Hurricane freed U.S. military's dozens of killer dolphins
by Mark Townsend Houston, The Observer [London, UK]
Sept. 25, 2005
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.
Killer dolphins remain ready to defend Navy assets
MANAMA, Bahrain -- Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 3, Detachment 86 conducted a demonstration Nov. 19 of its anti-swimmer dolphin system Nov. 18, as part of its ongoing forward presence mission in the Persian Gulf.
The MK-6 Marine Mammal System, from Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center San Diego, is currently on its longest combat deployment in history, providing valuable protection to Navy assets in the region.
Due to their hydrodynamic shape and a highly effective biological sonar system, the bottlenose dolphins are uniquely equipped to detect, locate and mark underwater threat swimmers, divers and swimmer delivery vehicles through a process called echolocation, in which the dolphins emit broad-band high frequency clicks and listen to the
echoes of those clicks as they bounce off objects.
"They have natural abilities that no man-made machine can duplicate," said HT2(DV) Jayson Boyse, lead mammal handler of Detachment 86. "They're highly effective at detecting and marking divers in the water."
The danger exists primarily for those whom the dolphins seek out, Boyse said. "They can be very harmful to divers or swimmers. If someone were to get into the water near one of our high-value assets, it wouldn't be a good place to be."
Even the MK-6 trainers are unable to swim with the dolphins, except under carefully controlled conditions.
"No matter how close the relationship, the handlers can't ignore the dolphins' wild instincts. They look like your average 'Sea World' dolphin, but they're trained to a much higher level," said Lt. Kary Olson, MK-6 MMS officer in charge.
Through constant training, the handlers develop trust and familiarity with the dolphins to achieve desired behaviors from the animal, which in turn secures successful operations.
Physical care for the dolphins is a high priority for EODMU-3, Detachment 86. Army veterinarian Maj. Brad Blankenship and biological technician Daniel Peterson are assigned to MK-6 MMS to take care of all the mammals' needs.
"These dolphins probably get more focused attention than any sailor would," said Peterson. "They have a full clinic and a dedicated team that gives them excellent, 24-hour attention."
Though the dolphins are on their longest combat deployment, Blankenship said the duration of the operation has had no effect on the dolphins' operability.
"They probably don't know the difference between San Diego and here," he said. "Their care is still the same, if not better, and their job is still the same."
The healthy, highly trained mammals of MK-6 have the ability to patrol waters at any hour, day or night, anywhere in the 5th Fleet area of operations.
"They can be rapidly deployed anywhere in the world," said Boyse.
How much longer the team will stay in the area remains undetermined. Coalition forces are constantly working to prevent terrorist attacks in the region, and MK-6 MMS provides key support.
"We hope, that by being out here, we won't have another incident like we did in (Aden,) Yemen with the (guided-missile destroyer) USS Cole," said Blankenship.
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 defense program 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 harbor 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.
All republished material is copyrighted by its original publisher.
It is reprinted by Unknown News without permission, solely for purposes of criticism, comment, and news reporting, in accordance with the Fair Use Guidelines of copyright material under § 107 of U.S.C. Title 17:
We believe in liberty and justice for all, so of course, we oppose many US government policies. This doesn't mean we're anti-American, redneck scum, pinko commies, militia members, or terrorist-sympathizers. It means we believe in freedom, as more than merely a cliché.
We believe you have the right to live your own life as you choose, and others have the equal right to live their lives as they choose. It's not complicated.
We believe freedom leads to peace, progress, and prosperity, while its opposite -- oppression -- leads to war, terrorism, poverty, and misery.
We believe it's preposterously stupid to hate people because of their appearance, their race or nationality, their religion or lack of religion, how they have sex with other consenting adults, etc. There are far more apropos reasons to hate most people.
We believe in questioning ourselves, our assumptions, each other -- and we especially believe in questioning authority (the more authority, the more questions). We believe obedience is a fine quality in dogs and young children, but not in adults.
Like America's right-wingers, we believe in
individual responsibility,
hard work to get ahead,
and stern punishment for serious crimes.
We believe big government should not be blindly trusted.
But unlike most right-wing leaders, we mean it.
Like America's left-wingers, we believe in
equal treatment under law,
war as a last (not first) resort,
and sensible stewardship of natural resources.
We believe big business should not be blindly trusted.
But unlike most left-wing leaders, we mean it.
Like libertarians, we believe it's wrong and reprehensible to arrest people for what they think, believe, look like, wear, eat, smoke, drink, inhale, inject, or otherwise do to themselves.
But unlike many libertarians, we're not obsessed with the gold standard, we don't believe incorporation is humanity's highest achievement, and we don't believe everything in life comes down to dollars and cents. We've read and enjoyed Ayn Rand's novels, but we understand that they're works of fiction.
We're skeptical, and we're sick of so-called 'journalists' who aren't skeptical at all.
A reader asks, what are our solutions? We propose no solutions except common sense, which is never common. We like the principles of democracy, and the ideals broadly described as 'American'. The US Constitution is a fine and workable framework for solutions, when it's actually read and thoughtfully understood by intelligent statesmen and women. So, no manifestos from us. We don't dream that big, and if there's one thing the world doesn't need it's yet another manifesto.
Our suggestion is: think. A fact-based instead of faith-based approach leads to solutions for most of the recurring issues of our time, from abortion to global climate change, pollution to universal health care, careful but real regulation of industry and economy, hunger, war, terror, human rights for humans not for corporations, science not religious doctrine in public schools, equal protection and prosecution under law, etc. Approach problems without glorifying stupidity, without demonizing intelligence, and answers usually come into focus.
These pages are published by Harry and Helen Highwater, happily married low-income nom de plumes and rabble-rousers from Madison, Wisconsin (with a few friends scattered around the world helping out).
We try to spotlight news that hasn't gotten enough (or appropriate) attention in American media, along with our opinions and yours.
We bang our keyboards against the wall, because it doesn't hurt as much as banging our heads.
