Humans have a long history of deploying wild beasts in wartime, from horse-mounted cavalry to Hannibal riding into Rome on an elephant. After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, a mysterious group of dolphins appeared in the Black Sea. It signaled a return to an old program that many thought had died with the fall of the Soviet Union. For years, the USSR trained dolphins to advance their military goals. And so did America. 

Special thanks to:

Pavel Goldin

Sergei Dobrynin and Mark Krutov

Blair Irvine

Sources:

Frontline’s The Story of Navy Dolphins: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/whales/etc/navycron.html

BBC's Secrets of the Spy Whale: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002504p

Sergei Dobrynin and Mark Krutov’s reporting: https://www.svoboda.org/a/31006448.html

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