Hvaldimir, as the whale came to be known, ... Olga Shpak, formerly a marine mammal researcher in Russia, told the BBC she’s “100 percent” sure that Hvaldimir is actually Andruha, ...

Olga Filatova believes that the population of Baird's beaked whales at the Commander Islands learns through "local enhancement": They see that some peers go to the shallow water near the coast ...

But rather than a Russian spy, Dr Olga Shpak believes the whale was actually trained to guard the naval base before opting to flee once released into open water due to its “hooligan” mindset.

Hvaldimir the beluga whale first made headlines after arriving in Norway in 2019. Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday.

But Dr Olga Shpak does not believe it was a spy. She believes the beluga was being trained to guard the base and fled because it was a "hooligan". Seeking sanctuary for whale dubbed a Russian spy ...

The world-famous beluga whale thought to have been trained as a Russian spy and later found dead under fishy circumstances is now starring in his own documentary — which reveals his true identity.

Expert Dr Olga Shpak believes that the whale did belong to the military and escaped from its naval base in the Arctic Circle. But she doesn't think its job was as a spy.

Several things about the killer whale have puzzled the researchers. "It is very unusual because orcas don't normally eat sea otters," study co-author Olga Filatova, a cetacean researcher at Moscow ...

'Tropical' Whales. Orcas likely killed six bowheads in the Okhotsk Sea's Academy Bay in 2016 alone. The hunting pressure may be why the local whale population isn't bouncing back after commercial ...