For once, there is some good news to report — although it’s not exactly happy news, because Hvaldimir is indeed still dead. But the big, beautiful beluga whale did not expire as the result of man’s inhumanity to a fellow mammal; he was instead the victim of the sort of hazard that faces all sea creatures: a floating object.

A police autopsy — or necropsy, if you will — has concluded that “human activity” did not cause Hvaldimir’s death. What they did find was that a stick had become lodged in his mouth, and that what were initially thought by some to be bullet holes were just some “completely superficial” injuries. [Tom McArthur, BBC News, September 9, 2024.]

So, whether he was a Russian-trained spy whale who decided to “come in from the cold” and retire in the free world, or just a big bleached ball of blubber with a poor sense of direction, his last years were spent as a sort of folk hero to a lot of good people in Norway.

Once again . . . hvil i fred (R.I.P.), Hvaldimir; and know that you are missed.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/10/24