The body of the animal, dubbed Hvaldimir, was found floating near the southwestern town of Risavika and taken to the nearest port for examination.
The dolphin was first spotted in Norwegian waters five years ago, with a GoPro camera attached to its body in a belt labeled “St. Petersburg Equipment”.
This has sparked rumors that the mammal could be a spy, something experts say has happened before. Moscow has never responded to these accusations.
Hvaldimir was found dead over the weekend by Marine Mind, an organization that had been monitoring his movements for years. The organization’s founder, Sebastian Strand, told AFP that the cause of death was unknown and that there were no obvious injuries on Hvaldimir’s body.
At around 15 years old, Hvaldimir was not old, as a white dolphin’s life span can reach 60 years.
It first approached Norwegian ships in April 2019 near Ingoya Island, located approximately 415 km from Murmansk, where the Russian Northern Fleet is based. The sighting drew attention because white dolphins are rarely seen so far south of the remote Arctic.
Norway’s domestic intelligence agency launched an investigation and later said the dolphin was likely trained by the Russian military because it appeared to be used to humans.
The Norwegians named the dolphin Hvaldimiru, a play on words from the Norwegian word hval, meaning dolphin or whale, and the name of President Vladimir Putin.
Marine mammals such as dolphins have been trained for military purposes in Russia in the past, and the Barents Observer website has discovered dolphin enclosures near naval bases northwest of Murmansk.
Russia has never officially responded to the claim that Hvaldimir may have been trained by the Russian military. She has previously denied the existence of any programs to train mammals to spy.
2024-09-02 08:05:28