AFP “Suspected Russia-trained spy whale reappears off Sweden’s coast” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/29/suspected-russia-trained-spy-whale-reappears-off-swedens-coast
2019年に諾威沿岸に現れ、露西亜海軍によってスパイ目的で訓練された者だと推測された「シロイルカ（belga whale）」*1が今度は瑞典南東部の海岸に現れた。彼はHvaldimirと名づけられている。hvalは諾威語で鯨、-dimirは露西亜っぽさを表している。ウラディミール・プーチンとか。
Hvaldimir君が露西亜軍から脱走した経緯はわからない。つがう相手を求め、ホルモンの導きのままに外海に飛び出したのだろうか？
“We don’t know why he has sped up so fast right now,” said Sebastian Strand, a marine biologist with the OneWhale organisation*2, adding that it was particularly puzzling because the whale was moving “very quickly away from his natural environment”.“It could be hormones driving him to find a mate. Or it could be loneliness, as belugas are a very social species – it could be that he’s searching for other beluga whales.”
Strand said the whale, believed to be 13-14 years old, is “at an age where his hormones are very high”.
The closest population of belugas is located in the Svalbard archipelago, which lies midway between the northern coast of Norway and the north pole.
The whale is not believed to have seen a single other beluga since arriving in Norway in April 2019.
Lauren Aratani “Russia deploys trained dolphins at Black Sea naval base, satellite images show” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/27/russia-black-sea-military-dolphins-crimea
も*3。
*1:See Hannah Ellis-Petersen “Whale with harness could be Russian weapon, say Norwegian experts” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/29/whale-with-harness-could-be-russian-weapon-say-norwegian-experts Helena Horton "Norway plans sanctuary for ‘spy’ whale Hvaldimir who came in from cold" https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/06/norway-plans-sanctuary-for-spy-whale-hvaldimir-who-came-in-from-cold
*3:Mentioned in https://sumita-m.hatenadiary.com/entry/2022/05/02/091656
