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Norwegian government now on board to safeguard friendly ‘spy whale’ known as Hvaldimir

June 24, 2023

OneWhale, a nonprofit led by two Orange County residents, recently got much needed support from officials in Norway in an effort to save an overly friendly beluga whale by creating a reserve in a Norwegian fjord.

The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries agreed to officially call the marine mammal a “tame whale.”

A photo provided by OneWhale shows Hvaldimir, a beluga whale, in the waters off Flatanger, Norway in September 2023. The whale seems attracted to humans, leading researchers to speculate that he once spent time in captivity. (Courtesy of Rich German, OneWhale)

A photo provided by OneWhale shows Hvaldimir, a beluga whale, in the waters off Norway in April 2023. The whale seems attracted to humans, leading researchers to speculate that he once spent time in captivity. (Courtesy of Rich German, OneWhale)

A photo provided by OneWhale shows Hvaldimir, a beluga whale, in the waters off Norway in April 2023. He has recently been seen in the waters of Sweden, leading scientists to wonder why he is moving south. (Courtesy of Rich German, OneWhale)

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The pure white beluga whale has been hanging out along the northern coast of Norway for more than four years. He’s been named Hvaldimir by the residents of Hammerfest, where he first appeared in 2019 wearing a tight-fitting camera harness labeled “Equipment St. Petersburg,” fueling theories he was once used in spycraft. Hval means whale in Norwegian and the rest is a play on the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The description of “tame” is huge, said Rich German, a Laguna Beach environmentalist, who with San Clemente filmmaker Regina Crosby, has been working with Hammerfest city officials to turn a local fjord into a whale sanctuary for Hvaldimir and, ultimately, other whales taken out of captivity. Norway is a whaling nation and, in the past years, some government officials have resisted public calls for the whale to be protected.

German and Crosby began their quest to create a safe haven for Hvaldimir in 2022, but became even more concerned for his safety after a 1,320-pound walrus people had named Freya was euthanized by the Norwegian fisheries department in August out of concern for people’s safety. The government had been warning people stay away and not try to take pictures with the friendly animal, but many were not heeding officials.

Hvaldimir is know to swim up to local boaters, raid fish near salmon farms and even tangle boat propellers with ropes.

In the years since he first appeared in the Hammerfest area, the 14-foot whale has suffered life-threatening injuries. His side was sliced, he’s twice been caught in boat propellers, he had fishing hooks in his tail, and the upper part of his mouth was punctured by people throwing large objects at him to play tug-of-war and fetch.

Recently, after Hvaldimir decided to go on a 900-mile swim south, leaving the area of Hammerfest and heading toward busier waters near Oslo and then into Swedish waters where he swam through tight canals, the Norwegian fisheries department has stepped in, even helping OneWhale’s team look from him after he disappeared for more than a week.

“After four years of not expressing great concern for him, they finally decided he was a tame whale and needs protection,” German said this week after Hvaldimir was located near Oslo. “We’re super happy about that.”

For more than a year, OneWhale had a team in Norway monitoring Hvaldimir’s moves and ensuring his antics and interest in people didn’t get him in trouble. That team is now working with two people from the Norwegian fisheries department who are keeping an eye on him and this week helped steer him out of a busy harbor near Norway’s capital city. The whale’s most significant threats are boat traffic and tourism.

“The goal is to swim him away from the busy area and put together a plan to get him back toward (Hammerfest) in Finnmark,” German said.

The town of 10,000 people is the world’s northernmost town. In March, its 32-member town council voted to move forward and designate a whale fjord nearby as a new whale reserve. Twenty-eight of the council voted in favor, German said.

The plan now is to find a way to transport the whale further north so he can swim in an area that is not so populated and doesn’t have heavy boat traffic. Now that the Norwegian fisheries department is playing a role in protecting him, German and his team are more optimistic.

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While OneWhale’s hope is to establish him in his own fjord, there is also a consideration of moving him toward Swabard, where there is a wild population of belugas.

“It is unknown,” German said, “whether he could assimilate with the wild belugas because of his history of captivity.”

Orange County Register

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Norwegian government now on board to safeguard friendly ‘spy whale’ known as Hvaldimir

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