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 southwestern town of Risavika and was transported to the nearest port for examination.
Hvaldimir was first seen in Norwegian waters five years ago with a GoPro camera attached to a harness labeled “Equipment of St Petersburg,” raising suspicions that the whale might have been used for espionage—a possibility that experts suggest has occurred before. Moscow has not addressed these allegations.
Marine Mind, an organization that has been monitoring Hvaldimir’s movements for years, found the whale’s body over the weekend.
Marine Mind founder Sebastian Strand informed AFP that the cause of death is unknown and that there were no apparent injuries on Hvaldimir’s body.
“We’ve managed to retrieve his remains and put him in a cooled area, in preparation for a necropsy by the veterinary institute,” he told AFP news agency.
At approximately 15 years old, Hvaldimir was relatively young for a beluga whale, which can live up to 60 years.
The whale first approached Norwegian boats in April 2019 near Ingoya Island, located about 415 km (260 miles) from Murmansk, home to Russia’s Northern Fleet. This sighting was noteworthy as belugas are rarely seen so far south of the high Arctic.
The unusual appearance led to an investigation by Norway’s domestic intelligence agency, which concluded that the whale was likely trained by the Russian military, given its apparent comfort around humans.
Locally, the whale was dubbed Hvaldimir—a play on the Norwegian word for whale, “hval,” and President Vladimir Putin.
Russia has a history of training marine mammals, such as dolphins, for military use, and the Barents Observer has reported whale pens near naval bases in the Murmansk region.
Russia has not officially addressed the claim that Hvaldimir was trained by the Russian military, and it has previously denied any programs aimed at training sea mammals as spies.