‘Russian spy’ whale Hvaldimir found dead in Norway

The white beluga was found off the southwest coast at Risavika Bay by a father and son who were out fishing.

A beluga whale nicknamed Hvaldimir, after his strange harness prompted suspicions he was a Russian spy, has been found dead in the southwest of Norway.

The whale’s carcass was discovered floating off Risavika Bay in southern Norway on Saturday by a father and son who were out fishing, Norwegian public broadcaster NRK reported.

“Hvaldimir was not just a beluga whale; he was a beacon of hope, a symbol of connection, and a reminder of the deep bond between humans and the natural world,” Marine Mind, a nonprofit organisation that had been tracking his movements, said on social media.

Hvaldimir, a combination of the Norwegian word for whale, “hval”, and the first name of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, was first spotted off Norway’s far northern coast in 2019.

His man-made harness, with what appeared to be a mount for a camera stamped with the words “Equipment St Petersburg”, fuelled speculation that he was a “spy whale“.