The famous whale known as “Hvaldimir” was sighted last week in the inner Oslofjord.
Now experts believe they have seen the beluga whale at Hunnebostrand along the west coast of our neighboring country, my dear brother.
– I’m 100% sure it’s him. We were together for several hours yesterday and he has some very special scars, says Norwegian marine biologist Sebastian Strand of the Onewhale organization at Aftonbladet.
He made the trip to Hunnebostrand himself when he heard rumors that Hvaldimir had made the trip to Sweden.
Warning: keep your distance
swim south
– We don’t know why he’s moving so fast right now, adds Strand The Guardian.
He says it’s a mystery why Hvaldimir strays from its natural habitat.
– It could be hormones pushing him to find a mate. Or it could be loneliness, as the beluga is a very social species. It is possible that he is looking for other belugas, specifies the marine biologist.
Total secrecy around Hvaldimir
Hvaldimir is believed to be between 13 and 14 years old and, according to Strand, he is at an age when his hormone levels are very high.
The closest white whales belong to the Svalbard archipelago. Researchers assume that Hvaldimir has not encountered a single other white whale since he was first sighted in Norway.
Spy whale
Hvaldimir caused a stir when he first appeared outside Rolfsøya in Finnmark at the end of April 2019.
Since then, he has spent more than three years roaming the northern part of the Norwegian coast, before suddenly moving south last month.
There have been several speculations about Hvaldimir’s actual origin. The most popular theory is that it is a Russian “spy whale” that escaped from a military camp.
Watch “Hvaldimir” swim with trash
And marine biologist Sebastian Strand tells Aftonbladet he has no doubt that Hvaldimir is a former Russian spy.
– I could swear he was a spy. We have very strong indications, but no confirmation from Russia, he told the newspaper.
When Hvaldimir was first found in 2019, he was wearing a harness with the text Saint Petersburg and a GoPro camera.
– He was probably trained in Russia for eight years, but he was born in the wild before he was captured, says Strand.
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