Last week, fisherman off the coast of Norway were shocked when a seemingly friendly beluga whale first began popped up around their boat – wearing a harness. The harness appeared to be man-made and equipped with mounts for GoPro cameras. The first person to spot it, fisherman Joar Hesten, noticed the peculiar nature of the animal and called Norway’s Directorate of Fisheries.

 Marine experts were quickly brought in to see the animal and assess its behavior. Marine biologist from the Directorate, Jorgen Ree Wiig was one of the first on the scene to see the animal. After further investigation, the situation became vastly more alarming. The harness bore the words  “Equipment St. Petersburg.” Mr. Wiig recalled that Russians have been known to train beluga whales for their calm demeanors and high intelligence. They perform tasks like scouting boats, rescuing divers, and guarding naval bases. During the Cold War, belugas were also trained to smell and identify torpedoes and mines.

 Many aspects of the whale’s odd behavior pointed to military spy training: swimming around the boat, comfort around people, and poking its head out and opening his mouth, as if looking for a fishy reward.

 Today the story has broken, and photos and videos have begun circulating all over social media sites such as Twitter, and have made their way into many American news outlets.

 Although any ideas about the beluga whale’s origins remain complete speculation as no comment from Russia has been made thus far, experts are confident in their hypothesis. The mounting fear of Russian involvement in our country is widespread in America, especially following the continuous coverage of rumors of involvement in the 2016 election and potential collusion with current president Donald Trump. There is no doubt this event will only flame the fears of Americans. It will be interesting to see if Russia will make a comment on the event soon.