According to Dr Shpak, Andruha/Hvaldimir had first been captured in 2013 in the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia's Far East. A year later it was moved from a facility owned by a dolphinarium in St Petersburg to the military programme in the Russian Arctic, where his trainers and vets remained in contact.

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Headlines announcing the arrival of a possible Russian spy dolphin soon circulated around the world as the beluga (dubbed Hvaldimir by locals) continued its Norwegian residency. And while Hvaldimir sadly died in September,

Five years ago, a friendly white beluga whale approached fisherman in the waters off Norway, and quickly cemented his status as a figure of international intrigue. Hvaldimir, as the whale came to be known,

Now, an expert in the species has spoken out about the mystery surrounding the whale, which was found dead in September. Dr Olga Shpak, who worked in Russia researching marine mammals from the 1990s before returning to her native country,

The Hvaldimir whale - which was spotted off the coast of Norway in 2019 - was originally thought to have been a Russian spy and the claims may have been right.