'Russian spy' whale spotted off Swedish coast

The several-metre-long white whale was first sited a few years ago wearing a camera harness near Norway, fuelling suspicions it was being used for espionage. 

It has since been nicknamed Hvaldimir, combining the words hval (whale in Norwegian) and the common Russian first name Vladimir. 

When first spotted in 2019, the whale's harness was fitted with a base for a small camera with "Equipment St. Peterburg" printed on the plastic strap.

The biologists who found Hvaldimir were able to remove the harness fixed around his head.

The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries speculated at the time the whale had escaped from an enclosure where it was possibly trained by the Russian Navy since it was accustomed to human company and would approach ships.

Moscow has never officially commented on the case. 

On Sunday, Hvaldimir was seen near Hunnebostrand in west Sweden, further south than its first appearance in 2019, according to OneWhale organisation's Sebastian Strand.

Hvaldimir has been moving in the southern direction quicker than its normal pace, Strand said.

Strand noted the whale is moving away from the condition that Belugas naturally favour - the colder waters of Greenland and the Russian and Norwegian Arctic.

The Barents Sea and the North Atlantic are strategic areas for the Western and Russian navies, which have placed submarines in the zone. 

"We don't know why it's moving so fast at the moment," he said, acknowledging that Hvaldimir's quest to find a partner could be one of the possible reasons. 

"It could be hormones urging it to find a mate. Or loneliness, as belugas are very social, he could be looking for others," he said. 

Hvaldimir appears to have been in good health in recent years, according to Strand, and is feeding on fish