A beluga or white whale whose had suspected that she might be a “spy” for Russia in Norway was found dead last Saturday in Stavenger, the western coast of this Nordic country, reported EfeThe whale will undergo an autopsy on Monday to determine the cause of its death, the Sandnes Veterinary Institute announced. OneWhale, an organization whose mission was to protect the beluga and which is campaigning for its freedom so that it can live with others of its species in the future, does not believe that it died of natural causes.
“Hvaldimir” -as it was baptized in its time by combining the word hval (whale) and the name of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin– was first spotted in 2019 in several Norwegian locations and attracted attention for its docility.
When a strap that attached a camera to its back was found with the label “St. Petersburg Team,” speculation arose as to whether it could be a “spy” whale, given its ability to crash into ships, interact with salmon fishermen And even steal (and return) GoPros lost in the ocean. Other experts have pointed out its possible use in therapies for problem children.
In Norway, Hvaldimir has become a celebrity attracting up to 300 tourists a day. OneWhale later reported that the cetacean had sparked an unregulated tourism industry, with diving instructors and tour operators selling group trips to swim and dive with it.
Tourism caused him visible stress because people They offered him harmful objects and sometimes put them in his mouth. As a result, the animal suffered life-threatening injuries to its teeth and mouth. On separate occasions, it encountered ship propellers and sharp objects, OneWhale reports.
On Facebook, the organization wrote that it was angry, very upset and “heartbroken” because after years of struggling to “help him out of danger,” Hvaldimir was finally “on the verge of a better life.” However, “there is a group of humans who wanted to keep him trapped and prevented this sweet animal from getting help sooner. They will receive full credit for their premature death“The average lifespan of belugas is between 35 and 50 years. Hvaldimir was 15 years old when he died.
In fact, belugas, while not in danger of extinction, are a protected species under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) says some of the threats they face include: captivity; THE hunting and the fishing; THE pollution; THE pollution acoustic; And any activity related to human activity. Similarly, in the 19th and 20th centuries, they were hunted (like seals) for their oil, meat and skin. Today, they are still hunted in the Arctic.
A lonely beluga
Hvaldimir was a displaced marine mammal who frequented areas with human presence. It did not have wild behavior, but behaved like a domestic animal. lost or abandoned. He sought people out instead of avoiding them, OneWhale explains.
According to IFAW, belugas are very social animals, which do not normally live alone. They live in packs or groups made up of family and friends.Their average size is 10, but they can include up to 25 individuals.
Before he died, Hvaldimir was transferred to a fjord in eastern Finland, where authorities were convinced he could integrate with other specimens of the same species.
[Un delfín en busca de pareja atemoriza a Japón: le acusan de hasta 18 ataques a bañistas]
Animals trained since the Cold War
During World War II, the United Kingdom trained sea lions without much success. For this reason, speculation about marine animal espionage dates back to the Cold War. The United States and the Soviet Union trained beluga whales, dolphins, sea lions, fur seals, sharks, rays, turtles and seabirds for their sensory and physical abilities.
The Soviet strategy was that belugas, dolphins, sea lions and fur seals They will search for underwater mines and other objects under the sea. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, time indicates that Dolphins were sold to Iransince the suspension of the marine mammal training program.
Today, the Russians have military dolphins trained to solve various tasks, from analyzing the seabed to killing foreign divers And placing mines on the hulls of foreign ships in order to protect a body of water. The dolphin facility is located in Sevastopol, Crimea, and before 2014 it was under Ukrainian control.
In 2016, a new program under the supervision of the Russian Defense Ministry began looking for new recruits to train fighting dolphins and seals for the Russian Navy. In fact, time indicates that He offered up to $24,000 for five bottlenose dolphins.
The U.S. Marine Mammal Program currently trains bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions to detect, locate, mark, and recover objects (and threats) in harbors, coastal areas, and on the high seas, the Center for Naval Information Warfare Pacific (NIWC Pacific) explains. Threats include explosives, mines, (enemy) divers, and manned and unmanned surface or submarine vessels, the U.S. State Department says.
Today, marine animals are not only used as spies by different governments and are therefore subject to other dangers. Cetaceans, for example, They are victims of military experiments. Animal ethics reports that armies sometimes test the effects of their new weapons on moving targets and therefore attack animals.
The goal is observe the resistance of the animals’ bodies to attacks or extreme situations that soldiers themselves may experience during conflicts. In addition, animals can also be surgical experimental subjects so that military doctors can learn how to treat weapon wounds and their healing capacity.
