Body Hvaldimir's whale was found on Saturday in Risavika Bay on the southwestern coast Norway. The mammal was discovered by representatives of the Marine Mind organization, which was tracking the movements of the beluga whale.
– We saw traces on the body, but it is too early to say what caused the death – the director of the organization told journalists Sebastian Strand.
Hvaldimir the whale shot? Organizations have no doubts
The dead mammal was transported to a nearby branch on Monday. Norwegian Veterinary Institute to conduct an autopsy. The body was seen up close by activists from One Whale and NOAH. They have no doubts – Hvaldimir was shot dead.
“Several veterinarians, biologists and ballistic experts reviewed the evidence of Hvaldimir's injuries, determining that the whale's death was the result of a criminal act” – we read in a joint statement of the organizations.
Norway. Police alerted about whale death
NOAH and One Whale reported a suspicion of a crime being committed the police and the Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime.
“When I saw his body, I knew immediately he had been killed by gunshots. I even saw a bullet stuck insideThis kind, gentle animal was senselessly murdered. We will strive for justice for Hvaldimir and we hope that someone will reveal information about his murder,” she said via social media Regina Haugfounder of One Whale. The organization, as its name suggests, dealt only with Hvaldimir and for years tried to transport him to “safer waters”.
According to activists, one of the people who blocked the whale's transport this year was… Sebastian Strand from Marine Mind, whose employees were the first to find the mammal's body. He was supposed to have argued that the animal is safe.
Russian spy? The nickname is telling
The whale rose to fame in 2019 when it approached fishermen in the Norwegian Sea wearing a camera harness with the words “Equipment of St. Petersburg” written in English, raising suspicions it may have been trained by the Russian Navy for espionage.
The Norwegians nicknamed the 4.2-meter-long, 1,225-kilogram marine mammal Hvaldimir, which is a combination of the Norwegian “hval” meaning whale and the name of a Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
He could be Putin's secret weapon
Foreign Policy magazine suggested in 2023 that Hvaldimir could have been “Putin's secret weapon”. The newspaper recalled that Russialike the United States and other countries, has been training marine mammals to perform military tasks for years.
The autopsy results of the whale will be available within three weeks. The BBC emphasizes that 15-year-old Hvaldimir was not old for a beluga whale, as Individuals of this species can live up to 60 years.