Berlin: An alleged Russian spy whale is refusing to leave a Norwegian port city, in what appears to be a high-profile defection after a week of global attention on the unnamed beluga.

Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries official Joergen Ree Wiig said that the beluga "was the first thing I saw outside of the window" of his patrolling ship in the morning. Speaking from the city of Hammerfest, he said the whale had only moved about 40 kilometres within the last week and appeared to enjoy the proximity to humans, which he noted was rather "strange" for a beluga.

The beluga whale, who was found with a tight harness on its body, has refused to leave Norwegian waters. Credit:AP

Contrary to the species' normal behaviour, the beluga had allowed residents to pat the animal's nose over the last few days.

The whale was first spotted by Norwegian fishermen last week, when they noticed that the whale defied normal behaviour by persistently harassing their boats. The fishermen subsequently spotted a strange harness wrapped around the whale's body.