Explained: Why Norway is warning people to stay away from ‘spy’ whale Hvaldimir

Norway is warning its residents to stay away from a ‘spy’ whale. The harness also had “Equipment St. Petersburg” on it – fuelling speculation that the whale was from Russia’s Murmansk and was trained by the Russian navy. Wiig said the Russian navy has “been known to train belugas to conduct military operations before.” Martin Biuw, a marine mammal researcher at Norway’s Institute of Marine Research, told CNN there was no doubt the whale was trained. Researchers there do not use harnesses.” Wigg said whales were trained to ‘guard naval bases, help divers, and find lost equipment.” The whale was nicknamed Hvaldimir by a public poll in Norway, as per UPI. When it has now reached the inner Oslofjord, where the population density is much greater and where there are far more recreational boats gathered in a small area, the risk of injury or, in the worst case, death is much greater.” “We especially encourage people in boats to keep a good distance to avoid the whale being injured or, in the worst case, killed by boat traffic,” Bakke-Jensen added, as per UPI.