Norwegian fishermen found a beluga whale swimming through Arctic waters wearing some sort of harness. Scientists linked the equipment to the Russian navy.
Image: Joergen Ree Wiig/Norwegian Direcorate of Fisheries Sea Surveillance Unit via AP/picture-alliance
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Norwegian fisherman found a beluga whale outfitted with a mysterious, seemingly Russian-made harness swimming in Arctic waters.
Fishermen saw what seemed to be a tame beluga whale swimming between their boats last week. It appeared to be rubbing itself against boats in an attempt to remove a harness that was neatly strapped to its body, one of the fishermen told public broadcaster NRK.
Eventually, one of the fishermen jumped into the frigid waters to remove the harness from the four-meter (13-foot) mammal.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/J. R. Wiig
The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries later said the harness had the words "Equipment St. Petersburg" written on it and that it had a mounting point for a camera. A spokesperson said the Norwegian military was interested in the incident.
Audun Rikardsen, a professor at the Department of Arctic and Marine Biology at the Arctic University of Norway, told the Associated Press that it is most likely that the Russian Navy in Murmansk is involved. Russia has several military bases near Murmansk on the Kola Peninsula, in the far northwest of Russia.
A colleague of his told the broadcaster that the method involved suggested it was not Russian scientists who attached the harness, but more likely the Russian navy.
Scientists expressed concern that the white cetacean appeared to be tame, and could have difficulty adapting to life in the wild without being fed.
Russia does not have a recorded history of militarizing whales, but the Soviet Union did have a military program that used dolphins. In 2016, a public tender document showed the military was attempting to purchase five dolphins with good teeth.
aw/amp (AP, dpa)
For the love of sharks
Image: CC BY 4.0/Albert kok
Sharks, sharks everywhere
Blame it on Jaws or blame it on the fact that sharks do have rather a lot of sharp teeth, fact is, many humans have a fear of sharks as deep as the waters in which they swim. Any expert will tell you, we kill by far more of these great fish a year than they do us. So should we really be scared?
Image: Pterantula (Terry Goss) via Wikimedia Commons
The reef shark
There are five species of reef shark, of which this is one. Feasting on crustaceans and fish alike, they are the top predator in the fragile ecosystem from which they take their name. They are no strangers to divers either, and have been known to attack when they feel threatened.
Image: CC BY 4.0/Albert kok
All shapes and sizes
There are more than 250 recorded species of shark in the waters around our planet. They range in size and ferocity. The sand tiger shark weighs up to 159 kilos and can reach a length of 3.2 meters. They are big eaters, have a mouth full of frightening looking teeth, but are generally regarded as being docile and unlikely to attack humans unless provoked to do so.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S.Sauer
Mass slaughter
Though it is impossible to know exactly how many sharks are killed annually for their fins, some estimates put the number around 100 million. Finning, as the practice is known, entails the removal of the fin while the shark is alive. The animals are then cast back into the sea where if not dead already, they succumb to a painful end. The fins are used to make soup, which costs up to $100 a bowl.
Image: Gerhard Wegner/Sharkproject
Growing old gracefully
Recent research revealed that Greenland sharks can live to the extraordinarily ripe old age of 400. These predators have a healthy appetite, but have never been known to go for humans. They like cold waters, through which they move slowly. And that is not the only thing they do at a leisurly pace - they don't even reach sexual maturity until they are around 150.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Oceans Image
Just because it's big, doesn't mean...
...it will hurt you. At 18 meters, whale sharks are the longest species in the family, and indeed the biggest fish in the sea. At that rate, dinner should be theirs for the picking, but their penchant is for plankton. Good news for all the other creatures in the sea. But whale sharks are at risk. Not only are they fished for their fins, oil and meat, but are often hit by eco-tourism boats.
Image: CC BY 2.0/Derek Keats
Lemon sharks
Said to be the best researched sharks, the lemon species is considered non-agressive. To date there have been no recorded incidents of a human fatality as a result of a lemon shark attack. They are social creatures that move in groups, where they rarely display aggressive behavior to each other.
