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The Directorate of Fisheries asks people to stop looking for the “spy whale”

white whaleRolvsøya.White whale.Photo: Jørgen Ree Wiig / Fiskeridirektoratet / NTB scanpix

The much-spoken “spy whale” has created great interest during the past week. The Directorate of Fisheries is now asking curious spectators to stop looking for the whale.

“It is a wish from the Directorate of Fisheries that people stop seeking out whales that are in harbor areas. We hope that it can leave the harbor. Too much contact can cause it to become stressed, and in the worst case scenario it can trigger aggression,” says Finnmark police district Sunday afternoon.

The white whale was discovered last week by fishermen off Rolfsøya in Finnmark. According to the fishermen, it was very tame and sought contact with people. At the Institute of Marine Research and Norway’s Arctic University in Tromsø (UiT), it is believed that the whale can come from the Russian Navy, which has had a tradition of using both whales and other animals in its experiments.

The harness that was attached around the whale was equipped with a GoPro camera mount, and on the buckle it was made in St. Petersburg. But Russian military expert Viktor Baranets, Colonel in the reserve forces, says to the BBC that it is unlikely to be nothing about any form of espionage.

The whale has created international attention, and a number of people have visited the harbor area where the whale was located last week. Night to Sunday, three young girls visited the pier outside Rolfsøya, to catch a glimpse of the whale. When one of the girls lost her cell phone in the water, the whale dived quickly to pick it up, writes Dagbladet.

“We were completely shocked. It came up again with the phone in its mouth. We got to stroke it. It was just as if it wanted rewards,” said one of the girls to the newspaper.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today

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