Hvaldimir, the world-famous beluga whale believed to have been trained as a Russian spy, appears not to have been the victim of a deadly double-cross after all.
Two animal-rights groups, NOAH and One Whale, claimed earlier this month that the beluga’s body was riddled with “multiple bullet wounds” when it was found dead off the coast of Norway, demanding law enforcement get to the bottom of who might have snuffed out the alleged aquatic snoop.
The groups even provided photographic evidence that purported to show the bullet wounds in the 2,700-pound mammal’s corpse, raising even more questions about the beast’s suspiciously violent death.
But a preliminary autopsy report shared by Norwegian police says there was no shooting at all and that the injuries portrayed in the activists’ photographs were superficial and did not contribute to the whale’s demise.
“Among other things, an X-ray was taken of the front part of the more than 4-metre-long whale, where the wounds are. Here, nothing has been found to indicate that these injuries stem from gunshots. No projectile has been found either,” said Amund Preede Revheim, head of the North Sea and environment section at the joint intelligence and investigation unit in the Sør-West police district.
Revheim noted that Hvaldimir’s stomach was empty and that he was experiencing widespread organ failure. A 14-inch-long and approximately 1.2-inch-wide stick was found stuck inside his mouth.
“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,” he added.
The forensic examination did not speculate further on the exact cause of death. Revheim said the final autopsy report will be available within two weeks.
Hvaldimir captured hearts and imaginations after he was discovered by Norwegian fisherman in April 2019 wearing a harness with what appeared to be an action-camera mount bearing the English text “Equipment St. Petersburg.”
His mysterious accessory, and his friendly demeanor around people, led Norwegian officials to speculate he had been enlisted by Russia to gather intelligence.
During the Cold War, Russia developed a program to train whales, seals, dolphins and other marine life to assist naval vessels in scouting out underwater weapons, CBS reported.
Although the program ran officially until the 1990s, it remains unknown whether it was shuttered after the collapse of the Soviet Union or merely repurposed.
