They found a whale attached to a Russian harness in Norway and speculation erupted

A beluga found with a tight harness alerted the Norwegian authorities and caused speculation that the animal may have escaped a Russian military installationThe local authorities quoted the agency as saying on Monday. AP.

Joergen Ree Wiig, of the Norwegian Fisheries Directive, said that "Team St. Petersburg" was written in English on the harness strap, who also had a camera mount.

The fabric belts showed signs of wear and rust on metal parts, indicating that the harness had been used for a period of time.

Ree Wiig added that fishermen from the Norwegian Arctic They reported last week that the white and silent cetacean was swimming with a tight harness in the area. On Friday, the fisherman Joar Hesten, with the help of Ree Wiig, jumped into the icy water to remove the harness.

"The people of the Norwegian army have shown great interest" in the harnesssaid Ree Wiig.

Audun Rikardsen, a professor in the Department of Marine and Arctic Biology at the Norwegian Arctic University in Tromsoe, in the north of the country, believes that "the most likely thing is that the Murmansk Russian naval base" is involved. Russia has important military installations in and around Murmansk on the Kola Peninsula in the far north-west of Russia.

Rikardsen added that he had consulted Russian and Norwegian academics and that they had not reported no program of experiments using beluga whales.

"It is a domestic animal that has the habit of being served food, so it has made contact with fishermen"He said." The question now is whether you can survive by finding your own food. We have seen cases where other whales in Russian captivity are doing well, "he added.

Hesten told the Norwegian issuer NRK that the whale began to rub against his boat when he saw it for the first time.

Martin Biuw, Norwegian Marine Research Institute, also badured that "If the whale comes from Russia and there are good reasons to believe it, it has nothing to do with scientists but with the navy"as reported The Guardian.

Former reader of the cold war

The former Soviet Union ledand many training programs for aquatic mammals for military purposes, including whales, seals and dolphins. These projects are thought to have continued into the 1990s, he said. The Guardian, when the USSR finally fell and the Russian Federation emerged in its place.

One of the main functions for which he was trained belugas, dolphins and seals was to detect submarine weapons, such as mines, in a Similar to the current use of dogs to detect explosives or other dangerous elements.

This was confirmed in 2017 at the TV show Zvezda, which depends on the Ministry of Defense of Russia. At that time it was reported that belugas had been trained to "watch the entrances of the naval bases", badist the divers in their work and, if necessary, "kill any foreigner who enters the territory".

Investigations into this new "weapon" are being conducted by a private institute hired by the Kremlin, which in 2016 bought five dolphins worth $ 25,000 for its program, the British newspaper reported.

The news of the beluga found in Norwegian waters comes at a time of Strong tensions between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) precisely in the waters of the North Atlantic and North Sea, where there are usually tests and naval movements of both forces.