Modern Mysteries

Mystery as alleged Russian 'spy whale' Hvaldimir is found dead

By T.K. Randall
September 2, 2024 ·  12 comments

Hvaldimir visiting a boat back in 2019. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 4.0 Ein Dahmer Nicknamed Hvaldimir, the hapless Beluga whale originally caught the attention of authorities when it surfaced off the coast of Norway back in 2019 with a strange man-made harness attached to its body.

When marine biologists from the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries managed to remove the harness, they discovered that it was one typically used to mount camera equipment and had the words 'Equipment St. Petersburg' written on it.

The find prompted speculation that Hvaldimir may have been specially trained by the Russian navy as a 'spy whale' and had either escaped its enclosure or had been set loose.

Sadly, the mystery of the whale's origins may now never be solved as news outlets in Norway reported this week that Hvaldimir had in fact been found dead in the country's Risavika Bay.

"Unfortunately, we found Hvaldimir floating in the sea," marine biologist Sebastian Strand told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK."He has passed away, but it's not immediately clear what the cause of death is."

"It's absolutely horrible. He was apparently in good condition as of [Friday], so we just have to figure out what might have happened here."

The grisly discovery marks a sad end to the story of one of the region's most enduring maritime mysteries and means that we may never learn for sure who had trained Hvaldimir, for what and why.

While some still believe that the whale was part of some secretive Russian spy program, it has also been suggested that Hvaldimir may have been some sort of escaped 'therapy whale'.

Investigations into what might have caused the animal's death remain ongoing.

Source: The Guardian | Comments (12)

Tags: Russia, Whale