A beluga whale suspected of spying for Russia has been found dead off the Norwegian coast, according to the non-profit organisation that had been monitoring the mammal.
The body of Hvaldimir – whose moniker is a combination of the Norwegian word for whale and the first name of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin – was spotted in the sea by a father and son fishing over the weekend, local media said.
Staff from Marine Mind, an NGO with headquarters in Norway, responded to the sighting and found Hvaldimir “floating peacefully in the water, no longer with us”.
They said in a post on social media: "Hvaldimir bridged the gap between humans and wild animals in a way that few can.
“He was special to so many, leaving an indelible mark on all who had the privilege to encounter him.”
Hvaldimir first hit headlines in 2019, when he was discovered swimming near the north Norway island of Ingoya, around 300km from the Russian maritime border, while wearing a harness with what appeared to be a mount for a small camera.
The harness was stamped with “Equipment St Petersburg” in English.
The beluga whale was very interested in people and responded to hand signals – leaving Norway’s domestic intelligence agency to presume he had been held in captivity in Russia as part of a research programme, before crossing into Norwegian waters.
Moscow has never responded to the allegations about Hvaldimir.
"It’s absolutely horrible," marine biologist Sebastian Strand, who worked with Marine Mind, told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. "He was apparently in good condition as of [Friday], so we just have to figure out what might have happened here."
No major external injuries were visible on the animal and it was not immediately clear what caused the death, he added.
An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death.
