The mystery as to why a beluga whale appeared off the coast of Norway wearing a harness may finally have been solved.
The tame white whale, which locals named Hvaldimir, made headlines five years ago amidst widespread speculation that it was a Russian spy.
Now an expert in the species says she believes the whale did indeed belong to the military and escaped from a naval base in the Arctic Circle.
But Dr Olga Shpak does not believe it was a spy. She believes the beluga was being trained to guard the base and fled because it was a “hooligan”.
Russia has always refused to confirm or deny that the beluga whale was trained by its military.
But Dr Shpak, who worked in Russia researching marine mammals from the 1990s until she returned to her native Ukraine in 2022, told BBC News: “For me it’s 100% (certain).”
