The mystery of Russia’s ‘Spy Whale’ revealed: Everything you need to know

Five years after a mysterious whale with surveillance equipment was spotted off Norway’s coast, new clues have emerged, shedding light on this underwater enigma.

When the whale was first discovered in April 2019 wearing a harness with a camera mount, speculation arose that he might have been involved in covert activities. The equipment, labeled "Equipment St. Petersburg," fueled theories that the whale was connected to Russian intelligence. Norwegians named the whale Hvaldimir, combining hval (Norwegian for whale) with Vladimir, after Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The BBC recently released a documentary, Secrets of the Spy Whale, which “explores the mystery of the strange whale and asks where he came from, who trained him, and why he was operating near critical Arctic waters close to Russia.” The film features “exclusive interviews and previously unseen footage,” diving into the covert world of marine mammal training and international espionage while revealing new insights into Hvaldimir, the so-called “Spy Whale.”


According to the BBC documentary, Hvaldimir may have been trained as a “guard whale” rather than an espionage operative. The film includes a rare interview with Blair Irvine, one of the last remaining veterans of a U.S. Navy marine mammal program in California. Irvine, a former dolphin trainer, described how dolphins were trained to detect intruders by listening for bubbles made by swimmers and to alert handlers by pushing a paddle with their snout. Similarly, the Soviet Union developed its own marine program, reportedly training dolphins to guard the Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol by detecting underwater saboteurs.

Marine biologist Dr. Eve Jourdain, who observed Hvaldimir in Hammerfest harbor in 2019, contributes her insights to the documentary. She noted that Hvaldimir seemed conditioned to touch his nose to any object resembling a target, hinting at his possible training.

According to the Guardian, the end of the Soviet Union led to reduced funding for marine mammal programs, though Hvaldimir’s appearance may signal renewed investment. The Guardian also claimed that satellite images of Russia’s Olenya Guba Navy base show large floating pens, hinting at similar training of beluga whales.

Tragically, Hvaldimir was found dead earlier this year by two fishermen in Risavika Bay.