Because of the Russian espionage theory, the newspaper Verdens Gang dubbed the whale Hvaldimir, a play on the first name of the Russian president and the Norwegian hval, meaning whale.
In May 2019, NRK announced that this was the winner of their public vote to name the whale, with “Joar”, for the fisherman, polling second and “Agent James Beluga” third.
Another theory posited by Morten Vikeby, a former Norwegian consul in Murmansk, suggested that Hvaldimir was a therapy animal from a programme for disabled children at the Arctic Circle Padi Dive Centre and Lodge, near the Russian-Norwegian border.
Mr Vikeby claimed that the whale may be Semyon, who was placed in the centre after being attacked by sea lions and featured in an article he wrote about the institution in 2008 for the magazine Fiskeribladet.
He suggested that the harness would be for the purpose of towing a boat with children inside, but the theory was never confirmed.
Moscow has never responded to the allegations about Hvaldimir.
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Publish date : 2024-09-02 01:22:00
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