whale

It is bigger than a blue whale, the team say.

Mr Hesten helped to remove the harness from the whale, which then swam to the nearby port of Hammerfest, where it lived for several months.

The mysterious whale first came to public attention five years ago when it approached fishermen off the northern coast of Norway.

“The whale starts rubbing against the boat,” Joar Hesten, one of the fishermen, says.

“I heard about animals in distress that instinctively knew that they need help from humans. I was thinking that this is one smart whale.”