Marine Scientist Proposes Beluga Whale Hvaldimir Escaped Russian Military Training

The enigma surrounding a beluga whale’s appearance off the Norwegian coast, equipped with a harness, might now have an explanation. This docile white whale, dubbed Hvaldimir by local residents, garnered significant attention five years prior amid extensive conjecture that it functioned as a Russian spy. A specialist in the species now asserts her conviction that the whale was indeed affiliated with the military and absconded from a naval installation within the Arctic Circle. However, Dr. Olga Shpak disputes the notion that it was a spy. Instead, she posits that the beluga was undergoing training to safeguard the base and departed due to its “hooligan” nature. Russia has consistently declined to either affirm or refute claims regarding its military’s training of the beluga whale. Nevertheless, Dr. Shpak, who conducted research on marine mammals in Russia from the 1990s until her return to her home country of Ukraine in 2022, stated to BBC News: “For me it’s 100% (certain).” Dr. Shpak’s narrative, which draws from discussions with acquaintances and past colleagues, is presented in a BBC documentary titled Secrets of the Spy Whale, currently accessible on BBC iPlayer and scheduled for broadcast on BBC Two on Wednesday at 21:00 GMT. The enigmatic whale initially captured public interest five years ago upon its approach to fishermen near Norway’s northern coastline. Joar Hesten, one of the fishermen, recounted: “The whale starts rubbing against the boat.” He added, “I heard about animals in distress that instinctively knew that they need help from humans. I was thinking that this is one smart whale.” This observation was uncommon due to the beluga’s docility and its unusual presence so far south. Furthermore, it was equipped with a harness featuring a camera mount and inscribed with the English phrase “Equipment St Petersburg”. Mr. Hesten assisted in detaching the harness from the whale, which subsequently proceeded to the adjacent port of Hammerfest, residing there for several months. Apparently incapable of hunting live fish for sustenance, it captivated onlookers by gently pushing against their cameras and, on one instance, retrieving a mobile phone. Eve Jourdain, a researcher affiliated with the Norwegian Orca Survey, commented: “It was very obvious that this particular whale had been conditioned to be putting his nose on anything that looked like a target because he was doing it each time.” She added, “But we have no idea what kind of facility he was in, so we don’t know what he was trained for.” Fascinated by the whale’s narrative, Norway established provisions for the beluga’s monitoring and feeding. The designation it received – Hvaldimir – serves as an allusion to “hval,” the Norwegian term for whale, and the name of Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin. Dr. Shpak opted not to disclose her sources within Russia, citing concerns for their security, but indicated that she had received information suggesting that upon the beluga’s appearance in Norway, the Russian marine mammal community promptly recognized it as belonging to them. She stated: “Through the chain of vets and trainers the message came back – that they were missing a beluga called Andruha.” Dr. Shpak reported that Andruha/Hvaldimir was initially captured in 2013 within the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia’s Far East. One year subsequent, it was transferred from a facility belonging to a St. Petersburg dolphinarium to the military initiative in the Russian Arctic, where its trainers and veterinarians maintained communication. She remarked: “I believe that when they started to work in open water, trusting this animal (not to swim away), the animal just gave up on them.” She further conveyed: “What I’ve heard from the guys at the commercial dolphinarium who used to have him was that Andruha was smart, so a good choice to be trained. But at the same time, he was kind of like a hooligan – an active beluga – so they were not surprised that he gave up on (following) the boat and went where he wanted to.” Satellite imagery captured near the Russian naval base in Murmansk indicates what potentially served as Hvaldimir/Andruha’s former habitat. Enclosures are distinctly visible in the water, containing what seem to be white whales. Thomas Nilsen, representing the Norwegian online newspaper The Barents Observer, commented: “The location of the beluga whales very close to the submarines and the surface vessels might tell us that they are actually part of a guarding system.” Russia, for its part, has never formally responded to the assertion that Hvaldimir/Andruha received training from its military. Nevertheless, the nation possesses a lengthy record of employing marine mammals for military objectives. In 2019, Russian reserve colonel Viktor Baranets 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’?” Regrettably, the remarkable narrative of Hvaldimir/Andruha concludes without a positive resolution. After acquiring the ability to forage independently, it journeyed southward along Norway’s coastline for several years, even being sighted off the Swedish coast in May 2023. Subsequently, on September 1, 2024, its remains were discovered adrift at sea, close to the town of Risavika, situated on Norway’s south-western coast. The text then poses the question: Had the extensive reach of Putin’s Russia finally apprehended the unwilling beluga? This appears not to be the case. While certain activist organizations proposed that the whale had been shot, this theory was rejected by the Norwegian police. Authorities stated that no evidence indicated direct human involvement in the beluga’s demise. A post-mortem investigation determined that Hvaldimir/Andruha perished after a stick became embedded in its mouth. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not accountable for the content of external websites. Information regarding our methodology for external linking is available.