A beluga whale (beluga), first seen off the coast of Norway in 2019 and allegedly used for spying by Russia, resurfaced in Sweden this week, confusing scientists. Marine biologists say the whale reached this unexpected region very quickly as it continued to move away from the species’ typical habitat.
Scientists express their surprise at the beluga’s travel to Sweden, saying that the closest population of beluga whales is located in the Svalbard archipelago, a point between Norway’s north coast and the north pole. It is believed that the whale has not encountered another beluga since it arrived in Norway, and it is thought that it may be looking for a mate.
“We don’t know why it’s accelerating so much right now,” Sebastian Strand, a marine biologist at OneWhale, told The Guardian. Or he might be feeling lonely because beluga whales are such a social species – he might be looking for other beluga whales.” The whale, estimated to be 13-14 years old, is estimated to be “at an age when its hormones are very high”.
Whale, camera mounts and “St. After being in Norway for the first time wearing a harness that reads “Belongs to St. Petersburg”, he became known as Hvaldimir, a combination of the Norwegian word for “whale” and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Marine Biologist Jorgen Ree Wiig told CNN at the time that “the whale seemed to be playing, but our instincts were that he also wanted help getting out of the harnesses.” Also, the Russian navy has been known to train white whales to conduct military operations before, and it is a fact that during the Cold War they were used to sniff mines and torpedoes.
Marine biologists from the Norwegian Fisheries Directorate removed Hvaldimir’s harness in 2019. They believe that Hvaldimir may have escaped from Russian containment and may have been trained by the Russian navy because he seemed comfortable around people.
Local marine biologists told The Guardian that the whale, which had found fish on Norway’s salmon farms, appeared “healthy”. However, the organization is concerned if the whale will be able to find food in Sweden and states that they have previously observed Hvaldimir losing some weight.
White whales have a lifespan of between 40 and 60 years and usually live in the waters surrounding Greenland, northern Norway and Russia. Russia has never given an official response to allegations that the whale was being used as a Russian spy, but as the BBC reported, Russian reserve colonel Viktor Baranets said in an interview with Govorit Moskva in 2019, “If we were using this animal for spying, we’d really be over ‘Please this Would we add a mobile number that says ‘call the number’? He said and added: “We have military dolphins for combat roles, we don’t hide it.”
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