Animal spies: The world’s most bizarre secret weapons
By Stefan Wolff and David Hastings Dunn, University of Birmingham
Hvaldimir the whale, one of history’s many animal spies
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 the Russian president Vladimir Putin) was even given an official autopsy by the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries.
The whale had been uncovered as a spy in 2019, and is one in a long line of animals used by intelligence services for covert operations. Among them was a Soviet program to train marine animals as spies and assassins, which collapsed in 1991.
The U.S. ran similar experiments with animals, some dating back to the 1960s. One of the CIA’s more unusual attempts to use animals as spies was Operation Acoustic Kitty.
The idea was to implant a microphone and antenna into the cat and use it to eavesdrop on potentially interesting conversations. The test of the ‘prototype’ went horribly wrong when the cat wandered off and was run over by a taxi, leading to the program being quickly abandoned.
The history of spy pigeons
A more successful example was the use of spy pigeons. Equipped with tiny cameras, pigeons could easily access otherwise restricted areas and capture photos without arousing suspicion. And they could safely return home thanks to their extraordinary homing ability.
Inspired by British efforts during the Second World War, this became a very successful CIA program during the Cold War.
Over time, technology has created opportunities to exploit the stealthiness of animals while eliminating their unpredictability. Project Aquiline aimed to create a bird-like drone. It would be fully equipped in the style of traditional spy planes, but smaller and more versatile to get closer to its targets.
Another, even more miniature version was the insectothopter that the CIA developed in the 1970s. Although neither the aquiline or insectothopter designs ever became fully operational, they are acknowledged as forerunners of today’s drones.
Fast-forward to the 1990s, and the CIA’s robotic catfish Charlie emerged as one in a line of successful underwater drones.
Exploding rats: Unsuccessful, but effective
But the technical success of a spy method doesn’t always measure its effectiveness.
In the Second World War, the British planned to distribute explosive-filled rat carcasses to boiler rooms in German factories. These, in theory, would be disposed of in boilers and then explode. But the plan appeared doomed when the Germans intercepted the first consignment of about 100 rats.
But the discovery of the rats, and the sheer ingenuity behind the plan, led to major paranoia. In fact, according to a report from the British Special Operations Executive:
The trouble caused to them was a much greater success … than if the rats had actually been used.
Are inanimate objects better than animal spies?
While working with animals has often proved problematic, attempts to disguise devices as inanimate objects have also proved a source of embarrassment. One such effort involved the MI6 station in Moscow trying to improve on the dead letter drop technique of obtaining secret information from spies in Russia.
Rather than risk leaving secret information in a prearranged location, MI6 came up with the idea that the information could be transmitted electronically to a receiver hidden in a fake rock, which could then be downloaded during a subsequent walk past.
The focused activity of many men in suits in one part of this park, however, led to the discovery of the rock. The revelation of the operation in 2006 caused massive embarrassment to the U.K. government. The papers ridiculed the operation as “more Johnny English than James Bond.”
Nothing beats human ingenuity
Intelligence organisations are always looking for innovative means to enhance their spy craft. But, arguably, the most successful application of intelligence comes in the form of human improvisation. A notable example of this came in 1985 with the extraction of Oleg Gordievsky, one of the west’s most valuable double-agents working for British intelligence.
A team of British diplomats had to negotiate three Soviet and two Finnish checkpoints to get Gordievsky out of Russia. As the first guard dog approached, one of the party offered the sniffing Alsatian a cheese and onion chip, taking the Alsatian off the scent of Gordievsky, who was hiding in the boot (trunk) of the car.
When another dog began sniffing at the boot, the wife of one of the diplomats came up with an ingenious ploy. She placed her 18-month-old baby on the car boot, changed the baby’s nappy, and then dropped the freshly filled deposit on the ground, successfully distracting the dog and its handler.
These actions were never part of the extraction plan for Gordievsky. But they were the instinctive and ingenious improvisations of those used to operating in hostile environments.
Expensive research budgets and promising technological advances do provide an edge in certain circumstances. But the most effective spy techniques may still rely on the application of quick thinking and bold, fearless action.
By Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham, and David Hastings Dunn, Professor of International Politics in the Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Bottom line: Governments have long relied on animal spies for covert operations, enlisting pigeons, cats and, recently, a beluga whale.
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