Hvaldimir, the beluga whale previously under suspicion of being utilised by the Russian navy, has been found dead in south-west Norway.
The marine mammal was initially spotted in Norway’s Arctic waters in 2019. Its nickname is a play on words combining ‘hval’, the Norwegian term for whale, and a well-known Russian name.
“I found Hvaldi dead whilst I was looking for him, as usual,” Sebastian Strand said, founder of the NGO Marine Mind, in a message to AFP.
“He had been confirmed as alive just over 24 hours before we found him floating motionless” off the south-west coast at Risavika, he added.
The cause of the beluga’s death remains unknown as there were no visible injuries from the initial inspection, according to Strand.
Estimated to be between 14 and 15 years old, “Hvaldimir” was first detected in April 2019 off the Arctic region of Finnmark, in the far north of Norway.
Biologists who approached the whale were able to remove the harness fixed around its head. The harness was equipped with a base for a small camera and had “Equipment St.Peterburg” printed in English on the plastic straps.
The Norwegian directorate of fisheries speculated at the time that Hvaldimir had escaped from an enclosure and been trained by the Russian navy, as the whale seemed accustomed to human interaction and tended to approach ships.
Moscow has never officially responded to these speculations.
