Was Hvaldimir the whale really trained by the Russian military?
Since the Cold War, the Soviet Union and the USA have trained belugas and dolphins to defend bases and submarines. Hvaldimir might have been one of them before he escaped.
One day in 2019, the beluga whale Hvaldimir was discovered near Ingøy in northern Norway. It had a camera harness on and was very sociable, according to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK.
The whale stayed in the Hammerfest area for a long time before starting to move up and down the Norwegian coast. Hvaldimir was both in the Oslofjord and in Fjällbacka in Sweden before being found dead in Risavika in sourthern Norway in 2024.
In a BBC documentary, Ukrainian marine biologist Olga Shpak stated that the beluga Hvaldimir is believed to have escaped from a Russian military programme.
She has researched whales in Russia since the 1990s before returning to Ukraine in 2022.
She said her Russian colleagues told her that the navy immediately identified Hvaldimir as one of their own. In Russia, the whale was named Andruha.
When the trainers started working with the beluga in open water, Hvaldimir reportedly swam away from the boat he was supposed to follow, Shpak told the BBC.
Audun Rikardsen, a whale researcher at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, told sciencenorway.no that he was always certain Hvaldimir came from the Russian navy.
Russia has never responded to whether Hvaldimir was trained by them, but the use of belugas in defence is nothing new.
The 'Dolphin Arms Race'
Since the 1960s, both the USA and the former Soviet Union have used belugas, dolphins, and sea lions to protect naval bases, according to The Guardian.
It was the Americans who began training marine mammals for defence. This became part of the major arms race with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
According to Rikardsen, belugas are used in colder, northern areas, while dolphins and sea lions are more common in warmer regions.
Russia is also said to have used dolphins to protect the Black Sea fleet's base from Ukrainian attacks in Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula during the war, writes The Guardian.
Why train belugas and dolphins?
One of the traits that make belugas and dolphins attractive to the military is their use of echolocation. This means they use sound to navigate underwater.
As a result, they are not as dependent on vision as humans are, marine biologist Sebastian Strand at Marine Mind explains.
Marine mammals are not hindered by darkness, making it easier for them to perform certain tasks.
Moreover, they can swim faster and dive deeper than humans without getting sick.
They are used to search for underwater mines, sabotage divers, and submarines.
According to Strand, belugas are trained to attach magnets to diving tanks, with a rope and buoy hanging from it. The buoy floats to the surface of the water.
"It gives a 'There's a person here!' signal," he says.
Marine mammals can also be tasked with sabotaging enemy boats. Strand explains that this can be done by attaching objects to boat propellers to disable them.
According to Russian military expert Viktor Baranets, dolphins were also trained to survey the seabed, defend marine areas, and attach explosives to the hulls of ships, writes NRK.
Hvaldimir as a military whale
"We saw clear signs of training. There was no doubt about it," says Strand.
Strand explains that he saw Hvaldimir doing things consistent with tasks military whales are trained for.
He personally monitored the whale for three years and became well-acquainted with Hvaldimir's patterns. Strand worked as an advocate to protect the whale from human interference.
Firstly, Hvaldimir was very eager to retrieve objects from the sea.
You may have seen the video of the beluga rescuing a girl's phone when she dropped it in the water in Hammerfest?
Secondly, it seemed like Hvaldimir enjoyed attaching loose ropes to boat propellers.
This became a small issue for those working with salmon farming, and Strand explains that he often had to step in to help untangle the rope from the boats.
Strand mentions that they had to be careful not to create a connection between attaching the rope and their appearance.
"Hvaldimir was really clever and wanted to see the people he became familiar with again," he says.
To ensure it wasn't a reward for the whale when they showed up, Strand had to wait until Hvaldimir left the area before fixing the propeller.
Rikardsen thinks there could be several reasons why Hvaldimir enjoyed being near fish farms. There was plenty of food in the area, and the facility might have resembled his childhood home in Russia.
"We can never fully confirm what he was actually trained for. This is speculation based on Hvaldimir's behaviour," says Rikardsen.
"But no one has seriously thought that Hvaldimir was sent across the border to spy. That was said as a joke in the beginning,” he adds.
Similar to guard dogs
Many may find it strange that whales can be trained to carry out such tasks.
However, Strand says the traits sought in animals for training aren't so different from when wolves were domesticated into what we now know as dogs.
"We think of dogs as cooperative, and this sounds crazier when it comes to marine mammals. But when we hear about guard dogs alerting us to intruders, that seems natural," he says.
Belugas are intelligent and social herd animals that naturally communicate and cooperate extensively with others. This makes them easier targets for training.
"They have cooperation coded into their behaviour," says Strand.
Hvaldimir's death
Hvaldimir was found dead in August off the coast of Risavika southern Norway with multiple injuries on his body.
Investigations conducted by the Norwegian Veterinary Institute and police forensic experts indicate that Hvaldimir likely died from a bacterial infection caused by a wound in his mouth, according to NRK.
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Translated by Alette Bjordal Gjellesvik
Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no
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