A beluga whale, suspected of being trained as a spy by Russia, has been found dead off the coast of Norway.
The whale, known as Hvaldimir, was discovered floating near the town of Risavika in the southwest and was subsequently taken to the nearest port for examination.
Hvaldimir first gained attention five years ago when he was spotted in Norwegian waters with a GoPro camera attached to a harness labeled “Equipment of St Petersburg.”
This fueled speculation that the whale could have been used for espionage, a theory supported by past incidents of marine animals being trained for military purposes.
Despite these suspicions, Moscow never responded to the allegations.
Marine Mind, an organization that has been tracking Hvaldimir’s movements for years, reported finding the whale’s lifeless body over the weekend.
Sebastian Strand, the founder of Marine Mind, told AFP that the cause of death remains unknown, with no visible injuries on the whale.
“We’ve managed to retrieve his remains and put him in a cooled area, in preparation for a necropsy by the veterinary institute,” Strand said.
Estimated to be about 15 years old, Hvaldimir was relatively young for a beluga whale, which can live up to 60 years.
He first approached Norwegian boats in April 2019 near Ingoya island, approximately 415km (260 miles) from Murmansk, where Russia’s Northern Fleet is stationed.
This encounter drew significant attention as belugas are not typically seen this far south of the high Arctic.
The discovery led Norway’s domestic intelligence agency to investigate, concluding that the whale was likely trained by the Russian military, as he appeared accustomed to human interaction.
Locally, the whale was nicknamed Hvaldimir, a play on the Norwegian word for whale, “hval,” and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russia has a history of training marine mammals, such as dolphins, for military purposes. The Barents Observer website has identified whale pens near naval bases in the Murmansk region.
However, Russia has never officially acknowledged the claims that Hvaldimir was part of a military program, and has previously denied the existence of any initiatives to train sea mammals as spies.
Source-BBC
