Runaway 'spy whale' fled Russian military training says marine scientist

The story of a beluga whale named Hvaldimir has intrigued many people since it first appeared off the coast of Norway in 2019. This whale was not just any ordinary beluga; it was wearing a harness that had a camera mount and the words 'Equipment St Petersburg' written on it. This unusual sight led to widespread speculation that Hvaldimir might be a 'spy whale' sent by the Russian military. However, Dr. Olga Shpak, a marine scientist who has studied marine mammals for many years, believes that Hvaldimir was not a spy but rather a whale that had escaped from a military training program. Dr. Shpak suggests that the whale was being trained to guard a naval base and fled because it had a rebellious nature, describing it as a 'hooligan'. Her confidence in this theory comes from her extensive research and conversations with colleagues in Russia. Dr. Shpak's insights are featured in a BBC documentary titled 'Secrets of the Spy Whale', which is currently available on BBC iPlayer and will be aired on BBC Two. Hvaldimir's friendly demeanor was evident when it approached fishermen in Norway. One fisherman, Joar Hesten, recalled, 'The whale starts rubbing against the boat. ' He believed that the whale was intelligent and instinctively sought help from humans. This behavior was unusual for a beluga whale, which is rarely seen so far south. Hvaldimir's harness, which had the words 'Equipment St Petersburg', raised further questions about its origins. After the harness was removed, Hvaldimir swam to the nearby port of Hammerfest, where it lived for several months. During this time, the whale struggled to catch fish and instead entertained visitors by nudging their cameras and even returning a mobile phone that had fallen into the water. Eve Jourdain, a researcher from the Norwegian Orca Survey, noted, 'It was very obvious that this particular whale had been conditioned to be putting his nose on anything that looked like a target. ' However, the exact nature of Hvaldimir's training remains a mystery. The name Hvaldimir is a clever combination of the Norwegian word for whale, 'hval', and the name of Russia's President, Vladimir Putin. Dr. Shpak is convinced that Hvaldimir escaped from a Russian military program, but she does not believe it was trained for espionage. She explained that when the beluga surfaced in Norway, the Russian marine mammal community quickly recognized it as one of their own. They were missing a beluga named Andruha, who had been captured in 2013 in the Sea of Okhotsk. A year later, Andruha was moved from a dolphinarium in St Petersburg to a military program in the Arctic. Dr. Shpak believes that when the trainers began working with Hvaldimir in open water, the whale decided to swim away and explore on its own. She described Andruha as a smart whale but also noted that it had a playful and rebellious side, which may have contributed to its decision to leave the military program. Satellite images taken near a Russian naval base in Murmansk show what appear to be pens containing beluga whales. These images suggest that Hvaldimir and other whales may have been part of a security system for the military. While Russia has not officially confirmed that Hvaldimir was trained by its military, the country has a long history of using marine mammals for military purposes. In 2019, a Russian colonel humorously remarked, 'If we were using this animal for spying, do you really think we'd attach a mobile phone number with the message 'Please call this number'? ' Hvaldimir's journey took it south along the coast of Norway for several years. Unfortunately, the story of Hvaldimir does not have a happy ending. In May 2023, the whale was found dead near the town of Risavika on Norway's southwestern coast. Some activists speculated that the Russian military might have been involved in Hvaldimir's death, but this theory was dismissed by Norwegian police. They found no evidence of human involvement in the whale's demise. A post-mortem examination revealed that Hvaldimir died after a stick became lodged in its mouth, highlighting the challenges that wild animals face in their natural environments.