While it’s not that uncommon to encounter beluga whales out in the ocean, recently Norwegian fishermen came across a whale that really surprised them and made headlines all over the world. When a friendly whale approached the fishermen’s boat, they noticed something odd about it. The animal was wearing a harness and once a fisherman removed it, they noticed that it had “Equipment St. Petersburg” written on it.
More info: Instagram
(h/t: The Dodo)
Experts confirmed that neither Norway nor Denmark or Greenland puts these sort of harnesses on beluga whales for research purposes. The Russian-made harness and unusually friendly behavior of the mammal raised suspicion that the whale was trained by the Russian navy for spying purposes.
While it’s still not completely clear why the mammal was wearing a harness, the lovely “Russian spy’ was put under the spotlight again. As it turns out, this beluga whale is not just friendly, it is quite well mannered too. A couple of days ago, Isa Opdahl was out on the water in the boat when she had a mishap.
The young woman put her phone in her pocket but it slipped and went overboard, plunging into the ocean. When she thought that her phone was gone forever, she noticed the same notorious beluga whale carrying her phone in its mouth.
The whale swam close enough for her to grab the phone while one of her friends captured everything on camera. The beluga whale quickly became a viral sensation on social media with many people left in awe of its intelligence. For the time being, the polite whale continues to hover around the Hammerfest area.
Watch the video below
Here’s what people had to say
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When I first saw the headline, it said “Beluga dubbed. . .” And I read it as “dabbed” and immediately thought of this:
The Beluga Whale obviously installed some spyware on the phone, I mean, it's his job...
i was all amazed at the cuteness when someone pointed out that she/he was probably waiting for a treat and that made me sad :(
Animals learn all kinds of behavior and are intelligent problem solvers. Anyone who says the whale was expecting a food hand out..must've been trained by human handlers...etc....you need to watch the video of the diver that befriended a baby octopus. She did not hand train it...the little guy figured things out on his own and, in actuality, trained the diver to help him hunt.
In the video the woman kept on saying "Are you kidding me?" :`D Iam from Norway, and i wish i was there so i could pet its cute head. <3
So, how stupid do people think Russians are, releasing a Beluga whale with a harness, indicating that it was manufactured in St. Petersburg. Spying??? How paranoiac can people get???
The xenophobia out here in the west is out of control but they’re the first ones to try to tell other people about not being prejudiced and stereotyping other nations and cultures.
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Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees aren't scary, but dropping your phone in the ocean is real horror.
Whales of all kinds are known for their intelligence as are Dolphins. They are know to interact with humans in an intelligent way Dolphins are way more intelligent than Humans. Not that it would be too hard. I have seen Dolphins and whales driving sharks away from humans who are swimming.
This is cool. I love seeing inter-species cooperation. It’s too bad that suspicion and xenophobia (and, yes, some of it is understandable with the political landscape) makes people presume this is a “spy whale”, rather than a human-comfortable, intelligent, benevolently-trained, and helpful fellow animal. We are animals too, despite claiming superiority. We presume we are “the best at intelligence” simply because no other animals have formal language. Foolish presumption.
I love the look on the Beluga's face. Although they DO always look like they're smiling, this guy looks especially pleased with himself.
https://www.gofundme.com/save-our-Tesla?sharetype=teams&member=2204234&rcid=r01-155761546651-05901dd0119d4261&pc=ot_co_campmgmt_w
Does anyone else see it as a backwards video where she gives away her phone and the animal sinks with it?
Unfortunate but true, but cynicism won't save the belugas or any animals for that matter. Returning the favor will.
When I first saw the headline, it said “Beluga dubbed. . .” And I read it as “dabbed” and immediately thought of this:
The Beluga Whale obviously installed some spyware on the phone, I mean, it's his job...
i was all amazed at the cuteness when someone pointed out that she/he was probably waiting for a treat and that made me sad :(
Animals learn all kinds of behavior and are intelligent problem solvers. Anyone who says the whale was expecting a food hand out..must've been trained by human handlers...etc....you need to watch the video of the diver that befriended a baby octopus. She did not hand train it...the little guy figured things out on his own and, in actuality, trained the diver to help him hunt.
In the video the woman kept on saying "Are you kidding me?" :`D Iam from Norway, and i wish i was there so i could pet its cute head. <3
So, how stupid do people think Russians are, releasing a Beluga whale with a harness, indicating that it was manufactured in St. Petersburg. Spying??? How paranoiac can people get???
The xenophobia out here in the west is out of control but they’re the first ones to try to tell other people about not being prejudiced and stereotyping other nations and cultures.
Load More Replies... Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees aren't scary, but dropping your phone in the ocean is real horror.
Whales of all kinds are known for their intelligence as are Dolphins. They are know to interact with humans in an intelligent way Dolphins are way more intelligent than Humans. Not that it would be too hard. I have seen Dolphins and whales driving sharks away from humans who are swimming.
This is cool. I love seeing inter-species cooperation. It’s too bad that suspicion and xenophobia (and, yes, some of it is understandable with the political landscape) makes people presume this is a “spy whale”, rather than a human-comfortable, intelligent, benevolently-trained, and helpful fellow animal. We are animals too, despite claiming superiority. We presume we are “the best at intelligence” simply because no other animals have formal language. Foolish presumption.
I love the look on the Beluga's face. Although they DO always look like they're smiling, this guy looks especially pleased with himself.
https://www.gofundme.com/save-our-Tesla?sharetype=teams&member=2204234&rcid=r01-155761546651-05901dd0119d4261&pc=ot_co_campmgmt_w
Does anyone else see it as a backwards video where she gives away her phone and the animal sinks with it?
Unfortunate but true, but cynicism won't save the belugas or any animals for that matter. Returning the favor will.
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