Military Dolphins Fall Under Russian Control
After last month’s annexation of Crimea by Russia, residents of the region were asked to switch allegiance however not all of those residents are in fact human.
In addition to the 2 million people who are the newest Russian citizens, combat dolphins which were formerly a part of the Ukrainian navy now have new masters. According to a state run news agency the dolphins are under the control of the Russian Emergencies Ministry.
Remnant of the Cold War
“We plan on using our dolphins to train together with Emergencies Ministry divers to search for submerged items or arms. This means the search for items on the seafloor, patrolling the marine area [and] locating submarines. We expect that this will become a separate sphere for military training for the Russian Navy.” an employee of the Sevastopol State Oceanarium said
The military dolphin program began during the height of the Cold War in when both Russia and Ukraine were members of the Soviet Union. After the collapse of the Soviet Empire, control of the program fell under Ukraine.
The dolphin program was actually supposed to be closed down this month by Ukrainian authorities but is now expected to continue under Russian navy leadership.
Two programs worldwide
Russia is only one of two states’ which have a military dolphin program, the other is the United States which has a dolphin training program in San Diego.
The U.S. program trains the bottlenose dolphin and the California sea lion. Both mammals are used to locate underwater mines and find divers through the use of sonar or exceptional underwater night time vision in the case of the sea lion.
Russia is one of only two nations known to have dolphins working under military control. The U.S. Navy also has a dolphin-training program at its marine mammal center in San Diego.
According to the program’s website a single sea lion and a couple of handlers on a rubber boat can effectively replace a full sized naval vessel along with its crew, doctors and human divers.
Will dolphins attack humans?
It is unknown whether the Russian dolphins have been trained to attack ships or humans, according to the U.S. program, offensive maneuvers are not part of their training regimen.
“Since dolphins cannot discern the difference between enemy and friendly vessels, or enemy and friendly divers and swimmers, it would not be wise to give that kind of decision authority to an animal.” the program’s website says.
