Two days ago, NPR reported: “Fisherman off the coast of Norway encountered a beluga whale with “Equipment of St. Petersburg” inscribed on its harness. Researchers think the beluga may be a Russian spy in training.” 

There was speculation that the harness wearing beluga was part of Russian spycraft gone wrong. The harness was believed to be designed for some sort of camera or possibly a weapon. 

Today, however, there has been a new twist. The Guardian reports that the beluga may be defecting to Norway. They report that the “beluga whale that may – or may not – have been trained to spy for Russia appears to have defected to Norway, refusing to stray more than a few miles from the small northern harbor where it was found on Monday and entertaining locals with tricks.” 

Initial speculation was that the whale had escaped from a Russian military facility. Audun Rikardsen of Tromsø’s Arctic University of Norway said the Russian navy in Murmansk, the headquarters for Russia’s northern fleet, could be involved.

The Russian defense ministry has denied running a sea mammal special operations programme and Norway’s special police security agency (PST), which is examining the harness, has not yet concluded its investigation into where the whale came from.

An alternative theory – based on the mammal’s performances and the English inscription on its harness – is that it has somehow made its way to northern Norway from a marine park featuring captive whales and dolphins in St Petersburg, Florida.

That seems highly improbable, Rikardsen said. But wherever the whale came from, experts are now concerned about how it will survive. “It’s hard to see how it will manage on its own,” Rikardsen told NRK. “We know whales released from an aquarium can find it difficult to adapt to life in the wild.”

Beluga whale filmed harassing Norwegian boats could be ‘Russian weapon’