A new twist in the case of a mysterious beluga, the subject of all fantasies, including suspicions of espionage, in Norway: two NGOs claim that the cetacean, found dead last weekend in a bay, was shot dead.
Animal rights organisations NOAH and One Whale announced on Wednesday that they had filed a complaint asking Norwegian police to open a “criminal investigation” into the circumstances of Hvaldimir’s death.
The young white whale became an instant sensation in the Scandinavian country when it appeared off the coast of Hammerfest in the Norwegian Arctic in 2019. It was wearing an enigmatic harness around its head with a base for a small camera, with the text “Equipment St.Peterburg” printed in English, and seemed to enjoy human company.
This gave rise to speculation that it was a spy animal from neighbouring Russia, leading to its being named Hvaldimir, a play on words combining the Norwegian word for whale (hval) and the emblematic Russian first name of the Kremlin’s ruler, Vladimir Putin.
Described as young — between 15 and 20 years old, according to those who followed him — and in good health, the mammal was found dead Saturday in Risavika Bay, on the southwest coast of Norway. Belugas generally live between 30 and 35 years, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
The body was taken for an autopsy on Monday to a local branch of the Norwegian Veterinary Institute, where Regina Crosby Haug, frontman of One Whale, said she saw it as she said goodbye.
“He had multiple gunshot wounds,” she told AFP.
Photos published on Wednesday by the two NGOs show what appear to be projectiles lying on the body, which also showed streaks of blood.
“The whale’s injuries are alarming and of a nature that cannot rule out foul play. They are shocking,” NOAH chief Siri Martinsen said in a statement. “It is crucial that police respond quickly if foul play is suspected.”
The regional police confirmed that they had received a complaint. They will now examine “whether there are reasonable grounds to launch an investigation,” said one of their officers, Amund Preede Revheim.
Rival NGOs
Refusing to comment on the claims of the two NGOs, the Veterinary Institute must submit its autopsy report “within three weeks”, said a spokeswoman, Bente Paulson.
“If anything suspicious were to emerge, the police would be informed,” she told AFP.
A third NGO, Marine Mind, said it found Hvaldimir lying in the water on Saturday at around 2:30 p.m. local time.
“There was no immediate indication of the cause of death,” its leader, Sebastian Strand, told AFP. “We saw marks, but it is too early to say.”
He said some of the marks were probably caused by seabird predation, but others remain unexplained at this stage.
The NGOs One Whale and Marine Mind were at odds over what to do with Hvaldimir while he was alive.
Citing the risk of a collision with a ship, the former argued for its transfer to the more northern waters of the Barents Sea, a more natural habitat for belugas which generally live in groups, but the latter opposed it, arguing the danger associated with transport.
In 2019, the animal spy theory was fueled by the strategic location of the Barents Sea, a hotbed of rivalries during the Cold War.
Westerners and Russians, who have positioned the most powerful fleet of their navy there, continue to spy on the respective movements of their submarines.
It is also the gateway to the Northern Route which shortens sea journeys between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Moscow has never officially commented on the speculation surrounding Hvaldimir.