The world’s most bizarre secret weapons: how pigeons, cats, whales and even robotic catfish have acted as spies through the ages

By Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham
David Hastings Dunn, Professor of International Politics in the Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham

The death of a spy is rarely newsworthy, due to the secrecy surrounding it. But when a white beluga whale suspected of spying for Moscow was found dead in Norwegian waters in September, the animal soon became a minor celebrity.

Hvaldimir (a play on the Norwegian word for whale, hval, and the first name of Russian president) was even given an official…

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