Are Naval Exercises Deadly For Dolphins?

Naval Exercises Take Deadly Toll On Dolphins: Op-Ed -- Live Science

n June 9, 2008, at least 60 dolphins stranded along the coast of Cornwall, England, in what was by far the largest common dolphin mortality ever seen in British waters. For hours, rescuers tried to lead them back to sea — often unsuccessfully, as some of the animals were panicked and others just milled about in tight circles, resistant to saving. The forensic investigation that followed involved 24 experts from five countries and multiple government agencies.

Now their verdict is in, and the most probable cause was naval exercises.

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My Comment: Here is an easy prediction .... in the next few years the US Navy will be adopting guidelines on where and when they will be conducting their naval exercises.

Ukrainian Military Killer Attack Dolphins On The Loose?

Update: Ukrainian Military Dolphins Not Actually On The Loose -- The Atlantic

If you're swimming in the Black Sea, beware dolphins with weapons strapped to their heads.


Update! Sad news, friends. It turns out that one piece of the Ukrainian dolphin story is, in fact, a hoax. No dolphins from the Ukrainian army's complement have actually escaped, according to this newspaper report. The hoax began with this faked report from the museum director, which led to a story by RIA Novosti. The strangest thing about this is how plausible the whole thing actually is. Gregg studies dolphins for a living and did not seem skeptical. That's because the US and Ukrainian military do indeed have dolphins, which they've been, according to previous reports, training for combat. A reader wrote in to tell me that when he was a young sailor in Turkey, this beluga whale was rumored to have escaped from a military installation in Crimea. That is to say, the oddest part of this story -- that dolphins have regularly been used in the military -- is unchanged. But the specifics turn out to be a hoax. Our apologies for the mistake. In recompense, allow me to give you this video about the history of militarized dolphins.

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More News On Ukrainian Military Dolphins

Why Ukrainian 'killer' dolphins probably aren't on the rampage -- The Week
Are Ukrainian 'killer' dolphins really on the loose? -- Passport/Foreign Policy
Dolphin down! World’s only 'military trained mammals' go AWOL as they desert Ukrainian Navy in search of a mate -- Daily Mail
Killer dolphin escape story ‘absolutely fabricated,’ officials say -- Kyiv Post
Military dolphins desert training to chase tail -- Wired
Three Ukrainian Killer Attack Dolphins Are On The Loose In The Black Sea -- Business Insider

My Comment: Not surprising .... this story is false. But it did capture the world's attention for a day.

U.S. Navy To Replace Dolphins With Drones

Photo: The Navy's military dolphin program has been centered at Point Loma since the late 1960s. US Navy

Navy To Stop Training Military Dolphins In San Diego -- U-T San Diego

The Navy plans to shut down a program it has long run at Point Loma to train dolphins to detect underwater mines and keep enemy swimmers away from warships, mainly because the mammals are no longer needed.

The effort to identify such threats is "moving forward on newer, high-tech anti-mine capabilities," said Lt. Commander Chris Servello, a spokesman for the Navy.

The program will be closed within the next five years, but the Navy will continue to care for the roughly 24 bottlenose dolphins that are part of the Navy Marine Mammal Program.

The Navy's decision was first reported Nov. 19 on NavyTimes.com, and was confirmed Saturday by Servello.

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More News On The US Navy Stopping The Military Training of Dolphins

Navy mine-detecting dolphins to retire by 2017 -- Navy Times
Navy to stop training military dolphins in San Diego -- North County Times
US Navy finally starts replacing killer dolphins with mine-hunting Knifefish drones -- Extreme Tech
U.S. Navy to Replace Dolphins and Sea Lions with Robots -- Technabob
U.S. Navy to Replace Mine-Sweeping Dolphins with Mine-Hunting Knifefish Drones -- USNavySEALS.com
Robots replace costly US Navy mine-clearance dolphins -- BBC
Pentagon To Replace Mine-Clearing Dolphins With Robots -- io9

Bomb-Detecting Dolphin

Bottlenose dolphin of the NMMP on mineclearance operations, with locator beacon.
K-Dog, a bottle-nose dolphin belonging to Commander Task Unit (CTU) 55.4.3, leaps out of the water in front of Sgt. Andrew Garrett while training near the USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44) in the Persian Gulf. Attached to the dolphin's pectoral fin is a "pinger" device that allows the handler to keep track of the dolphin when out of sight. Wikipedia

Bomb-Detecting Dolphins Used For Military Training -- CTV News

OTTAWA -- Canadian soldiers got an up-close look at bomb-detecting dolphins during a military training exercise with the Americans off the coast of British Columbia, a newly released document shows.

The U.S. navy brought four bottlenose dolphins and a small support team to Esquimalt, B.C., last year to practise anti-mine tactics as part of Exercise Trident Fury. The large-scale training operation took place in May 2011 and involved the armed forces and coast guards of Canada and the United States.

A briefing note to the chief of maritime staff described the exercise as a rare opportunity for the Canadian military to gain valuable experience working with the animals -- something it currently does not do.

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My Comment: It must be a sight to see when these dolphins are working together.

Dolphins, Sea Lions To Serve As Marine Guardians Of Naval Base

Photo: Marine Watchdogs: Dolphins and sea lions will soon be "sniffing" out suspicious swimmers near Puget Sound. ISTOCKPHOTO/EDIN

From Scientific American:

The newest batch of sentries at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor will be paid in fish.

The newest batch of sentries at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor will not have to wear uniforms. But they won't get to clock out for breaks -- and they will be paid in fish.

The base near Washington's Puget Sound is slated to receive up to 20 Navy-trained bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions to patrol the shoreline around the submarine base as part of a bolstered security initiative started after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

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My Comment: I suspect that these "watchdogs" are well fed.

Dolphins: Our New Soldiers

Mammal handler Shawn McDonald guides a bottlenose dolphin to a halt on a beaching tray after it jumped out of a holding pool. Once in the tray, the dolphin can be moved to a speedboat for deployment in the ocean. Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

Navy's Plan To Deploy Dolphins Roils Waters -- L.A. Times

The Navy wants to use dolphins and sea lions to protect a Puget Sound submarine fleet, as the mammals do in Georgia. But opponents say the waters off Washington state are too cold for the animals.

Reporting from Silverdale, Wash. -- Some of the nation's most sophisticated military submarines are based in the chilly waters of Puget Sound, an inlet of islands, peninsulas and harbors that is worryingly vulnerable to terrorist attack from a furtive diver or brazen suicide swimmer.

But the Navy's plan to use a squadron of highly trained dolphins and sea lions to patrol and protect the submarine fleet is running into opposition from those who fear the glacier-fed waters of the sound are too frigid for warm-water dolphins.

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My Comment: I can see these same protesters arguing that dogs used by the military are being put in dangerous and hostile situations .... and they should be limited to certain operations or zones of combat. Sigh .... implying that the handlers have no feelings for the animals that are in their care.

Like the handlers for the dolphins, almost all humans are sensitive to animals that are in their care. If there is a problem, I doubt that they will keep their protestations quiet.