Norwegian police say there are no findings to indicate that Russian "spy whale" Hvaldimir was deliberately shot to death.
The announcement came after two prominent animal rights organisations raised concerns that the famous beluga was the victim of intentional human-inflicted injury.
Hvaldimir, who rose to fame in 2019 for his friendly antics, was found dead on August 31 by fishermen who dragged his body ashore to Risavika Port.
Local police received a request from animal rights organisations OneWhale and NOAH to investigate a suspected shooting.
"There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot," said Amund Preede Revheim, head of the North Sea and environment section of Sør-West police district.
Wounds on the outside of his body
Images released last week pictured Hvaldimir with at least five circular shaped holes in his body, and rights groups said this meant deliberate gunshot wounds from a criminal act could not be ruled out.
"The injuries on the whale are alarming and of a nature that cannot rule out a criminal act — it is shocking," Siri Martinsen, veterinarian and leader of NOAH, said last week.
But police have now said these wounds were superficial.
While one wound was deeper, preliminary findings indicated the injuries did not affect vital organs and were not fatal.
An X-ray of Hvaldimir's body also did not find any evidence of gunshot wounds and no signs of further external damage were found during the autopsy.
A 35-centimetre-long and approximately 3cm-wide stick was found stuck inside Hvaldimir's mouth.
The whale's stomach was also found to be empty during the autopsy and most of his organs had broken down.
"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," Mr Revheim said.
"Based on this, the police will not be actively investigating the case.
"The Veterinary Institute has announced that the final autopsy report will be available within two weeks."
Hvaldimir just wanted companionship
In April 2019, Hvaldimir was found wearing a harness that looked like it had a small camera mount and was marked with the words "Equipment St Petersburg" in Russian.
Suspicions soon arose about his friendly behaviour and how comfortable he was around humans, leading to claims he was a trained animal sent to spy for the Russians.
This earned him the nickname of "Hvaldimir" — a combination of the Norwegian word for "whale" and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin — and he quickly began delighting people on the north coast of Norway.
But concerns were raised he was simply lonely and seeking human companionship when he migrated towards the Swedish coast last year.
Marine biologists said Hvaldimir belonged to a very social species and had very likely not met another beluga on his travels.
