Page

Secrets of the Spy Whale

Secrets of the Spy Whale

Save

Summary

This programme explores the mystery of the beluga whale that approached a Norwegian fishing boat seeking help in 2019. The mammal was found to be wearing a harness fitted with a camera mount and the words 'Equipment St Petersburg' were discovered on the buckle. This caused speculation to break out about the whale's involvement in some kind of sinister undercover activity

Ad

Review

Jane Rackham

In April 2019 a Norwegian fisherman spotted a beluga whale swimming alongside his boat. Belugas had never been seen in northerly waters close to Russia before, but what was more unexpected was that this creature wore a harness. He freed the whale, which was comfortable around humans and had been trained to do tricks but, strangest of all, he discovered the harness was marked “Equipment St Petersburg”.

This feature-length film takes us through the astonishing Cold War history of countries using marine animals such as dolphins to spy on their enemies, because evidence was uncovered that Hvaldimir, as the whale was named, had possibly been trained by the Russians to collect information or potentially sabotage military equipment. They probably aren’t the only ones taking advantage of animals in this way.

How to watch

Loading

Streaming

Credits

Crew

rolenameExecutive producerCaroline HawkinsDirectorJennifer ShawProducerEmma Stewart

Details

Languages

Formats

Colour

Ad

Ad

Ad