Dolphins On Duty

More than 60 dolphins and whales are currently trained for military operations, including Iraq and anti-terrorism. The San Diego based Navy Marine Mammal program began about 1959, was declassified in the 1970s, and currently costs about 14 million dollars a year. Its public mission provides biological "systems" to locate and neutralize mines, and provide "swimmer defense" against enemy divers. For more than 30 years dolphins have patrolled hotspots such as Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, the Republican National Convention, and perhaps trident missile submarine bases, in addition to at least yearly Navy or NATO exercises. Where the dolphins come from, and how they die, is not a matter of public record. Some scientific studies on Navy dolphins and whales have been inhumane, such as some acoustic tests, and would not have been allowed if attempted in public facilities. Some dolphins have been left behind after exercises. Carefully worded statements imply that no dolphins are killed in combat, for example when neutralizing mines. Several public conflicts have erupted as Navy dolphins have been put in harm's way, and continue over the moral and ethical issue of the use of sentient non-humans in human conflicts.