Please don’t do it!

I strongly oppose the plans of the OneWhale filmmaker to capture Hvaldimir and transport him to northern Norway, close to the Russian border.

Even though no captures have taken place in Russia since the “whale jail” scandal in 2018/2019 as Russia now has a law in place that prohibits the capture of cetaceans, there is a loophole, and with a special permit entrepreneurs or military trainers could still capture the friendly beluga whale known as Hvaldimir. Especially since Hvaldimir is a very special case.

The Russian military could easily find ways to justify capturing Hvaldimir, as he is a former trained whale and highly habituated to humans. They probably think they still own Hvaldimir and have a right to reclaim him.

Helene O’Barry with Hvaldimir, the beluga whale. Credit: Ric O’Barry

In my educated opinion, Hvaldimir was probably trained to respond to a “recall pinger.” Most military dolphins are trained to return to their trainers on command. That — or Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin could make it happen with just one phone call. “Saving” this gentle beluga whale that was named after him would be a great publicity stunt. If he’s hungry, Hvaldimir will be easy to recapture with or without a recall pinger.

We once released two U.S. Navy dolphins near the Dry Tortugas off of Key West, Florida, in the United States. Both dolphins were recaptured (“saved”) using a “recall pinger”, and by the same dolphin trainers who originally trained them to respond to the pinger device. In fact, as soon as we released them, the trainers were flown in from the Navy base in San Diego to conduct the recapture. (Details can be found in my book, To Free a Dolphin, published by Renaissance Books and distributed by St. Martin’s Press. The book was carefully vetted for factual accuracy by the publishers lawyers.)

Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, Credit TASS News

It is an illusion to think that Hvaldimir is safe from recapture if released only 16 kilometers from the Russian border. To take the friendly beluga to a remote location that is so close to Russia is a terrible idea. It is almost as if someone wants for Hvaldimir to simply disappear, or swim off into the sunset like in the movies.

OneWhale’s filmmakers are putting Hvaldimir in serious jeopardy of ending up with the same beluga trainers he once escaped from, and once he enters Russian waters, there is nothing that anyone can do to save him. And let’s just imagine for a moment that Hvaldimir spends some time with wild beluga whales and then dies. No one will even know he is dead.

My advice to the filmmakers and the group known as OneWhale is: Please don’t do it!

TAKE ACTION NOW

Please help protect Hvaldimir by signing this petition.