Hvaldimir, the Beluga Whale - Appears in the Port of Gothenburg

He has been seen in several places along the Swedish coast in recent days, but suddenly the alleged spy whale Hvaldimir appeard in the middle of Gothenburg’s harbor.

The first time he was seen was in 2019 outside the city of Hammerfest in northern Norway, with a harness attached to him that read “Equipment St. Petersburg”. Which led to speculation that he had been trained as a Russian spy. And so he was named Hvaldimir, an amalgamation of the Norwegian word for whale and Vladimir Putin.

Both Russia and the US are known to use whales in their military programs – but a Russian military journalist now says that Hvaldimir was not trained for espionage but for – sabotage.

The organization Onewhale has applied for permission to pick up Hvaldimir and move him to a reserve in the Arctic Ocean – both Norwegian authorities and researchers say it’s a bad idea, they believe that Hvaldimir is a wild animal that can find food on its own.

He just shouldn’t be inside the port of Gothenburg.