Dolphins to Protect US Nuclear Submarines

(Dec. 9) -- A critical part of the U.S. nuclear arsenal is about to get an elite guard force. Specially trained dolphins will be deployed in January to the Naval Base Kitsap in Washington state, where the mammals will help protect Trident submarines.

They reason for using the dolphins is simple: So far, the U.S. Navy hasn't come up with a better way to protect the base from possible sea-borne intruders.

In 1991, the Navy canceled similar plans to use dolphins to protect nuclear submarines amid budget cuts and criticism from animal welfare advocates. The dolphin patrol is now being reactivated in part because the mammals remain superior to any readily available technology. "In the late 1990s, we saw machines wouldn't be ready and started up the program again," Navy spokesman Tom LaPuzza told Greenwire.

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The program, however, is not without its critics, who argue the Pacific is too cold for the is too cold for the Atlantic bottlenose dolphins – a concern long since rejected by the Navy. A recently completed environmental impact statement concludes that employing dolphins (as well as sea lions) at the base would not pose a threat to the mammals.

Though having dolphins patrol the nuclear base is perhaps the most high-profile military use of marine mammals, the U.S. Navy's Marine Mammal Fleet Systems also trains the animals for other missions, including retrieving submerged objects and helping find safe passageways for troops.

Dolphins don't necessarily come cheap, however. SAIC, a McLean, Va., defense contractor, was last week awarded a contract worth about $9.9 million to help support the marine mammal program. Another contract, worth about $6.9 million, went to G2 Software Systems.

The United States is also not the only country to consider enlisting dolphins for military operations. According to London's Daily Telegraph, during the Cold War the Soviet Union looked at such a possibility, conducting research into training dolphins to use weapons – such as spears and mines – to attack and kill enemy sailors.

"The program ended with the fall of the Soviet Union, and it was reported in 2000 that the animals' trainer, Boris Zhurid, had sold 27 of his former charges to Iran," the Telegraph reported. The paper added: "Iran's plans for the animals remain unknown."