Moscow, Russia

The famous white beluga whale, which was suspected to be a spy of Russia, was probably guarding 'Kremlin property' when it was found dead off the coast of Norway, according to a new documentary.

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The whale, nicknamed Hvaldimir, which is a combination of the word for whale, hval and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was discovered floating at the Risavika Bay in southern Norway in September.

The fishermen were the first to spot the 14ft whale near the northern island of Ingoya in April 2019. The spy whale was wearing a harness which had a small camera mounted over it and a buckle which had the text marked on it "Equipment St Petersburg."

This discovery had fuelled assumptions that the beluga was probably a "spy whale".

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After carrying out investigations for 10 months, the makers of the BBC documentary Secrets of the Spy Whale found that some evidence hinted that the whale was being trained as a covert "guard whale".

"Our latest findings about the potential role that Hvaldimir had been trained to do brings us closer to solving the mystery, but they also prompt many further questions about what Russia might be seeking to guard in the Arctic, and why," said Jennifer Shaw, director of the film, while speaking to The Observer.

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How do animals turn into guards?

While looking into the mystery, the team reached out to a former dolphin trainer and veterans of an early US Navy programme who explained how these creatures turned into guards.

Speaking to the newspaper, Blair Irvine said that the movements of swimmers create bubbles which then create noise.

Because the hearing of the dolphin is so sensitive, it becomes the best method for tracking intruders.

Shaw further told the newspaper that Hvaldimir was also trained in a similar way and was seen placing his nose on anything, which he made a target.

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According to the expert, it suggested that Beluga was recruited as part of a security patrol and maybe not as spy.

On September 1, Hvaldimir was found dead and the animal rights groups had said that it was shot.

In an autopsy, a 35cm in length and 3cm wide stick was found stuck in the mouth of the animal and police said Hvaldimir also had some "completely superficial" injuries, although "there was no evidence suggesting that Hvaldimir was shot".

"There is nothing in the investigations that have been carried out to establish that it is human activity that has directly led to Hvaldimir's death," said police.

(With inputs from agencies)