Oslo: A beluga whale found dead on August 31 in Norwegian waters was not the victim of human activity, according to Norwegian police. The whale, known as Hvaldimir—a blend of the Norwegian word for whale and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin—had been discovered with a stick lodged in its mouth.
Hvaldimir was initially spotted five years ago in Norway’s Arctic waters with a harness that seemed to be equipped with a mount for a small camera, leading to speculation and media coverage that the whale might be a “Russian spy”. Recently, the whale’s lifeless body was seen drifting in the sea by a father and son fishing in southern Norway.
Norwegian police had launched an investigation following complaints from two animal rights groups. The autopsy revealed a stick measuring 35 cm (14 in) long and 3 cm (1.2 in) wide was found in the whale’s mouth. According to police from the South West district, “The autopsy showed that its stomach was empty. In addition, most organs had broken down.” They added, “There is nothing in the investigations that have been carried out to establish that it is human activity that has directly led to Hvaldimir’s death.”
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The animal rights groups had alleged that Hvaldimir had been shot, but police found no evidence to support this claim. They noted, “Hvaldimir had sustained some injuries but they were completely superficial,” and “there was no evidence suggesting that Hvaldimir was shot.” Police have concluded that further investigation is unnecessary, with a full report expected in two weeks.
