- One beluga’s journey from a would-be spy to a lost lover.
Russia has been stirring up trouble in Ukraine for a long while now, and things aren’t looking to get better any time soon. But at least we can take solace in the fact that Russia hasn’t weaponized marine life.
Wait, what? They have?
Indeed, and they’ve been doing it for a while now. In 2019, Norwegian fishermen spotted a beluga whale wearing a bizarre harness.
Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the harness was designed to hold Russian spy equipment. They figured that out because the thing basically read “Made in Russia.”
It wasn’t the whale’s fault that it got roped into international espionage, though, so it was let go. Having received the name Hvaldimir, the beluga has roamed the waters around Norway ever since.
Now, the beluga has started traveling at such a great speed that experts believe the young whale can only be fueled by hormones. In other words, he’s looking for a girlfriend.
There’s just one problem. He’s heading south — and belugas live in Arctic waters.
Why is the would-be Russian agent going in the completely wrong direction in his search for a pretty devushka? Let’s find out.
Caught Red-Handed
But first, let’s start from square one. We don’t know when or where Hvaldimir’s story starts, but he became worldwide news in April 2019.
At the time, crews of fishing boats from the village of Inga on Norway’s northern coast spotted Hvaldimir swimming in the frigid ocean. They also noted that the whale was wearing a harness.
Now, that’s not unusual in itself — marine scientists strap cameras and microphones to sea life all the time. But as far as the scientific community knows, nobody in the world is doing such research on belugas.
Yet, the harness was clearly meant to record something. It had mounts for GoPro cameras and other similar gear.
But, what implies that Hvaldimir was a Russian spy? Well, first of all, the harness had a tag reading “Equipment of St. Petersburg” in Russian.
Here’s a free tip for all espionage agencies out there. If you make spy gear, don’t stamp your name on it.
Second, Hvaldimir was perfectly fine with people in boats approaching him and feeding him fish. He had clearly been around people, and perhaps even trained by them.
So, he was wearing a Russian camera harness and was used to interacting with people. Yeah, he was probably a spy — not that Russia has ever admitted it.
Looking to Get Some
After Hvaldimir’s harness was removed, he was allowed to go on his way. After all, it’s not like he volunteered for service.
Before he left, though, Norwegian non-profit OneWhale tagged Hvaldimir to be able to follow his movements. They were concerned that the beluga might not know how to eat in the wild if he’d spent his life in a spy training facility.
Their fears were unfounded. Hvaldimir has been happily swimming around in the ocean, catching salmon, and doing other beluga stuff.
But this May, Hvaldimir suddenly started traveling. He left his home waters around northern Norway in a great big hurry.
To marine scientists, that wasn’t all that surprising. They suspect he’s around 15 years old, which is incidentally when belugas hit puberty.
He’s merely looking for company, preferably of the female sort. But, as we mentioned, he’s heading the wrong way.
By May 28 this year, Hvaldimir had reached the coast of southern Sweden. There are no known beluga populations in the area, as they all live in the north where he started from.
Lost at Sea
So, why is Hvaldimir looking for love in the wrong places? Experts aren’t exactly sure, but they suspect his background as a spy might have something to do with it.
Let’s assume Hvaldimir spent most of his life in captivity before his trainers released him in northern Russian waters. He’s in a strange new world that he knows nothing about.
It may well be the beluga simply has no clue where he can find friends. He might’ve simply picked a direction and decided to keep swimming until he finds company.
That might be a problem for a couple of reasons. First, he will never find a friend in the south; second, he may not even find enough food.
According to OneWhale, Hvaldimir has lost quite a bit of weight on his journey. They’re now talking to Swedish authorities to get a permit to catch the beluga and transport him back to Norway to a safe fjord, reported LiveScience.
Military Marine Mammals
As a final note, you might find it weird that Russia is using sea life for espionage. But it’s actually nothing new.
In the 1990s, Turkish officials contacted Norwegian experts because they’d found a beluga in the Black Sea. They later learned that the obviously tame animal had escaped from a Russian naval base in Crimea.
In April 2022, satellite photographs revealed another effort to weaponize cetaceans in Crimea. The Russian military has apparently trained dolphins to defend its naval bases from underwater attacks.
Russia isn’t the only country using trained marine mammals, though. Even the U.S. Nave has a dedicated Marine Mammal Program.
The American-affiliated dolphins and sea lines are mostly used to spot and recover sunken Navy property. They also help apprehend unauthorized swimmers and divers that stray too close to areas off-limits to civilians.
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