Norway Asks People To Keep Distance From Spy Whale To Ensure Animal’s Safety

Posted by: lukwago J in World news May 25, 2023

Norwegian directorate of fisheries has appealed to the people to avoid contact with a spy whale so that the animal doesn’t suffer any injuries accidentally or loss her life.

The whale which was given a nick name Hvaldimir received international fame in 2019 after someone spotted it wearing a specially made harness which had mounts for a camera.

Meanwhile the discovery made experts believe that the whale was likely to have been trained by the Russian military.

Since 2019, the spy whale has been travelling along the Norwegian coast and stopping at some cost along the way as per the directorate which further stated that Hvaldimir tends to stay at farms where it has been able to catch fish, grazing on surplus feed.

Consequently Hvaldimir was famous for following boats and playing with people on board.

Meanwhile fisheries director Frank Bakke Jensen in a statement said that so far there have only been minor incidents where the whale has suffered minor injuries, primarily from contact with boats.

He appealed to people to maintain their distance even though the whale is tame and used to being around people.

There is no reason keep the spy whale in captivity

“ We especially encourage people in boats to keep a good distance to avoid the whale being injured or in the worst case, killed by boat traffic,” stated Bakke Jensen.

Considering the dangers Bakke asked if the whale should be kept in captivity.

“ We have always communicated that the whale in question is a free living animal and we see no reason to capture it and put it behind barriers,” he stated.

However now that the spy whale is in a more of a vulnerable area and access to food may be limited, we will consider different measures.

The movement of the whale will be monitored by the directorate of fisheries as they hope it turns around after reaching the end of the Oslofjord.

In addition marine biologists at Norway’s directorate of fisheries said that the harness appeared specially made and had mounts for GoPro cameras on each side of it.

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