Armed and dangerous - Flipper the firing dolphin let loose by Katrina

[Vixen]

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1577753,00.html

Armed and dangerous - Flipper the firing dolphin let loose by Katrina

by Mark Townsend Houston
Sunday September 25, 2005
The Observer

It may be the oddest tale to emerge from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico.
Experts who have studied the US navy's cetacean training exercises claim the 36 mammals could be carrying 'toxic dart' guns. Divers and surfers risk attack, they claim, from a species considered to be among the planet's smartest. The US navy admits it has been training dolphins for military purposes, but has refused to confirm that any are missing.

Dolphins have been trained in attack-and-kill missions since the Cold War. The US Atlantic bottlenose dolphins have apparently been taught to shoot terrorists attacking military vessels. Their coastal compound was breached during the storm, sweeping them out to sea. But those who have studied the controversial use of dolphins in the US defence programme claim it is vital they are caught quickly.

Leo Sheridan, 72, a respected accident investigator who has worked for government and industry, said he had received intelligence from sources close to the US government's marine fisheries service confirming dolphins had escaped.

'My concern is that they have learnt to shoot at divers in wetsuits who have simulated terrorists in exercises. If divers or windsurfers are mistaken for a spy or suicide bomber and if equipped with special harnesses carrying toxic darts, they could fire,' he said. 'The darts are designed to put the target to sleep so they can be interrogated later, but what happens if the victim is not found for hours?'

Usually dolphins were controlled via signals transmitted through a neck harness. 'The question is, were these dolphins made secure before Katrina struck?' said Sheridan.

The mystery surfaced when a separate group of dolphins was washed from a commercial oceanarium on the Mississippi coast during Katrina. Eight were found with the navy's help, but the dolphins were not returned until US navy scientists had examined them.

Sheridan is convinced the scientists were keen to ensure the dolphins were not the navy's, understood to be kept in training ponds in a sound in Louisiana, close to Lake Pontchartrain, whose waters devastated New Orleans.

The navy launched the classified Cetacean Intelligence Mission in San Diego in 1989, where dolphins, fitted with harnesses and small electrodes planted under their skin, were taught to patrol and protect Trident submarines in harbour and stationary warships at sea.

Criticism from animal rights groups ensured the use of dolphins became more secretive. But the project gained impetus after the Yemen terror attack on the USS Cole in 2000. Dolphins have also been used to detect mines near an Iraqi port.

[Silverbug]

hehe i heard this on the radio the other day and thought it was a joke

[Vixen]

I thought it was a joke when someone sent it to me today, then I read the actual new story. LoL

[Zoren]

Dolphins are fairly smart. Maybe they can take care of some looters.

[mresell]

Stranger than fiction.

[DigitalSkyline]

Yeah I remember reading about that way back when the u.s.s. cole was attacked... They've trained some dolphins to detect mines in the water ... these poor dolphins go boom.

As for any controversy.. using them to detect mines is pretty inhumane.. but the other uses are no different then using police and resuce dogs or riding horses so I see nothing wrong with it. Pretty cool... now all they have to do is train whales and great white sharks

[mresell]

The whole issue of whether it is humane is tricky anyway. They evaluate those animals. Seems like if they weren't willing they wouldn't do it. Animals seem to understand live or die and have better instincts about these things most of the time. Something I may find crazy plenty of people live for...so if they seem happy...guess it's ok. There are worse things than dying...like suffering and animals get humanely euthanized. People must continue to suffer. Go figure.

[dpyers]

I went diving with dolphins in the Bahamas once. One of the tricks they use is to not feed them fisg found in the locaility and to only use fresh water fish for food if possible. Keeps them coming back when they get hungry. The dolphins apparently don't recognize all fish as food - only what they're learded to eat from either their pod or their human mates. Probably a good thing as many fish species contain nasty surprises for predators. It's a big problem for them when they escape though.

[DigitalSkyline]

Interesting... about the same way us humans learn to eat... (aside from breast milk, which is a natural instinct, especially for the dudes haha)

[mresell]

ME------------------------------------------------------------> Not touching that 1. :angel:

[DigitalSkyline]

haha