When the whale first appeared in the Norwegian Arctic, marine biologists from the Norwegian directorate of fisheries removed a human-made harness from him. Norwegians nicknamed him Hvaldimir – a pun on whale in Norwegian, hval, and a nod to its alleged association with Russia. The whale is not believed to have seen a single other beluga since arriving in Norway in April 2019. The closest population of belugas is located in the Svalbard archipelago, which lies midway between the northern coast of Norway and the north pole. Strand said the whale, believed to be 13-14 years old, is “at an age where his hormones are very high”. Or it could be loneliness, as belugas are a very social species – it could be that he’s searching for other beluga whales.” “It could be hormones driving him to find a mate. “We don’t know why he has sped up so fast right now,” said Sebastian Strand, a marine biologist with the OneWhale organisation, adding that it was particularly puzzling because the whale was moving “very quickly away from his natural environment”. On Sunday, he was observed in Hunnebostrand, off Sweden’s south-western coast.
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