In 2019, the animal surfaced on the north coast of Norway, after which it moved towards Sweden. It was nicknamed ‘Hvaldimir’, after the Norwegian word ‘hval’ for whale and a reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The whale has suddenly started swimming faster in recent months, to the surprise of biologists. “It could be the hormones that are making him look for a partner. Or he wants company, because beluga’s are social animals,” says Sebastian Strand of the organization OneWhale ‘The Guardian’.
Hvaldimir’s harness stated that the harness came from St. Petersburg, suggesting that the white dolphin had escaped from a Russian military training camp. It is also possible that the animal was trained to use in therapy for children with mental problems.
LOOK. Hvaldimir took off with kayaker Joachim Larssen’s GoPro camera in 2019