Norway warns residents to stay away from friendly whale suspected as Russian ‘spy’
There’s something fishy about this whale.
Norwegian government officials have warned residents to steer clear of a friendly beluga whale that experts say may be a Russian “spy” swimming along the country’s coastline.
The adorable sea creature, nicknamed Hvaldimir, was first spotted in 2019 wearing a harness branded “St. Petersburg” with mounts for an underwater camera — leading experts to believe he was trained by the Russian Navy.
The suspected slippery secret agent popped up again recently in the densely populated area of Inner Oslofjord, where he has been following boats and making a splash with folks on board, the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries warned Wednesday.
Frank Bakke-Jensen, director of the agency, urged residents to “avoid contact” with Hvaldimir for the safety of the animal, even though he’s “tame and used to being around people.”
“We especially encourage people in boats to keep a good distance to avoid the whale being injured or, in the worst case, killed by boat traffic,” said Bakke-Jensen.
Russian officials warned residents to “avoid” a whale trained as a possible Russian spy. Jorgen Ree Wiig/Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries
The aquatic mammal “suffered minor injuries, primarily from contact with boats,” and the “risk that the whale may be injured due to human contact has become significantly greater,” the agency said in a statement.
The beluga whale was nicknamed Hvaldimir in a cheeky reference to Russia’s president. Jorgen Ree Wiig/Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries
In recent weeks, the white whale has been foraging for food at farms, “where it has been able to catch fish grazing on surplus feed,” it added.
Hvaldimir — whose cheeky nickname is combo of the Norwegian word for whale and Russian president Vladimir Putin — won’t be captured by officials despite his possible ties to the country.
“We have always communicated that the whale in question is a free-living animal and we see no reason to capture it and put it behind barriers,” Bakke-Jensen said.
His movements will, however, be monitored by marine officials.
Marine biologists, including Joergen Ree Wiig, say the whale was clearly trained and likely from Russia. Jorgen Ree Wiig/Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries
The whale was first discovered by fisherman Joar Hesten in the northeastern county of Finnmark in 2019 after the mammal began rubbing his body against a boat.
At the time, Marine biologists and other experts told CNN that the critter was clearly a trained animal from Russia, with one of his harness clips reading “Equipment St. Petersburg” — fueling the theory that the fish may be a mole.
The Russian Navy has “been known to train belugas to conduct military operations,” Joergen Ree Wiig, a marine biologist at Norway’s Directorate of Fisheries, said in April 2019.
Whales trained by the Russian military are generally tasked with “guarding naval bases, helping divers [and] finding lost equipment” but can be used for other purposes, he said.
Source: New York Post
