A beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited hypothesis that it used to be a Russian undercover agent, used to be now not shot to dying as claimed by means of animal rights teams however died of a bacterial an infection, Norwegian police mentioned Friday.A last post-mortem by means of Norway’s Veterinary Institute “concludes that the possible explanation for dying used to be bacterial an infection — perhaps because of a wound within the mouth from a caught stick,” Amund Preede Revheim, head of the North Sea and Atmosphere segment of the police in south-western Norway mentioned.”There were no findings from the post-mortem that point out that the whale has been shot,” he wired, including that the post-mortem have been “made tough by means of the truth that most of the whale’s organs have been very rotten.” As there used to be no indication of foul play, there used to be no explanation why to start out a legal investigation into its dying, Preede Revheim mentioned.
The tame beluga, which used to be first noticed in 2019 now not a ways from Russian waters with a harness studying “Apparatus St. Petersburg,” have been nicknamed “Hvaldimir,” combining the Norwegian phrase for whale – hval – and the primary identify of Russian President Vladimir Putin.It used to be discovered floating in a southern Norway bay on Aug. 31.
In September, animal recommend teams OneWhale and NOAH filed a police document pronouncing that the animal’s wounds prompt it used to be deliberately killed.
This photograph supplied by means of OneWhale.org on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, displays supervisor Regina Haug subsequent to the carcass of the beluga whale Hvaldimir, who used to be discovered lifeless on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024.
OneWhale.org / AP
They pointed at a number of wounds discovered at the animal’s pores and skin, together with what used to be interpreted as a bullet hollow.”Tests made by means of the Veterinary Institute and the police’s forensic technicians are that those don’t seem to be gunshot wounds. X-rays of the chest and head have been performed with none projectiles or different steel fragments being detected,” police mentioned in a commentary.Previous, police had described a stick about 35 centimeters (14 inches) lengthy and three centimeters (1 inch) extensive which used to be discovered wedged within the animal’s mouth, its abdomen used to be empty and its organs had damaged down, police mentioned. No additional main points got.
The 4.2-meter (14-foot) lengthy and 1,225-kilogram (2,700-pound) whale used to be first noticed by means of fishermen now not a ways from the Arctic the town of Hammerfest.Its harness, together with what looked to be a mount for a small digicam, resulted in media hypothesis that it used to be a “undercover agent whale.” The Russian army has a historical past of seeking to weaponize sea mammals, CBS Information prior to now reported. Closing 12 months, British army spies mentioned Russia looked to be coaching struggle dolphins to counter Ukrainian forces.Moscow hasn’t ever made any legit reaction to claims the whale is usually a “Russian undercover agent.”There used to be no rapid response from OneWhale or NOAH.”The style during which Hvaldimir died does not have an effect on the paintings OneWhale did to offer protection to him and recommend for him over the past 5 years,” OneWhale mentioned in a commentary ultimate month. “We’re proud to have made implausible growth running with Norwegian scientists, veterinarians and executive.” 
On this photograph taken on Monday, April 29, 2019, Linn Saether poses with a beluga whale, days after a fisherman got rid of a harness with a mount for digicam from the mammal, in Tufjord, Norway.
Linn Saether / AP
Extra from CBS Information
