Beluga Whale Alleged to be a Russian ‘Spy’ May Have Been Killed by Gunshot Wounds

The death of a beloved white beluga whale in Norway might turn into an assassination investigation after some animal rights groups are alleging he was shot.

The whale, called Hvaldimir (a combination of the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin) gained public attention in the country in 2019 when he was spotted wearing a custom harness that included camera mounts, which caused some people to believe that the Russian military had trained him.

OneWhale, a non-profit organization “committed to protecting Hvaldimir and relocating him to a wild population of belugas,” announced the whale’s death in an Instagram post on Wednesday, Aug. 4.

“Our beloved Hvaldimir was shot to death,” text over a reel of photos of the whale read. “There are no words for this heinous crime. We will not allow it to be covered up.”

“Hvaldimir, the Beloved ‘Spy’ Whale, Shot to Death in Norway. OneWhale and NOAH seek criminal investigation, filing a police report to the Sandnes Police District and the Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime,” the caption of the reel began.

“This action was taken based on compelling evidence that the whale was killed by gunshot wounds. Several veterinarians, biologists, and ballistics experts have reviewed evidence of Hvaldimir’s injuries, determining that the whale’s death was the result of a criminal act.”

The reel contained photographs of what appeared to be holes in a lifeless whale’s body, surrounded by blood.

PEOPLE has reached out to Southwestern Police District (SPD) in Norway for comment on the matter.

The SPD confirmed to CNN on Wednesday, Sept. 4 that it had received a request to investigate Hvaldimir’s death but hadn’t yet determined if it would open an inquiry.

Southwestern Police District Superintendent Victor Fenne-jensen declined to comment on whether the SPD had looked into the rumors that Hvaldimir was a trained Russian spy.

“I don’t think we’ve had a case like this before,” he told the news outlet, adding that the whale was “kind of a celebrity.”

An organization called Marine Mind said in a Facebook post it found the whale on Aug. 31 but wanted to “refrain from speculation” about Hvaldimir’s death until the Veterinary Institute released its findings about it.

“The Veterinary Institute has not yet released the results from its investigations. When we found Hvaldimir on Saturday, it was not possible to immediately determine the cause of death, and therefore it is important to refrain from speculation until the institute has completed its work. Until then, we hope people stick to the established facts,” the statement began.

“We do not wish to contribute to public speculation, but we are directly assisting with what we can offer to those working to determine the cause of Hvaldimir’s death. Until the cause of death is established by those responsible for the investigation, temporary assumptions will not be useful for anything other than publicity,” it concluded.

Per the Associated Press (AP) The Norwegian public broadcaster NRK reported that Hvaldimir’s carcass was found floating in Risavika Bay in southern Norway on Aug. 31 by a father and son on a fishing trip. The dead whale was lifted out of the water with a crane.

Sebastian Strand, a marine biologist who examined Hvaldimir after he was lifted out of the water told NPK (via the AP): “Unfortunately, we found Hvaldimir floating in the sea. He has passed away but it’s not immediately clear what the cause of death is.”

Strand added that there were no major external injuries visible on the carcass, per the AP.

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Before his death, OneWhale and NOAH had been working together to get him to a safer area in Northern Norway and had reportedly obtained permits from the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries.

In 2019, Jorgen Ree Wiig, a marine biologist at Norway’s Directorate of Fisheries, told CNN that Hvaldimir’s harness appeared to be custom and had “mounts for GoPro cameras on each side of it.”

The harness clips also reportedly read “Equipment St. Petersburg,” which fueled rumors that Hvaldimir was trained to be a spy by the Russian navy, CNN said.