The sociable beluga whale Hvaldimir, who caused a great stir when he appeared in both Norwegian and Swedish waters, is dead according to Norwegian media.
He was discovered at the end of April 2019 and gained attention because he was very contact-seeking and equipped with a camera harness marked "Equipment from St. Petersburg", which led to speculations that he was trained to perform Russian espionage tasks.
Since then, he has been observed on several occasions mainly along Norwegian coastal towns.
The whale was found lifeless in the water off Rogaland on Saturday and has been brought ashore. There are no clear injuries on the carcass and the plan now is to perform an autopsy, according to NTB.
