What to Do with Hvaldimir?

Hvaldimir is a friendly, intelligent beluga whale that appears to be human trained.  He live free in the coastal waters of Norway, but makes his regular residence the bay of Hammerfest.  He was first spotted by a fisherman near the village of Tufjord wearing a harness.  Reported to Norwegian Fisheries, the agency dispatched an inspector.  The fisherman, Joar Hesten, got into the frigid waters in an exposure suit and eventually freed the then unnamed mammal from his restraint. A few days later the young male followed a boat to Hammerfest.  He charmed locals by retrieving dropped objects and offering his flipper for high-fives. He quickly became a minor celebrity with tourists showing up to interact with the gregarious whale. The Norwegian Broadcast Company organized a poll, and based on the results christened the beluga, "Havaldmir", a portmanteau of hvald, Norwegian for whale and the Russian name, Vladimir. [photo credit: C. Mc Donnell]

Speculation began among marine experts about this mysterious visitor's origins. His harness had what appeared to be a camera mount, and it was stamped with a St. Petersburg equipment company name. The beluga knew how to follow boats closely, as well as wrap ropes around propellers, indicating specialized training.  Experts told media that the beluga probably escaped captivity from the Russian Navy, which is known to be training cetaceans and seals for underwater warfare.  Satellite images from the Okhotsk Sea where he was found show whale pens near a Murmansk naval base.  The US Navy has also trained  marine mammals since the 1960's.

Hvaldimir has delighted human visitors with his engaging personality, but he also represents a cautionary lesson: it is never a good idea to capture and confine self-aware, intelligent, social creatures. Often taken from the wild at birth, these animals loose the ability to fend for themselves, making a return to the wild after years of captivity impossible or extremely traumatic for the animals and their human guardians.  Attempts to rehabilitate captive whales and dolphins are decidedly mixed.  The consensus scientific opinion seems to be that captive cetaceans need a large, protected body of open seawater--such as an inlet, bay or fjord--to be successfully acclimatized to their reintroduction to the wild. Such suitable locations are rare, expensive, and fraught with logistic difficulties,  One orca named Lolita, scheduled to be released by Seaworld last March, died in her 80 ft tank of kidney failure while awaiting the location of a suitable habitat.  Despite this tragedy and numerous others, an estimated 3600 cetaceans still live in confinement around the globe.  France and Canada have banned all future captivity and breeding.

Fortunately for Hvaldimir, he has learned to hunt and catch fish on his own after several experiences with hand-feeding and emaciation.  But his habituation to humans poses danger for him.  He could easily become entangled in fishing gear or injured by boat props.  He made a foray south, all the way to Oslo, Sweden, where there is little to eat in warmer waters and more ship traffic.  Some Norwegians want to shoot him for damaging gear. Belugas can live to a century, far longer than the previous estimate of 50 years. They learn how to be belugas from their elders, communicating with a complex dialectical language we are only beginning to decode.  Robbed of their equivalent of childhood and adolescence, they are captured young or bred in captivity, forced into the military or the entertainment industry, and trained in return for food.  Hvaldimir has also become the center of competing human desires.One devoted advocate wants to make a movie about him, while others see this as unwanted conflict of interest. Several of this person's expert advisors have resigned from her advocacy group, One Whale.

Other advocates, such as Sebastian Strand, want to relocate Hvaldimir to a sanctuary where he can interact with wild belugas. He has followed Hvaldimir for two years, forming a bond with the animal. Sights are set on Svalbard, a remote archipelago in the Arctic.  Experts are not sure this would be a good idea since the resident belugas are a tight-knit group that does not migrate; they might not accept a newcomer who does not speak their language.  Also, the remoteness and extreme weather make successful relocation of Hvaldimir problematic.  Another potential sanctuary much closer to Hammerfest is a 22 acre fjord, but there is a major regulatory hurdle that must be overcome.  Under Norwegian law, a whale cannot be held captive unless it is part of a scientific study or zoo.  The town council has given preliminary approval for environmental studies. Results are encouraging so far, indicating exceptionally clean water.  To secure the fjord, thousands of feet of flexible net must be stretched across the inlet and fixed to the sea floor. The project if approved, will cost millions to complete.

So, what to do with Hvaldimir?  He is living in a treacherous limbo: swimming free in the ocean by still not a truly wild beluga.  His human friends want him to remain free, healthy, and left alone to enjoy a wild existence. That is not an outcome easily accomplished given his capture and exploitation.  He may need to return to captivity for his own welfare, and be de-programed to become a wild beluga once again.