Russia Is Using Dolphins To Wage War
The Russian military is using dolphins to defend the Crimean port of Sevastopol.
War has been an unfortunate human reality since the beginning of time, and by now we all know how modern warfare works. Typically, we consider guns, tanks, aircraft, and battleships to be the type of weaponry seen as nations engage in battle on all fronts, but in the case of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, we’re seeing a high prevalence of militarized dolphins used as a defense measure on the Russian front.
Navel News reports that Russia is utilizing dolphins to defend the Sevastopol port in Crimea from any potential underwater attacks made by enemy divers coming in from Ukraine.
Though Sevastopol is still internationally recognized as Ukraine territory, Russia has had control over the port since 2014, when they illegally annexed the city. Like any other nation that has had one of its cities seized by an imposing military presence, Ukraine special forces could potentially use divers to sabotage Russian warships and submarines.
In an effort to ward off these soldiers, Russia has increased the use of trained dolphins to help deter any potential underwater attacks.
Using dolphins for military strategy may seem insane, but this practice is actually more common than you would think. In fact, the U.S. Navy first used dolphins for defense back in the Vietnam War, and also utilized them during the first and second Gulf Wars. In all three instances, dolphins were used to protect Navy vessels from enemy swimmers looking to plant explosives on military ships.
Dolphins weren’t originally intended to be used directly for military combat, but were rather an inspiration for missile design in the early 1960s. The original intent was to study their aerodynamics and apply these findings to improved military technology.
But a run-in with a white-sided dolphin named Notty showed military researchers that dolphins are highly adaptable and amenable to training, meaning they could be used for defensive measures in the Navy.
Dolphins aren’t the only marine mammals that are used for military applications. Seals and sea lions are also useful in their ability to follow orders and detect torpedoes, mines, and other forms of ammunition. As of 2019, the US Navy still has around 70 dolphins, as well as 30 sea lions enlisted for service.
And if you think about it, this application makes perfect sense. Not only do dolphins have an excellent biological sonar that can be used to detect enemy divers, they also swim six times faster than Michael Phelps.
We’d argue that the mental image of a dolphin dressed up like a soldier is quite cute, but if you’re trying to storm a naval base, a bottle-nose dolphin charging you at full-tilt with malicious intent sounds like the stuff of nightmares.
The nightmare isn’t as gruesome as you would think, however. Though there have been rumors that dolphins have been trained to kill divers, such claims have been denied by the US Navy.
Dolphins are mostly utilized for swimmer detection, object recovery, and mine location, and they report back to their handlers so they can then carry out acts of war in a way that requires opposable thumbs.
