Users Freak Out as Alleged 'Russian Spy Whale' Rescues Dropped iPhone From Ocean

A white beluga whale, which is alleged to be the same “Russian spy” mammal that was sighted last week in Norwegian waters, has been filmed rescuing a woman’s dropped iPhone from the ocean and giving it back to her.

READ MORE: Plot Twist: "Russian Spy Whale" Now Seen as Therapy Animal for Kids

Isa Opdahl was reportedly on a boat with her friends in Hammerfest, Norway, when her device plunged into the water, but it was quickly saved by the whale, which slowly surfaced from the depths holding the handset in its mouth. All Opdahl had to do was just to grab the phone from the whale’s mouth.

The unbelievable footage was posted on her Instagram, with the caption “When animals are kinder than humans”.

It has prompted speculation that the whale is the same creature spotted by local fishermen last week, ostensibly wearing a harness with the inscription “Equipment of St. Petersburg” and a mount for a GoPro camera.

A number of media outlets and marine biologists claimed that the mammal could have been trained by the Russian military as a “spy”, and some even dubbed the creature Hvaldimir (“Whaledimir”) in a somewhat awkward nod to Vladimir Putin.

READ MORE: Spy Whale Saga: Marine Mammals With PROVEN History of Use by Militaries (VIDEOS)

As soon as the video emerged online, it made a huge splash: while some focused on the fact that the “rescue operation” was just incredible…

…others held on to the “Russian spy” theory, suggesting that the beluga could have extracted Opdahl’s phone data before returning it:

As the speculation grows, the Russian military has still remained tight-lipped about whether the mammal actually is a Russian asset, while retired colonel Viktor Baranets has called the spying allegations “Scandinavian paranoia”.

“Norwegians would probably also like to have a GRU officer’s ID attached to the animal”, he said.