“Russian spy” beluga whale that was found dead “had multiple bullet wounds,” animal rights group says
Animal rights groups on Wednesday said gunfire killed a beluga whale that rose to fame in Norway after its unusual harness sparked suspicions the creature was trained by Russia as a spy.
The organizations NOAH and One Whale said they had filed a complaint with Norwegian police asking them to open a “criminal investigation.”
Nicknamed “Hvaldimir” in a pun on the Norwegian word for whale, hval, and its purported ties to Moscow, the white beluga first appeared off the coast in Norway’s far-northern Finnmark region in 2019.
trying to weaponize sea mammals, CBS News previously reported. Last year, British military spies said Russia appeared to be training combat dolphins to counter Ukrainian forces.
Moscow has never issued any official reaction to speculation that he could be a “Russian spy.”
“We are heartbroken,” One Whale said in a statement after Hvaldimir was found dead. “We are angry, too, as we have had to fight so hard, for so long to help him out of danger. And he was finally so close to having a better life.”
Linn Saether / AP
Source: cbsnews.com