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Beluga whale was Russian military asset - but no spy

BBC
Summary
Nutrition label

68% Informative

Beluga whale appeared off the coast of Norway wearing a harness five years ago .

The tame white whale, which locals named Hvaldimir , made headlines amid widespread speculation it was a Russian spy.

Now an expert in the species says she believes the whale did indeed belong to the military.

But Dr Olga Shpak does not believe the whale was a spy.

She believes the beluga was being trained to guard the base and fled.

Russia has always refused to confirm or deny the claim that it was trained by its military.

Hvaldimir/Andruha's incredible story does not have a happy ending.

It spent several years travelling south along Norway ’s coast and in May 2023 was spotted off the coast of Sweden .

Then on September 1 2024 its body was found floating at sea, near the town of Risavika , on Norway 's south-western coast.

A post-mortem examination revealed that a stick became lodged in his mouth.

VR Score

62

Informative language

54

Neutral language

52

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

42

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

possibly hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

short-lived

Source diversity

1

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