"We know that in Russia they keep tamed whales. Sometimes they escape and follow our boats". This was a quote from the Norwegian news channel NRK which devoted a separate story to this animal, a beluga whale wearing some mysterious equipment. More precisely, not mysterious, in the Scandinavian reporters' point of view, but quite specific. They thought it was military equipment created by Russian scientists, allegedly specifically for constant espionage of NATO ships and submarines in the Arctic. They explained the friendliness of the marine mammal by the fact that it was supposedly trained to get close to NATO sailors and, moreover, they assume that this trained whale is not the only one of its kind, saying that an entire division of these animals might be at the disposal of the Russian fleet in Murmansk. That is, the case of the legendary combat dolphins is not yet closed. Seriously though, one can envy the rampant Norwegian imagination. But we had to oppose it with the boring truth.
Yekaterina Grigorova is going to do that.
- Hello, Yekaterina.
- Hello. It isn't that boring though. Well, I hope so.
- Fear has many eyes, doesn't it?
- Or they've got the wrong pig by the ear. There are many sayings for such an occasion.
There's been a lot written about the experiments with combat dolphins. Starting in the 60s in Sevastopol, marine mammals were trained to protect the water area from sabotage, search for objects, and arrange radio beacons. Between 1979 and 1991, dolphins found lost torpedoes and other objects worth $1.5 million in the sea. Belugas have never been an object for such work in the Black Sea. These northern mammals don't swim to the subtropics. Let's listen to a person that took part in the research.
Yuri Starodubtsev, leading researcher: "We conducted the research many years ago in Sevastopol. A lot of really valuable lost pieces of equipment were found. We did it".
The possibility of using belugas for peaceful purposes has indeed been studied. In Murmansk, the Marine Biological Institute conducted such research jointly with Moscow State University until 2001. It may be assumed, of course, that some of the whales who had participated in those studies swam to Norway. The white whales' lifespan can be up to 30 years. But it's hard to imagine that it was one of those whales. First of all, our scientists have never used such coarse straps. They can hurt animals. Secondly, the distance is too great.
Yuri Starodubtsev: "Well, you understand what the distance is, don't you? Whether it be Saint Petersburg, or any other location in Russia, no matter. It's at least 310 miles. That's like running 300 miles from Murmansk to Norway. It's out of the question. Fake news".
Belugas are well-trainable, but no to the extent that they will allow a human in a boat to pet them. They may allow their trainer to do so, maybe. Experts say that there are other oddities. The stamp on the straps looks quite unusual. It's hard to believe that a stamp with the words "Equipment St. Petersburg" in English would be used by Russian scientists, let alone the military.
Victor Baranets, military analyst: "The Swedes, Norwegians, and other Scandinavians have made fools out of themselves many times by trying to expose Russia spying, but it turned out to be nothing every time. If the beluga was used for military purposes, there would be no sign that it belongs to the Navy or an underwater reconnaissance service".
Let's assume that belugas are really chasing Norwegian ships as Norway says. We calculated the characteristics of the ships of the Royal Navy of Norway. The Ula-class submarine can reach up to 22 knots. The Nordkapp-class patrol vessels are just as fast. A beluga, with all its might, even if it really wants to, can't catch up with them or even the king of Norway's old motor yacht. Even if a vessel turned out to be nearby, it would be strange to use a whale for video filming in the northern parts of the ocean. The point is the region is known to have murky water. The visual range is hardly more than 25 feet in the superficial layer of the Arctic Ocean. At greater depths, the water becomes even murkier. For comparison, in the Indian Ocean, the visual range is from 130 to 165 feet. It's even easier to film in the Atlantic. The visibility there is the best of all — more than 200 feet.
By the way, in the United States, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, which is the Atlantic, is the city of St. Petersburg. And there's a university there which, among other things, studies the marine environment. Maybe it was they who lost the whale.
- Yekaterina Grigorova about combat whales that scare Norway so much.
