Youths on summer job got the experience a lifetime while on a visit to Cermaq’s site in Northern Norway when celebrity whale turned up.
A beluga whale named Hvaldimir – who has become somewhat of a celebrity when it was first discovered off the coast of Finnmark, Northern Norway, in late April, has made an appearance near the same waters at one of Cermaq’s salmon farms.
Named Hvaldimir – a portmanteau of the Norwegian word for whale, hval, and the name, Vladimir- the sub-Arctic cetacean has gained a lot of attention and love since it was discovered wearing a mysterious tightly fitted Russian military strap. This prompted reports that Hvaldimir may be a Russian spy though some also believe he may actually be a therapy whale.
On Tuesday, at 11:00, it suddenly appeared at Cermaq’s salmon farm site in Kvalsund, a municipality in Finnmark, Norway.
“The guys were out removing dead fish when they saw Hvaldimir. He said it to his buddy, who thought it was just nonsense. However, it turned out that it was Hvaldimir, who appeared at the boat,” wrote operator Tor Espen Olaussen in a text to SalmonBusiness.
iFinnmark first picked up the story.
Olaussen said he also got to meet the celebrity whale.
“I also went out with the Polarcirkel boat. Hvaldimir came to my boat and greeted me. I patted him a little, and said hello,” Olaussen wrote
The employees at the site got pictures of Hvaldimir, who was in the area for about ten minutes, before swimming a round into the fjord and leaving the salmon farm.
“It was a very fun experience. The young people who were on a summer job at least got the experience for their lives,” Olaussen concluded.
