The body of Hvaldimir (his name is a combination of the Norwegian word for “cetacean” and the name of Russian President Vladimir Putin) floating in the sea was spotted by a father and son who were fishing in southern Norway, according to information provided by NRK.
Hvaldimir, a whale in a harness with the words “Equipment St. Petersburg”
The non-governmental organization Marine Mind, which observed the whales, wrote on social media that Hvaldimir “reminded us of the deep bond between humans and the natural world.”
When Hvaldimir was first spotted near the island of Ingøya in northern Norway, about 300 km from the Norwegian-Russian maritime border, he was wearing a harness with what appeared to be a mount for a small camera. The harness bore an inscription in English: “Equipment St. Petersburg”.
The cause of Hvaldimir’s death is not yet known.
The whale was very interested in people and responded to hand signals, leading the Norwegian intelligence agency to assume that it had been held captive in Russia for some time as part of a research program before being released into Norwegian waters.
