Police said on Monday that a beluga whale that was found dead on August 31 and had a stick lodged in its mouth when it was found five years ago in Norwegian waters with a harness strapped around its neck had nothing to do with human activity.
A father and son fishing in southern Norway discovered the body of Hvaldimir, which is a combination of the Russian President Vladimir Putin's first name and the Norwegian word for whale, floating in the water a week ago.
When the animal was found off the Arctic coast of Norway in 2019 wearing a harness that looked like it had a mount for a small camera, the media took notice.
Because of their shared Arctic maritime border, Norway and Russia have joked that the whale was a Russian spy.
Following a complaint from two animal rights organizations, Norwegian police launched an investigation into the animal's death.
According to an autopsy, the whale's mouth contained a stick that was 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) wide and 35 centimeters long (14 inches), according to a statement from the South West district police.
Its empty stomach was revealed by the autopsy. Police said that the majority of the organs had also malfunctioned.
"Nothing in the investigations conducted to date indicates that Hvaldimir's death was directly caused by human activity."
They also stated that police would not look into the matter further.
According to the animal rights organizations, the whale was shot and killed. Hvaldimir had some injuries on Monday, according to the police, but they were "completely superficial," and "there was no evidence suggesting that Hvaldimir was shot."
The full report is expected to be available in two weeks.
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