When you think of spies, who is the first person that comes to your mind? James Bond? Lara Croft? Sam, Clover and Alex from 'Female Spies'?
And how about a 'spy whale'? It sounds like a joke, but it's not.
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According to the British newspaper The Guardian, a beluga whale spent about three years moving slowly along the coast of Norway.
However, in recent months the animal suddenly accelerated its swimming, heading towards Sweden and being seen off the coast of this country on the last Sunday of May, the 28th.
The mysterious beluga whale was seen off the Norwegian coast in 2019 and wearing a “collar” with identification. The item read: “equipment from Saint Petersburg”, indicating that the animal could have been shipped from Russia.
According to a publication on the UOL website, the Norwegians gave the beluga the nickname Hvaldimir – a joke and a pun on “hval” (“whale”, in Norwegian) and Vladimir, a very common name among Russians.
At the time it appeared for the first time, a group of fishermen claimed that they were chased by the animal. According to them, the spy whale was carrying some “paraphernalia”, which appeared to be a camera or a weapon.
The presence of the beluga is intriguing and can be worrisome if it is indeed a spy animal. This is because the region is a strategic geopolitical area, where there is a lot of unmonitored western and Russian submarine movement. In addition to being the gateway to the Northern Route, shortening journeys between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
According to marine biologist Sebastian Strand, from OneWhale, the little spy is estimated to be between 13 and 14 years old. The professional also pointed out that belugas are very social animals and their behavior may be motivated by hormones.
"It could be that he's looking for other beluga whales," Strand said. Most likely for mating.
Sebastian also pointed out that at this age the animal's hormones are "very high". Furthermore, the closest beluga population to that region is in the Svalbard archipelago, in the far north of Norway.
This explains the movement of whale, but does not explain the identification of St. Petersburg. Russia, so far, has not commented on.
Graduated in Social Communication at the Federal University of Goiás. Passionate about digital media, pop culture, technology, politics and psychoanalysis.
