Norway is urging people and boaters to “avoid contact” with the harness-wearing beluga, dubbed the “spy” whale. The Norwegian Fisheries Directorate is concerned that a whale recently spotted near Oslo may be injured. File photo courtesy of Jorgen Ree Wiig/Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries
May 24 (UPI) — Norway is urging people and boaters to “avoid contact” with a harnessed beluga whale, nicknamed the “spy” whale, recently spotted in a fjord near Oslo.
The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries issued the directive on Wednesday due to concerns that the whale, which is domesticated, could be injured.
“So far, there have been only minor incidents of minor whale injuries, primarily due to contact with boats,” said director of fisheries Frank Bakke-Jensen in a statement.
“In particular, we urge people in boats to keep a safe distance so that the whale is not injured or, in the worst case, killed by boat traffic,” Bakke-Jensen added.
The beluga, which is known to follow ships and is a protected species in Norway, was first spotted off the coast of the Barents Sea in 2019. April. The whale was seen traveling along the coast of Norway and staying at ‘farms where it managed. to catch fish by grazing surplus feed”, says the directorate.
The photos show the whale wearing a harness that fishermen say contains GoPro camera mounts.
The belts have given rise to many theories, including that the whale escaped from a Russian naval base in the Murmansk region and was “trained to spy” on Norway.
Public survey In Norway, the whale is nicknamed Whaledimir, or Hvaldimir in Norwegian, because it is very similar to the Russian name Vladimir.
Although many organizations have encouraged Norway to catch the whale, the Fisheries Directorate rejects the idea.
“We have always said that the whale is a free-living animal and we see no reason to capture it and put it behind barriers,” Bakke-Jensen said on Wednesday.
“We will consider various measures, but it is too early to say anything concrete about it,” Bakke-Jensen added, as the Directorate of Fisheries promised to monitor the whales’ movements.
“Hopefully by the time it reaches the end of the Oslofjord, it will turn around.”
