Two animal rights groups say they have filed a complaint asking Norwegian police to open a “criminal investigation” into the circumstances surrounding the death of beluga Hvaldimir, who is suspected of having been used by Russia for espionage.
A new twist in the case of the mysterious “spy beluga”, Hvaldimir. Two NGOs claim that the cetacean, found dead on Saturday August 31 in a bay in Norway, was shot dead.
Animal rights organisations NOAH and One Whale announced on Wednesday 4 September that they had filed a complaint asking the Norwegian police to open a “criminal investigation” into the circumstances of Hvaldimir’s death.
The young white whale caused a 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, equipped 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 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).
“Shocking” injuries
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 him as she said goodbye. “He had multiple gunshot wounds,” she said.
Photos released by the two NGOs on Wednesday showed what appeared to be projectiles peeking out from 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.
“When faced with suspicion of a criminal act, it is crucial that the police intervene quickly,” she added.
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.
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 said.
“It is too early to say”
It was a third NGO, Marine Mind, which said it found Hvaldimir lying in the water on Saturday around 2:30 p.m.
“There was no immediate indication of the cause of death,” said its leader, Sebastian Strand. “We saw marks but it is too early to say.” He said some marks were probably caused by predation by seabirds, but others remained unexplained at this stage.
The NGOs One Whale and Marine Mind were at odds over what to do with Hvaldimir while he was still alive. Citing the risk of a collision with a ship, the former argued for his transfer to the more northern waters of the Barents Sea, a more natural habitat for belugas that usually live in groups, but the latter opposed it, arguing that the transport was dangerous.
In 2019, the spy animal 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 navies 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.
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