Beluga whale suspected of being used by the Russian Navy spotted on the west coast of Sweden

An animal used for espionage purposes? A beluga discovered four years ago wearing a strange harness, which earned him suspicions of having been used by the Russian navy, is currently on the west coast of Sweden, according to an NGO following its displacements.

The cetacean was first spotted in Norwegian Arctic waters in 2019. After being seen in recent days in Oslo Fjord (Norway), it has been sighted further south in the North Sea, in Hunnebostrand (Sweden), Sunday May 28, Sebastian Strand of the OneWhale organization announced to AFP.

“We don’t know why he’s moving so fast right now”especially since“it moves away from its natural environment”, underlined the marine biologist. The animal had spent three years slowly descending from northern Norway. He has been heading south for several months, for some unexplained reason. “It could be hormones pushing him to find a mate. Or loneliness, belugas being very social, he could be looking for others.”

A beluga trained by the Russian Navy?

The cetacean had been seen in April 2019 off the Arctic region of Finnmark, in the Norwegian Far North. The biologists who had approached him had managed to remove the harness fixed around his head. This was equipped with a base for a small camera, with the text “Equipment St.Peterburg” printed in English on the plastic straps.

The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries had speculated that the beluga had escaped from an enclosure, and that it had been dragged away by the Russian navy. Moscow has never officially commented on the speculation.

Beluga whales traditionally live much further north, near Greenland, or in the waters of the Russian or Norwegian Arctic. The Barents Sea and the North Atlantic are strategic areas for Western and Russian navies, a usual contact zone for their submarines.