Behavior of a marine mammal surprises biologists
Scandinavian media got the opportunity to practice their favorite pastime — the search for «Russian spies». Previously, mysterious submarines were confidently leading in this nomination, but now the case has taken on a completely absurd connotation. The story now goes like this: “allegedly, a Russian-trained spy kit has reappeared off the coast of Sweden.”
The beluga whale was first seen in Norway wearing a harness with the inscription «St. that it was a spy trained by the Russian navy, and now the beluga whale has reappeared off the coast of Sweden.
First sighted in Norway's far northern region of Finnmark, the whale spent more than three years moving slowly along the upper half of the Norwegian coast before suddenly accelerating in recent months to cover the other half and move further into Sweden.
Sunday it was observed in Hunnebostrand, off the southwest coast of Sweden, according to The Guardian.
“We don’t know why it has accelerated so rapidly right now,” said Sebastian Strand, a marine biologist at OneWhale, adding, that it was especially puzzling because the whale was “very fast moving away from its natural habitat.”
“Maybe it's the hormones that make him look for a mate. Or it could be loneliness, since beluga whales are a very social species — perhaps they are looking for other beluga whales,” the biologist suggests.
Strand said that the whale, believed to be 13-14 years old, is “at an age when his hormones are very high.”
The nearest population of beluga whales is in the Svalbard archipelago, which is halfway between the northern coast of Norway and the north pole.
It is believed that the whale has not seen another beluga whale since its arrival in Norway in April 2019.
Norwegians have nicknamed it Hvaldimir, a pun on the whale in Norwegian, hval, and an allusion to its supposed connection with Russia .
When the whale first appeared in the Norwegian Arctic, marine biologists from the Norwegian Fisheries Authority removed its artificial harness.
The harness had a mount suitable for an action camera, while the plastic The clasps were printed with the words «Equipment St. Petersburg».
Representatives of the directorate said that Khvaldimir may have escaped from the enclosure and may have been trained by the Russian Navy, as he apparently got used to people.
Moscow never gave any official reaction to Norwegian speculation that he might be a “Russian spy,” writes The Guardian.
The Barents Sea is a strategic geopolitical area where Western and Russian submarine movements are monitored.
It's also the gateway to the Northern Sea Route, which shortens sea travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Strand said the whale's health «seemed to be very good» in recent years, and it has been harvesting wild fish from Norwegian salmon farms .
But his organization was concerned about Hvaldimir's ability to find food in Sweden and has already noticed some weight loss.
Belugas, which can reach a size of about six meters (20 feet) and live from 40 up to 60 years old, usually found in the icy waters around Greenland, northern Norway and Russia.