The beluga whale that caused a stir in Hunnebostrand could be Hvaldimir – a Russian “spy whale” that escaped from a mission.
Carl Bildt says that he doesn’t know much about spy whales but that he thinks we should be kind to them.
– It is possible that it is a refugee protesting against Putin’s war, I don’t know, he says.
In Hunnebostrand, a white whale has appeared in the middle of the harbor, something that is unusual. It stayed for several hours, playing under the boats and many on site photographed the whales.
There has been wild speculation about the elections and one of the theories is that it is the Russian “spy election” called Hvaldimir. The whale was first seen in Norwegian waters in April 2019. It was then unafraid of people and had a camera harness on. The organization Onewhale, which has followed the elections for several years, believes that the elections then ran away from a mission.
“Give Hvaldimir political asylum”
In Ifter fem, former Minister of State and Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt is asked if he knows anything about Russian spy whales.
– To begin with, it can be stated that during the past year, approximately 500,000 people have fled from Russia. So it is possible that it is a refugee protesting against Putin’s war, I don’t know, he says.
– I think we give Hvaldimir political asylum. He or she must have had a difficult life, so I think we should be kind to Hvaldimir, he continues and laughs.
Russian training program for whales
Sebastian Strand, marine biologist at the organization Onewhale, confirms that it is Hvaldimir, which has appeared on the west coast.
– I think we should call him an ex-spy because I don’t think he’s spying much now. But he’s playing around with some of the old tricks they probably taught him, he says.
He tells us that beluga whales are intelligent animals that are easy to train for complex tasks and that in Russia there is a military training program for whales. But Hvaldimir is now an apolitical choice, says Sebastian Strand.
– He is a bit of a lonely whale who hopes to find other beluga whales that he can hang out with. But along the Norwegian coast and into Sweden there have been few beluga whales. He probably wants to have a family but has been swimming a little wrong.