A beluga whale suspected of being a Russian-trained spy has been found dead in Norwegian waters.
Sebastian Strand, who worked to protect the 14 foot-long whale, known as Hvaldimir, said he found the dead mammal floating near Risavika in south-western Norway on Saturday.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Mr Strand, who runs Marine Mind, a non-profit organisation, told the New York Times. “He’s touched thousands of people’s hearts just here in Norway.”
Cause of death unclear
Mr Strand said his team will now send Hvaldimir to a facility where his body can be preserved in order to determine a cause of death, which was not immediately clear.
However, the dead whale was found with markings which could have been caused by birds or other marine animals.
Hvaldimir, whose name is a combination of the word “hval”, the Norwegian word for whale, and Vladimir, after Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, was first spotted by fishermen in Norway in 2019.
He had been wearing a harness marked “equipment St Petersburg” as well as what appeared to be a camera mount.
Incredibly friendly to humans
It fuelled rampant speculation that Hvaldimir was being used by Moscow as a spy, though Russia never claimed ownership of the whale.
Adding to the intrigue surrounding Hvaldimir was the fact that he was incredibly friendly to humans and even exhibited signs of domestication.
“He was completely acclimatised to human culture,” Mr. Strand said, potentially owing to the fact that Hvaldimir had “been in captivity for a lot of his life”.
Scientists concerned
But scientists quickly became concerned by the fact that Hvaldimir was found swimming in waters considered to be too busy for beluga whales.
Mr Strand and his non-profit began working to protect Hvaldimir as the whale continued to live outside of its natural habitat, while also trying to educate locals and tourists about his species.
In 2023, Hvaldimir was spotted off the coast of Sweden, which was even further away from natural food sources and instead towards more industrial, and therefore dangerous, harbours.
“I’m not sure what’s happened,” Mr. Strand added. “But we’ll find out.”