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Harnessed Beluga May Have Been Part of Quiet Russian Project
A white beluga whale made a splash last week when it was found to be wearing a harness [gizmodo.com] by fisherman in Norway.
Norwegian fishermen discovered a beluga whale wearing a harness off the country’s northern coast last week. The fishermen were fascinated with how tame it was, but there might be a good reason that it was comfortable around humans. Scientists from Norway’s Institute of Marine Research suspect the whale and its harness may be part of an operation cooked up by the Russian military.
Because of the reported tightness of the harnass, scientists were concerned that the whale has been wearing the harness for a very long time which could be dangerous for it.
The scientists tracked down the whale near the town of Ingoy and attempted to remove its harness. Just as the fishermen had reported, the harness looked way too tight, according to Norwegian news outlet NRK [www.nrk.no]
Audun Rikardsen, a professor at the Department of Arctic and Marine Biology at the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsoe, northern Norway stated that the harness itself had a notation inside that reads "Equipment St. Petersberg" and includes a mount for an action camera (but no camera.) Audun contacted scholars in both Norway and Russia, all of which indicated it was not from research or a program any of them were aware of. Audun believes it was most likely the Russian Navy in Murmansk.
Russia does not have a history of using whales for military purposes but the Soviet Union had a full-fledged training program for dolphins.
The Soviet Union used a base in Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula during the Cold War to train the mammals for military purposes such as searching for mines or other objects and planting explosives. The facility in Crimea was closed following the collapse of the Soviet Union, though unnamed reports shortly after the Russian annexation of Crimea indicated that it had reopened.
While such things are normally kept below the surface, there have been inklings of similar efforts recently
The Russian Defense Ministry published a public tender in 2016 to purchase five dolphins for a training program. The tender did not explain what tasks the dolphins were supposed to perform, but indicated they were supposed to have good teeth. It was taken offline shortly after publication.
Additional Coverage Here. [chicagotribune.com] Google translation of a more in depth Norwegian article here [www.nrk.no]
