30-05-2023, 03:20 PM
Of all things, a whale is suspected of being a Russian spy! 
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/300...dens-coast
It had spent more than three years slowly moving down the Norwegian coastline before speeding up and moving on to Sweden.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/300...dens-coast
"A beluga whale that was first spotted in Norway wearing a Russian-made harness in 2019 has reappeared off Sweden’s coast.
Norwegian marine experts have previously said the whale may have escaped from a Russian military facility, and that it could have been trained by the Russian navy as part of a programme to use underwater mammals for military or spying purposes. The Norwegians nicknamed the whale Hvaldimir – a combination of “hval”, the Norwegian word for “whale”, and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Sunday (local time), the whale was observed again in Hunnebostrand, off Sweden’s south-western coast.
It had spent more than three years slowly moving down the Norwegian coastline before speeding up and moving on to Sweden.
“We don’t know why he has sped up so fast right now,” especially since he is moving “very quickly away from his natural environment”, Sebastian Strand, a marine biologist with the OneWhale organisation, told AFP.
“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.”Fisherman Joar Hesten, who first encountered the whale in 2019, told local broadcaster NRK at the time that it displayed strange behaviour, such as rubbing up against boats and trying to pull the straps and ropes from them.
Hesten and the others on his boat then saw the whale’s harness strap, which was wrapped around its body. The harness had the words “Equipment St Petersburg” written on it."
in order to be old & wise, you must first be young & stupid. (I'm still working on that.)
