Beluga whale suspected to be Russian spy dies

A beluga whale, that was suspected to have been trained as a spy by Russia, was found dead off the coast in the Risavika Bay in southern Norway on Saturday by a father and son fishing in the waters, The Independent reported citing Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.

The whale was nicknamed Hvaldimir — a combination of the Norwegian word “hval” for whale and the first name of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

It was described as a spy in the West after it was spotted in Norwegian waters five years ago with a GoPro camera attached to a harness that read “Equipment of St Petersburg”.

Hvaldimir’s carcass was found floating in the Risavika Bay before it was lifted out with a crane and moved to a nearby harbour for investigation into the cause of its death.

“Unfortunately, we found Hvaldimir floating in the sea. He has passed away, but it’s not immediately clear what the cause of death is,” marine biologist Sebastian Strand told NRK.

Strand, who worked with the Marine Mind, a non-governmental organization (NGO), and monitored Hvaldimir’s movement for the past three years, said the whale was in good condition until Friday.

No major external injuries were visible on the animal and it was not immediately clear what caused the death, he added.

Hvaldimir’s age, which was approximately 15 years old, was relatively young for a Beluga whale, which can live up to 60 years.

The animal was first spotted in April 2019 near the island of Ingoya in Norway’s north, about 300 kilometres from Russia’s maritime border.

It showed interest in people and responded to hand signals, leading Norway’s intelligence agency to presume that it had been held in captivity as part of a research programme before arriving in Norwegian waters.

“It appeared as if Hvaldimir arrived in Norway by crossing over from Russian waters, where it is presumed he was held in captivity,” Marine Mind said on its website.

Last May, the whale was spotted swimming off the coast of Sweden, about 2,000km to the south, after travelling several hundred kilometres.

The Barents Observer, a Norwegian news site, claimed to have used satellite images to identify whale pens near Russian naval bases in the northwest region of Murmansk, the implication being that the country trained marine mammals such as dolphins and whales for military purposes.

However, Russia has never responded to the allegations.