A harness recovered from an unusually friendly white in north may indicate the animal had been trained by the Russian navy as part of a marine mammal special force, experts in Norway have said. The harness, which had the words “Equipment of St. Petersburg” labelled on it, could be used to attach cameras or other instruments, the experts added.
The was first sighted last week in waters off — Norway’s most northerly county which borders . “We were going to put out our nets when we saw a whale swimming between the boats,” 26-year-old fisherman Joar Hesten told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.
Fishermen said the whale had repeatedly sought them out, and they spotted it had a harness on which it was apparently trying to rub off against the hulls of their boats. Hesten was able to remove the two straps attached to the animal late on Friday.
“If this whale has this (harness) on for a long time, then it is not good for it,” said Audun Rikardsen, professor at the department of Arctic and at the University of Tromsø. “We know that in Russia they have had domestic whales in captivity and also that some of these have apparently been released. Then they often seek out boats.”
Rikardsen contacted Russian researchers who told him the beluga had nothing to do with them. “They tell me that most likely is the Russian navy in Murmansk,” he said.
“If this comes from Russia and there is great reason to believe it, then it is not Russian scientists, but rather the navy that has done this,” said Martin Biuw of the Institute of Marine Research.
Both the US and Russia trained marine mammals including whales, dolphins, sea lions and seals during the Cold War, Vietnam War and the Iraq War.
In the US the Navy Marine Mammal Programme is ongoing and is based in San Diego, California. Animals are trained to detect enemy sea mines, to protect ports and to recover objects from the sea bed. Russia has also been known to have trained underwater mammals for military purposes.
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