Norwegian police dismiss claims of 'Russian spy' whale being shot dead

Police in Norway said Monday that foul play was not suspected in the death of a beluga whale whose unusual harness had sparked suspicions it had been trained by Russia as a spy.

Nicknamed "Hvaldimir" in a pun on the Norwegian word for whale ("hval") and its purported ties to Moscow, the white beluga first appeared off the coast in Norway's far-northern Finnmark region in 2019.

Quickly becoming a celebrity in Norway, he was found dead on August 31 in a bay on the country's southwestern coast.

Last week, animal rights organizations NOAH and One Whale claimed the whale had been shot dead and filed a police report.

With an estimated age of 15 to 20 years, Hvaldimir was relatively young for a beluga, which typically lives up to 35 years, according to environmental group WWF.

The Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted an autopsy, and police said that based on its preliminary report there was nothing to indicate "human activity" was responsible for Hvaldimir's death.

It suggested the beluga may have died of starvation, and said it would not launch an investigation.

"There is nothing in the autopsy that indicates that Hvaldimir was shot," police official Amund Preede Revheim said in a statement.

He said the whale had "totally superficial" injuries.

"One of the wounds is a little deeper, but these injuries did not affect any vital organs and were not deadly," he added.

Police did not provide a cause of death, but said a stick 35 centimeters (14 inches) long and three centimeters wide was found lodged in his mouth.

"The autopsy revealed that his stomach was empty. In addition, most of his organs were deteriorated," Revheim said.

The head of One Whale, Regina Crosby Haug, told AFP last week that she saw "multiple bullet wounds around his body" when she said her goodbyes to Hvaldimir at the Veterinary Institute.

One Whale and NOAH had published photographs showing what they claim are bullet holes on his blood-streaked body.

NOAH said Monday the police statement "raised more questions than it answered", and offered a 50,000-kroner ($4,610) reward for information on the whale's cause of death.

When Hvaldimir was found in 2019, Norwegian marine biologists removed a man-made harness with a mount suited for an action camera and the words "Equipment St. Petersburg" printed in English on the plastic clasps.

Norwegian officials said the whale might have escaped an enclosure and been trained by the Russian navy, as he appeared to be accustomed to humans.

Moscow has never made any official response to claims the whale could be a "Russian spy".