A beluga whale alleged to be a Russian spy approached a Norwegian fishing boat wearing a harness that read “Equipment of St.
Petersburg.”
According to the Washington Post, the whale is now refusing to leave the area. It has apparently moved only 25 miles over the past few days and appears to enjoy human attention, allowing people of the Norwegian town to caress it.
Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries official Jorgen Ree Wiig said that the animal’s behavior was ‘strange’ as they do not usually befriend humans.
It is not clear why the beluga whale was wearing the harness but an investigation is going on. The harness had also a camera attached to it, making some believe that the whale was a Russian spy.
Others think the whale had a camera to get footage of marine wildlife or capture the behavior of beluga whales.
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union used dolphins and trained them to detect plant explosives and underwater mines. In 2000, many trained dolphins were purchased by Iran. Aside from dolphins, a trained beluga whale was also sold to Iran.
According to a BBC report at that time, the dolphins and the whale had been trained “to attack enemy frogmen with harpoons attached to their backs, or to drag them to the surface to be taken into captivity.”
Many years ago, the Russian Defense Ministry sought to buy dolphins for training purposes. But now the ministry denies it has any programs involving beluga whales or dolphins.
Residents in Norway are now considering what to do with the beluga whale. One option would be to move the animal to Iceland as it could help with its survival.
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