A suspected Russian-trained “spy” beluga whale has been spotted off the coast of Sweden.
Norweigan officials said the whale, which was first spotted in Arctic Norway four years ago with an apparent Russian-made harness and alleged to have come from a Russian military facility, was seen off Sweden’s coast, some 1,250 miles to the south.
Olav Lekve of the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries said that “during the last few weeks, it has moved quickly and swam several hundred kilometres” before reaching waters off Sweden’s west coast.
He said it has been reported off Lysekill, which sits north of Goteborg, Sweden’s second-largest city. There was no immediate comment from Swedish authorities.
Last week, the white mammal was spotted in the inner Oslo fjord where the directorate urged people to avoid contact with the animal to ensure its safety.
Whale-watchers in Norway have nicknamed it Hvaldimir, combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the Russian first name Vladimir.
The directorate said that there was a risk of injury for Hvaldimir when more recreational boats than usual gathered in the fjord.
This was because people sought to catch a glimpse of a huge US aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, which briefly visited the Norwegian capital.
Norwegian officials said they did not want to speculate on the whale’s origins.
“He is a little lonely whale who hopes to find other white whales that he can hang out with,” said Sebastian Strand, a marine biologist with Onewhale, a nonprofit organisation created solely for protecting the health and welfare of Hvaldimir.
“There are few beluga whales along the Norwegian coast and in Sweden. He probably wants to have a family but has swum a little wrong,” he told Swedish broadcaster TV4.
Carl Bildt, Sweden’s former foreign minister, jokingly suggested to TV4 that Hvaldimir should be granted political asylum in Sweden, saying “it is possible that it is a refugee protesting against Putin’s war” in Ukraine.
Mr Lekve said that, when in Norwegian waters, the beluga whale was considered a protected wild marine mammal.
This means authorities in Norway have “rejected all inquiries and plans to capture the whale.”
In 2019, the enigmatic whale was found in a harbour near Norway’s northernmost point, where it became a local attraction.
The whale, which is no longer wearing the harness, is so comfortable with people that it swims to the dock and retrieves plastic rings thrown into the sea.
