norway’s speculation that the beluga could be a Russian spy.
