2023-05-29 19:11:03
Dhe beluga whale “Hvaldimir”, who appeared in Norway four years ago equipped with a mysterious harness and led to speculation about Russian espionage swam further south to the west coast of Sweden. According to marine biologist Sebastian Strand, the organization OneWhale suspects “hormones” or “loneliness” as the reason for its quick removal after the whale has been moving very slowly away from Norway for three years and was sighted near Oslo just a few days ago.
“We don’t know why it’s moving so fast at the moment,” said Strand of the NGO. At the end of April 2019, the Norwegian Coast Guard spotted a tame and curious beluga whale off the coasts of the northernmost county of Finnmark, approaching fishing boats and wearing a harness with a camera mount labeled “St. Petersburg Equipment” in English.
No comment from Moscow
At the time, the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries speculated that Hvaldimir had escaped from captivity and been trained by the Russian Navy. Biologists managed to remove the harness from the beluga whale for closer examination. However, the purpose and origin of the equipment is still unclear to this day. Moscow has never officially commented on the speculation.
Beluga whales typically live much further north, near Greenland or in the waters of the Russian or Norwegian Arctic. The Barents Sea and North Atlantic, where the whale appeared, are strategic areas for both the Russian and Western navies.
The name of the presumably 13 or 14-year-old white or beluga whale is made up of the Norwegian word for whale (“hval”) and the Russian first name Vladimir. According to OneWhale’s strand, which follows the whale’s movements, Hvaldimir appears healthy and well-fed by fish lured from Norway’s major salmon farms.
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