Hvaldimir is known for following the boats and playing with those on board.
A beluga whale that appeared in Norway in 2019, using a harness with camera stents, appeared on Sunday off the coast of Sweden. Military experts believe that the whale may have been trained by Russian military personnel.
Known as Hvaldimir, it “has been traveling along the Norwegian coast” since 2019, with a few stops along the way, according to the Norwegian Fisheries Directorate, which added that Hvaldimir “tends to stay on farms where it manages to fish and eat surplus feed.”
Hvaldimir is known for following the boats and playing with those on board.
Initially discovered in the northern region of Norway, in Finnmark, the whale has spent nearly three years descending a section of the Norwegian coast, having accelerated considerably in recent months, towards Sweden. On Sunday, it was seen near Hunnebostrand, in the south of the country.
“We don’t know why it’s accelerating so much now,” admits Sebastian Strand, a marine biologist at OneWhale, telling the Guardian. The expert admits there may be a “hormonal” issue at stake, as the whale is looking for a partner to mate with. However, these animals are very social creatures and Strand suggests that Hvaldemir may be looking for the company of other creatures of the same species.
Biologists believe the animal is between 13 and 14 years old, when “hormones are very high.”
These whales can reach a large size, about six meters in height and can live up to 60 years.
Experts suspect that the Russian navy trained the animal to spy on Norway. The animal itself appears to be quite comfortable around humans. In addition, the belt attached to the animal, which the biologists removed at the same time, bore the words “Equipment from St. Petersburg”.
Moscow has never issued a response to put an end to this speculation.
The Barents Sea, where the animal was found, is a place of great geopolitical importance, with the West and Russia playing a game of cat and mouse with their submarines monitored.
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