Harness-wearing whale was 'trained by Russian military,' researchers say

CNN Norway ^ | April 29, 2019 | Emily Dixon

[NorseViking]

(CNN)Fishermen off Norway's northern coast were astonished last week when they spotted a beluga whale wearing a harness, complete with mounts for a camera.

And according to marine experts, the mammal's backstory may be even stranger: They believe it was trained by the Russian military.

Fishermen Joar Hesten was the first to encounter the whale, off the coast of Finnmark, a county in northeastern Norway. Hesten then contacted the country's Directorate of Fisheries.

The whale was friendly and playful, witnesses said. Jorgen Ree Wiig, a marine biologist at the directorate, told CNN: "The whale seemed playful but our instincts said that it was also asking for help to get out of the harness." The harness appeared "specially made," Wiig said, and bore "mounts for GoPro cameras on each side of it," while the harness clips read "Equipment St. Petersburg."

Wiig believes the whale came from Murmansk, Russia, and was trained by the Russian navy. The navy has "been known to train belugas to conduct military operations before," he said, "like guarding naval bases, helping divers, finding lost equipment."

[Karliner]

I never met anyone that could speak Beluga whale.

[Ancesthntr]

That’s OK, we have sharks with lasers.

[piasa]

We have trained belugas as well as sea lions and dolphins...but no grenade-chucking sea otters or flame-throwing narwhals, unfortunately.

[PIF]

What about the air launched walruses, eh?

[tet68]

trained by the Russian navy. The navy has “been known to train belugas to conduct military operations before,” he said, “like guarding naval bases, helping divers, finding lost equipment.”

Placing limpet mines, attacking divers, penetrating
naval bases, etc.

[Vinnie]

We trained dolphins years ago. Had them planting mines, etc.

[Oratam]

Fa love pa?

[Steven Tyler]

Did the harness have a mounting bracket for laser(s)???

If no, I wager it came from a circus or some sort of sea world.

Free Willy!

[Paleo Pete]

Hmmm...makes me wonder...could we train crows to drop hand grenades on anything that movers along the border?

[Paleo Pete]

moves even...typo...

[dljordan]

Did it have a Laser on it’s head?

[NorseViking]

That’s the sharks!

[Rastus]

Harness-wearing whale was 'trained by Russian military,' researchers say

Proof Hillary colluded with the Russians.

[piasa]

The whale was found with a tight harness reading "Equipment St. Petersburg" in English. The hamlet has a dozen permanent residents and less than 100 people in the warmer season. "The talk in this hamlet is that it could have escaped from a Russian military facility or even have swam from St. Petersburg, Florida, because of the English-language text," Saether said. It was not immediately known whether any of the dolphin and whale facilities in St. Petersburg, Florida, were missing a Beluga whale. ------ https://news.yahoo.com/enigmatic-beluga-whale-lets-people-114815721.html

[piasa]

Russia is preparing to search for a nuclear-powered missile that was lost at sea
CNBC ^ | Aug. 21, 2018 | Amanda Macias