US Navy may deploy dolphins, sea lions in war on terror

Dozens of dolphins and sea lions trained to detect and apprehend waterborne attackers could be sent on a mission to patrol a military base in Washington state, the US Navy has said.

Dozens of dolphins and sea lions trained to detect and apprehend waterborne attackers could be sent on a mission to patrol a military base in Washington state, the US Navy has said.

In a notice published in this week’s Federal Register, the Navy said it needs to bolster security at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, located on the Puget Sound close to Seattle.

The base is home to submarines, ships and laboratories and is potentially vulnerable to attack by terrorist swimmers and scuba divers, the notice states.

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Several options are under consideration, but the preferred plan would be to send as many as 30 California sea lions and Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins from the Navy’s Marine Mammal Programme, based in San Diego.

“These animals have the capabilities for what needs to be done for this particular mission,” said Tom Lapuzza, a spokesman for the Marine Mammal Programme, yesterday. The Navy is seeking public comment for an Environmental Impact Statement it is preparing on the proposal.

Lapuzza said because of their astonishing sonar abilities, dolphins are excellent at patrolling for swimmers and divers. When it detects a person in the water, a Navy dolphin drops a beacon. This tells a human interception team where to find the suspicious swimmer.

Dolphins also are trained to detect underwater mines; they were sent to do this in the Iraqi harbour of Umm Qasr in 2003. The last time the animals were used operationally in San Diego was in 1996 when they patrolled the bay during a Republican convention.