A beluga whale, suspected to have been trained as a spy for Russia, was shot and killed, animal rights groups claimed on Sep. 4.

The organisations Noah and One Whale said they have since filed a complaint with Norwegian police in a bid to open a criminal investigation.

Autopsy results expected in 3 weeks

The white beluga, christened “Hvaldimir” — given that the Norwegian word for whale is "hval", while also borrowing from Russia president Vladimir Putin's name — first appeared off the coast in Norway’s far-northern Finnmark region in 2019.

It was found dead on Aug. 31 in a bay on Norway’s south-western coast.

Its body was transported on Sep. 2 to a local branch of the Norwegian Veterinary Institute for autopsy.

The report is expected within three weeks.

“He had multiple bullet wounds around his body,” the head of One Whale, Regina Crosby Haug, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

One Whale was founded to track the beluga, which became a celebrity in Norway.

“The injuries on the whale are alarming and of a nature that cannot rule out a criminal act. It is shocking,” Noah director Siri Martinsen said in a statement.

Marine Mind, a third organisation that also tracked the whale’s movements, said it found Hvaldimir’s dead body floating in the water at around 2:30pm on Saturday.

Some of the markings found on the whale, which appeared to be injuries, were probably caused by marine birds, but that there was no explanation for others at this stage.

Too young to die

Hvaldimir was estimated to have been about 15 to 20 years old, which was relatively young for a beluga whale.

Beluga whales can live to between 40 and 60 years of age.

Ties to Moscow?

When it was found in 2019, Norwegian marine biologists removed a man-made harness with a mount suited for an action camera.

The words “Equipment St Petersburg” was printed in English on its plastic clasps.

Norwegian officials said Hvaldimir appeared to be accustomed to humans and may have escaped an enclosure and previously trained by the Russian navy.

Moscow has never responded to the speculation about the animal's ties to it.

Top photo via Marine Mind