[theold]

First discovered in Norway's far northern region of Finnmark, the whale spent more than three years slowly moving down the top half of the Norwegian coastline, before suddenly speeding up in recent months to cover the second half and on to Sweden.

"It could be hormones driving him to find a mate. Or it could be loneliness as Belugas are a very social species — it could be that he's searching for other Beluga whales."

Strand said the whale's health "seemed to be very good" in recent years, foraging wild fish under Norway's salmon farms.

But his organization was concerned about Hvaldimir's ability to find food in Sweden, and already observed some weight loss.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-spy-...n-mission/