A post-mortem examination by Norway’s Veterinary Institute has concluded that Hvaldimir – the beluga whale thought to have been trained as a Russian ‘spy’ – was not shot, as reports suggested at the time.
The most likely cause of death, according to the scientists who carried out the examination, was a bacterial infection, possibly caused by a 40cm-long (14in) stick lodged in his mouth.
Hvaldimir – named for hval, the Norwegian word for whale, and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin – was found floating in Risavika Bay in southern Norway on 31 August.
He had become something of a celebrity in Norway after first being spotted in 2019 wearing a GoPro camera mount labelled ‘Equipment St Petersburg’, leading to speculation he had been trained to patrol shipping lanes on behalf of Russian intelligence.
Campaigners from OneWhale, a group dedicated to the Hvaldimir’s protection and rehabilitation; and NOAH, Norway’s largest animal rights organisation, filed a complaint to Norwegian police over the whale’s death, alleging that holes found in Hvaldimir’s skin were bullet wounds.
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An autopsy conducted by  Veterinærinstituttet – the Norwegian Veterinary Institute – however, dismissed the claims as there was no evidence that Hvaldimir had been shot and killed, and the police have subsequently closed the inquest into his death.
Amund Preede Revheim, head of the North Sea and Environment section of Norway’s Sør-West police district, said in a statement (translated from Norwegian) that ‘there have been no findings from the autopsy that indicate that the whale has been shot.’
‘A thorough examination of the whale has been carried out,’ continues the statement. ‘As pictures in the media have previously shown, several superficial wounds were found in the skin in the areas of the rear chest cavity, abdomen, one forward crank and at the tail fin.
‘The wound edges on these were uneven and torn, and they are interpreted as injuries caused by birds pecking holes in the skin.
‘On the underside of the whale there were two holes in the skin. One wound went through the skin and the entire blubber layer, but did not affect internal organs. The wound channel from the second hole was less than 1 cm deep.
‘Assessments made by the Veterinary Institute and the police’s forensic technicians are that these are not gunshot wounds. X-rays of the chest and head were carried out without any projectiles or other metal fragments being detected.’
The remains of animals autopsied by the Veterinary Institute are usually destroyed once the investigation has been completed, but there has been so much public interest in the case that the Institute has decided instead to donate Hvaldimir’s remains to the Nature Museum in Kristiansand.
Hvaldimir’s skeleton will be displayed at the museum from a yet-to-be-confirmed date in the Spring of 2025. The Veterinary Institute has also indicated there are plans to conduct genetic tests to ascertain where Hvaldimir originally came from, and which beluga population he belonged to before he was captured.
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