Emily Chan
A beloved beluga whale was found dead under mysterious circumstances in the harbor of Stavanger, a city in southwest Norway. Some conservation groups claimed that the white beluga was killed by gunfire. However, a forensic examination has revealed that the animal was not shot.
The whale was named Hvaldimir, a combination of the Norwegian word for whale (hval) and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He rose to fame after he was discovered by fishermen off the coast of Norway in 2019.
From then on, Hvaldimir made frequent appearances along the Norwegian coast, seeking out human interaction. His friendly, sociable manner won the hearts of many people.
He responded to hand signals and went viral several times, including when he played fetch with a rugby ball and retrieved a GoPro camera that a kayaker dropped into the water.
Theories about his past caused a lot of buzz. There was even speculation that he had escaped from a Russian military facility where he was trained as a spy.
The rumor stemmed from the fact that he wore a camera harness that read “Equipment St. Petersburg” and that Russia has a history of training marine mammals like dolphins for military purposes.
Others thought he was a missing Russian therapy whale named Seymon. Before his escape, he lived in an enclosure and performed for children with disabilities on occasion.
Hvaldimir was believed to be between 14 and 15-years-old at the time of his death. For a beluga whale, the average lifespan is around 30 years. In the wild, beluga whales can live for 60 to 70 years. So, Hvaldimir’s life was sadly cut short.
Photos revealed holes and streaks of blood on the body of the whale, which was 14 feet long and weighed about 2,700 pounds. According to the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, the cause of Hvaldimir’s death was so unclear that a decision was made to conduct an autopsy.
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