“Spy” Whale Returns 🐳

Suspected Russia-trained spy whale reappears off Sweden’s coast.

A beluga whale that turned up in Norway wearing a harness in 2019, prompting speculation it was a spy trained by the Russian navy, has reappeared off Sweden’s coast.

First discovered in Norway’s far northern region of Finnmark, the whale spent more than three years slowly moving down the top half of the Norwegian coastline, before suddenly speeding up in recent months to cover the second half and move on to Sweden.

On Sunday, he was observed in Hunnebostrand, off Sweden’s south-western coast.

“We don’t know why he has sped up so fast right now,” said Sebastian Strand, a marine biologist with the OneWhale organisation, adding that it was particularly puzzling because the whale was moving “very quickly away from his natural environment”.

“It could be hormones driving him to find a mate. Or it could be loneliness, as belugas are a very social species – it could be that he’s searching for other beluga whales.” more