The mystery of the white Beluga whale found in Norway: is it a Russian weapon?

They already call it the mystery of the white whale and it has confused marine experts in Norway. Fishermen Joar, Håvard and Erlend Hesten went out to the water on Thursday to cast a line without knowing that they were going to witness an unprecedented event for them. And they know well what the marine world is. It is revealed by The Guardian and the portal

A white whale approached swimming calmly before them, between the very boats. Now, after consulting with experts, they believe that they have witnessed a Russian experiment and that this harmless beluga whale could well become a weapon under special circumstances.

A strange harness on his neck with the name of the Saint Petersburg Team was what set off the alarms. The fisherman Joar Hesten revealed to the Norwegian radio station NRK . "He approached us, and when he approached, we saw that he had some kind of harness." The whale's behavior was strange. She wanted to pull the straps and ropes on the side of the boats.

Audun Rikardsen, professor in the department of Arctic and marine biology at the Arctic University of Norway (UiT), told NRK: "We know that in Russia they have kept domestic whales in captivity and also that some of them have been released. Then , they often search for ships.

In fact, in Soviet Russia in the 1980s, dolphins were recruited in a program for military purposes. Some of the virtues of this animal are its very clear vision, its stealth and good memory, making them effective tools for detecting weapons.

This mammal program was closed in the 1990s. However, a 2017 report by TV Zvezda, a Ministry of Defense station, revealed that the Russian navy has been again training beluga whales, seals and bottlenose dolphins with military purposes in polar waters. In the past three years, President Vladimir Putin has reopened three former Soviet military bases along his vast Arctic coastline.

Recent research and training was carried out by the Murmansk Research Institute of Sea Biology in northern Russia on behalf of the navy to see if beluga whales can be used to "protect the entrances to naval bases" in the arctic regions, "help deep-sea divers and, if necessary, kill any strangers who enter their territory," reveals The Guardian.

Dolphins and seals were trained to carry tools for divers and detect torpedoes, mines and other munitions sunken to the sea floor. Was this white whale part of military training? The mystery is still there.

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