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May 25, 2023 | 2:17 p.m
There’s something suspicious about this whale.
Norwegian government officials have warned residents to stay away from a friendly beluga whale that experts say may be a Russian “spy” swimming off the country’s coast.
The adorable sea creature, nicknamed Hvaldimir, was first spotted in 2019 wearing a harness that read “St. Petersburg” with mounts for an underwater camera – leading experts to believe he was trained by the Russian Navy.
The allegedly racy secret agent recently reappeared in the densely populated area of the Inner Oslofjord, stalking boats and causing a stir with people on board, the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries warned on Wednesday.
Frank Bakke-Jensen, director of the agency, urged residents to “avoid contact” with Hvaldimir to ensure the animal’s safety, even though he is “tame and used to interacting with humans”.
“We particularly encourage people in boats to keep a sufficient distance to avoid boat traffic injuring or, in the worst case, killing the whale,” Bakke-Jensen said.
Russian officials warned residents to “stay out of the way” of a whale being trained as a possible Russian spy. Jorgen Ree Wiig/Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries
The aquatic mammal “suffered minor injuries, mainly from contact with boats,” and the “risk that the whale could be injured by human contact has increased significantly,” the agency said in a statement.
The beluga whale was nicknamed Hvaldimir in a cheeky nod to Russian President Jorgen Ree Wiig/Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries
In recent weeks, the white whale has been looking for food on farms “where it could catch fish grazing on excess food,” it said.
Hvaldimir – whose cheeky nickname is a combination of the Norwegian word for whale and Russian President Vladimir Putin – is not 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 lock it behind barriers,” Bakke-Jensen said.
However, his movements are monitored by naval officials.
Marine biologists, including Joergen Ree Wiig, say the whale was clearly trained and likely originated in Russia.Jorgen Ree Wiig/Norwegian Fisheries Directorate
The whale was first spotted by fisherman Joar Hesten in northeastern Finnmark province in 2019 after the mammal began rubbing its body on a boat.
At the time, marine biologists and other experts told CNN that the creature was clearly a trained animal from Russia, and one of its harness clips read “Equipment St. Petersburg,” fueling the theory that the fish was could be a mole.
The Russian Navy is known to be “training belugas to conduct military operations,” said Joergen Ree Wiig, a marine biologist at the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, in April 2019.
Whales trained by the Russian military are generally tasked with “guarding naval bases and assisting divers.” [and] “Searching for lost equipment,” he said, but could be used for other purposes as well.
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