Hvaldimir photographed in Stad, Norway, earlier this year, just before he began his sudden journey south.
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Hvaldimir photographed in Stad, Norway, earlier this year, just before he began his sudden journey south.
Germany is rich
A beluga whale long believed to be a Russian spy has appeared in Sweden, raising concerns about its health and efforts to protect it from dangerous boat traffic.
Hvaldimir — a combination of the Norwegian word for whale (hval) and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin — has spent the past few years swimming south along the Norwegian coast, where he was first spotted by fishermen in 2019.
He was wearing a harness labeled “St. Petersburg Device”, which led many to believe that he was trained by the Russian navy for intelligence purposes. (Russia and the US are among the few countries with military training programs.) combine aquatic mammals.)
Hvaldimir has become something of a local celebrity in the years since, with viral video shows him picking up a woman’s dropped mobile phone and steal and take back GoPro’s kayakers.
“He is a friendly, domesticated, displaced, formerly captive whale that relies on humans for socializing,” said a whale, a non-profit organization created specifically to protect Hvaldimir. “Belugas is a highly social whale and it has been living alone for the past four years.”
But those interactions can come at a cost. Hvaldimir has suffered injuries from boat propellers, sharp objects, hooks and foreign objects being put in her mouth — and faces high risk in Sweden, which has more people and fewer fish than Norway.
a whale said Monday that they are working with Swedish authorities to protect him, even closing a bridge to limit public access and help their team get to the scene faster.
Chairman Rich German told NPR in a phone interview that OneWhale’s short-term goal is to protect Hvaldimir, “who is in obvious danger of life.”
Their ultimate goal is to create a 500-acre marine reserve in northern Norway where they can rehabilitate him before releasing him into a wild population of beluga whales—and they figure it out. Dung he was the first of many inhabitants.
“Hvaldimir’s sad story has the good news that the sanctuary will also be home to whales that are also living in captivity in marine parks and the like around the world,” German said. speak. “Hvaldimir’s story has the opportunity to transform from being an extremely inhumane treatment of animals to becoming a global ambassador for compassion and love between humans and animals.”
A group of local firefighters pose for a photo in Kungshamn, Sweden, on Sunday, as Hvaldimir swims in the water behind them.
Sebastian Strand/German Rich
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A group of local firefighters pose for a photo in Kungshamn, Sweden, on Sunday, as Hvaldimir swims in the water behind them.
Sebastian Strand/German Rich
How – and why – did he get to Sweden?
For years, Hvaldimir hangs out on industrial salmon farms, receiving valuable social interaction from workers and nourishment from an abundance of wild fish (and, OneWhale says, causing workplace hazards and environmental liability in the process). But he’s recently, and suddenly, taken off south.
“He walked about 900 miles in the last two months, and in the two years before that he walked about 375 miles,” says German.
No one knows exactly what prompted Hvaldimir’s journey, although experts have several theories.
German says he may have followed some sort of instinctive migration. Sebastian Strand, a marine biologist with OneWhale, told Rob Schmitz of NPR that he thought Hvaldimir was lonely.
“A big part of our goal is also to reunite him with others of his species,” he said.
Hvaldimir is said to be 13 or 14 years old, “the age when his hormone levels are very high”, Strand told The Guardianreported that he is not believed to have seen another beluga whale since April 2019.
“It could be the hormone that drives him to find a mate,” Strand added. “Or it could be loneliness, as the beluga whale is a very social species – maybe it’s looking for other beluga whales.”
German says it’s possible that once Hvaldimir got far enough away from the salmon farm, he continued to move south in search of food.
Whatever the reason, the organization is concerned about the amount of money his trip has caused. It says that Hvaldimir lost weight after swimming far in such a short period of time while eating less. And it’s unclear where he might go next.
“He’s always hugged the coast so he’ll probably continue to do that,” German said. “Whether he’s looking for fish, to enrich society, he’ll probably continue. We can’t say for sure, but that’s the trend he’s following.”
Conservation experts are hoping for a ripple effect
Hvaldimir’s story gained renewed attention last week when he was discovered in the waters off the Norwegian capital Oslo, home to major industrial ports, murky waters and heavy traffic. casting.
The Germans described it as a “perfectly dangerous storm.” a whale said at that time that the chance of Hvaldimir further injury or death has increased significantly, with relocation being his best chance of survival.
Hvaldimir somehow skirted those waters, to the relief of many, and ended up in Sweden. German said authorities there were proactive and empathetic, with the local fire department immediately contacting his team and taking action.
“We’ve been working to protect him for years now, but all of a sudden I think everyone else has stepped up and been like, ‘This is a dangerous situation… may have to happen’,” he added.
Just because Hvaldimir is in Sweden doesn’t mean he’s safe, German said.
The country has more people than Norway, less fish and heavier boat traffic, among other risks. OneWhale shared a Instagram videos of a whale swimming through a narrow canal, calling it “hard to see.”
It says plans are still underway to transport Hvaldimir north to arctic waters, although German says there have not been any major updates.
And while Hvaldimir’s suspected spying past is certainly tumultuous, German says it’s old news. The important thing, he said, is that the whale is still in danger — and represents something bigger.
“This one whale story, we believe… can change the lives of other whales and really is the way humans look at the way we treat animals,” German said. more. “Putting animals into military service to protect us from ourselves is something that I think we can really scrutinize about why we’re doing it, plus keeping whales in the wilds.” marine park for profit and entertainment. I really feel he is an opportunity to change the world in so many ways.”
