Intrigue deepens as Russian 'spy whale' is found dead with gunshot wounds.

A beluga whale was discovered with a camera mount harness that stated "Equipment of St. Petersburg," which led to online speculation the whale was used for covert Russian intelligence operations.

The whale was originally discovered in 2019 and quickly gained the attention of thousands of people for the ambiguity surrounding its camera harness. Over the next five years, the whale, which was promptly named Hvaldimir, was spotted several times and has even been the star of a few viral clips that depicted the whale returning a dropped GoPro and even playing fetch with humans.

Unfortunately for those fond of the whale, and perhaps even Russian intelligence agencies, Hvaldimir was recently discovered deceased by Norwegian non-profit Marine Mind, which has been tracking the location of the whale for quite some time. The team posted the news on Instagram and wrote that it's not obvious how Hvaldimir died, and that the whale was only approximately half of its total lifespan.

Furthermore, the team said it would be performing an autopsy on Hvaldimir's body to discover the cause of its death.

Update - Since the paragraphs above were written, an update to the story has surfaced, and according to a report from The Guardian, animal rights groups have said that Hvaldimir was killed by gunfire. This discovery has prompted animal rights groups to push Norwegian police to open up a criminal investigation into Hvaldimir's death.

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