Russian ‘spy whale’ Hvaldimir was shot dead, say animal rights groups
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Two groups have asked the Norwegian police to open a criminal investigation into the death of ”spy whale” Hvaldimir.
PHOTO: MARINEMIND_ORG
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OSLO – Animal rights groups said on Sept 4 that gunfire had killed a beluga whale that rose to fame in Norway after its unusual harness sparked suspicions that the creature was trained by Russia as a spy.
The organisations Noah and One Whale said they have filed a complaint with Norwegian police asking them to open a criminal investigation.
Nicknamed “Hvaldimir” in a pun on the Norwegian word for whale, hval, and its purported ties to Moscow, the white beluga first appeared off the coast in Norway’s far-northern Finnmark region in 2019.
It was found dead on Aug 31 in a bay on Norway’s south-western coast.
Its body was transported on Sept 2 to a local branch of the Norwegian Veterinary Institute for autopsy.
The report is expected “within three weeks”, a spokeswoman for the institute said.
“He had multiple bullet wounds around his body,” the head of One Whale, Ms Regina Crosby Haug, told Agence France-Presse.
One Whale was founded to track the beluga, which became a celebrity in Norway.
“The injuries on the whale are alarming and of a nature that cannot rule out a criminal act. It is shocking,” Noah director Siri Martinsen said in a statement.
“Given the suspicion of a criminal act, it is crucial that the police are involved quickly,” she said.
A third organisation that also tracked the whale’s movements, Marine Mind, said it found Hvaldimir’s dead body floating in the water on Aug 31 at around 2.30pm.
“There was nothing to immediately reveal the cause of death,” director Sebastian Strand said. “We saw markings, but it’s too early to say what they were.”
He said some of the markings were probably caused by marine birds, but that there was no explanation for others at this stage.
With an estimated age of 15 to 20, Hvaldimir was relatively young for a beluga whale, which can live to between 40 and 60 years of age.
When it was found in 2019, Norwegian marine biologists removed a man-made harness with a mount suited for an action camera and the words “Equipment St Petersburg” printed in English on its plastic clasps.
Norwegian officials said Hvaldimir may have escaped an enclosure, and may have been trained by the Russian navy as he appeared to be accustomed to humans.
Moscow has never issued any official reaction to speculation that he could be a “Russian spy”. AFP
