The International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) of Earth Island Institute had expressed its concerns for a tame beluga whale that showed up in April in Norwegian waters. The Norwegian Fisheries Agency replied by stating the whale would continue to be allowed its freedom while being fed by a local nonprofit organization.
The beluga whale was approaching fishing boats and had on a strange harness. Fishermen removed the harness, which had stamped on it “Equipment of St. Petersburg.” Most observers believe the beluga whale escaped from the Russian military program training cetaceans to engage in various military activities, such as scouting harbors for enemy divers or finding lost ordnance on the sea bed.
An alternative theory is that the beluga was part of a swim-with-beluga-whales program, possibly one aimed at children with mental disabilities.
The US and other nations also use trained captive cetaceans for military purposes. This practice has been condemned both on practical grounds (the cetaceans do not know what is training and what is real and may wind up harming troops or ignoring commands altogether) and on humane grounds.
In response to IMMP’s letter urging the Norwegian government to avoid putting the beluga whale into a dolphinarium with concrete tanks, the Fisheries Ministry stated in part:
The Directorate of Fisheries has assessed the Beluga whale’s situation and has determined the following:
The Institute of Marine Research (IMR) and other experts advised the Directorate of Fisheries that the Beluga whale should be fed and the city of Hammerfest has taken the responsibility to feed the whale in cooperation with the organization Norwegian Orca Survey.
The Directorate of Fisheries states that this particular whale should be regarded as a free animal and asks the public not to feed the whale and to keep safe distance.
The Directorate of Fisheries, together with local fisherman Joar Hesten, released the beluga whale from a harness near island Ingoy in Finnmark County in northern Norway in the end of April.
IMMP still has concerns for the beluga whale. An individual whale like this one that is not afraid to approach humans in boats is at risk of being accidentally entangled in fishing nets and cut by boat propellers.
An alternative would be to establish a seaside sanctuary for the whale, where it would be fed and provided with veterinary care, but would still have a large area to explore and feel free to be a beluga whale. This alternative would certainly be preferable to being assigned a concrete tank in a dolphinarium, should the beluga whale encounter safety problems in the harbor.
Merlin Entertainments Corporation and Whale & Dolphin Conservation recently established a seaside sanctuary in Iceland, in the same bay where Keiko’s sea pen was located. (Keiko, the orca who starred in the Free Willy, was rescued, rehabilitated and returned to his home waters through IMMP’s leadership.) Two captive beluga whales from China will be transferred there this month. However, the sanctuary is not ready to accept a new beluga whale at this time.
IMMP will continue to follow the situation in Norway closely, and we will keep you updated.
Beluga photo by Darryl Dyck, The Canadian Press.
