The US Navy has trained bottlenose dolphins and sea lions to recover lost equipment and detect buried sea mines.
The Navy wanted to end one of the marine mammals' most important missions this year, which was hunting for and neutralizing mines buried in the sea.
The technology hasn't equaled a dolphin's ability to find mines.
The Navy was barred from retiring its mine- detecting dolphins or ending port security training until it deploys better mine-countermeasure systems.
The Naval Information Warfare Center-Pacific at Point Loma Naval Base in San Diego had planned to retire Marine mammal systems.
The Navy's dolphins and sea lions are still a part of the service's mine-countermeasures systems, despite the fact that they may soon be deactivated.
The Navy's mine-countermeasures force continues to struggle with aging equipment and is already incorporating underwater vehicles such as the mod 1 swordfish and mod 2 kingfish, which have sensors that sweep for mines and navigation hazard.
"For now, technology cannot do everything the animals can do, but someday it may be possible to complete these missions with underwater drones," said Darian Wilson.
The first oceanarium with dolphin shows opened in Florida in the 19th century.
The Navy was interested in that. In 1959 it started work with mammals for mine-countermeasure missions. The program was able to work with sharks, rays, and sea turtles, but not dolphins and sea lions.
Babies of bottlenose dolphins are able to navigate and find food. Navy personnel use food as a reward and train them to use it to find objects that electronic sonar might miss, such as mines, enemy swimmers, or lost weapons. With Navy training, the sea lion can find food and mines in the murkiest water, as well as find people in the water.
Both are deep divers. Sea lions can dive more than 900 feet, and bottlenose dolphins can dive more than 1,000 feet.
It's seven times deeper than the average human can do with scuba gear. They can zip around crowded harbors and dense kelp beds.
The Navy Marine Mammal Program has a budget of 40 million dollars for food, medicine, veterinary care, and facilities in the years to come. Care and feeding for the program's 77 dolphins and 47 sea lions is covered by about $21 million. A total of 54 Navy civilians and six Army veterinarians are employed by the program.
Wilson said that the dolphins and sea lions work as a marine mammal system and train with divers and equipment for three missions.
Sea lions can locate and attach recovery lines to Navy equipment like a diver's dropped tool or a training mine that can be pulled from the water. Half of what's needed is provided by the current budget.
The "intruder interdiction" system uses dolphins and sea lions to catch unauthorized swimmers and divers that could endanger ships, ports, and people. The mammals tag the invaders who are then captured by security sailors. It is funded by the current budget at $7 million.
dolphins work with EOD teams to find and mark mines A dolphin drops a marker near a suspected mine, which EOD personnel or an outlying system will destroy. Half of what is needed was planned to be funded by the Navy. The Navy's plan to get rid of its funding next year is blocked by the defense bill.
$3 million is included in the program's budget for research on how sound affects mammals. Wilson said that they continue to study the dolphin's natural sonar to glean lessons that might improve electronics.
The program has led to more than 1,200 scientific papers, and parallel research efforts, many funded by the Navy, have shed light on dolphins' built-in sonar capabilities.
The Navy has a program with marine mammals. Russian dolphins have been trained to guard naval facilities. The US sent mine-hunting dolphins and sea lions to Vietnam in 1970.
US Navy dolphins patrol during major public events and contribute to public safety even when not on duty, like when they accidentally found a rare 130-year-old torpedo during training in California.
He said he will never forget the first time a dolphin hit him.
"The truth is, it's really one of the most effective ways to prevent attacks by combat divers, because everything else doesn't really work," said Larsen, who first encountered Flipper's furor during the dive phase of the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL course some 20
BUD/S students did anti-combat swimmer training for the dolphins. Combat divers can't defeat a dolphin. You are in their element, and they find you every single time underwater.
The mammal's real-world missions remain classified.
Wilson did not make program officials or trainers available for interviews due to ongoing program- related issues.
Sea mines are widely used and highly potent, even if they are hidden on the seafloor.
According to Scott Truver, a researcher, author, and mine-warfare expert, fifteen of 19 US ships sunk or damaged by enemy mines were in shallow waters. Several US warships were damaged during the Gulf War.
Iran has threatened to use mines to stop vital oil shipments in the Persian Gulf and the appearance of mines in the Black Sea has caused shipping disruptions.
According to those familiar with the program, marine mammals are still an affordable option to protect ships, harbors, and ports. The cost is compared to the cost of an aircraft carrier.
Truver said that the nation needs the ability to deal with buried mines. The rebels can make us have a bad day.
The number of mines produced and ready for deployment have grown in the last 10 years.
Few question the capabilities of the marine mammals. The budget is small compared to what has been and is being spent on other types of technology.
It seems absurd not to use the marine mammals in the near-term because of their low cost.
The technology hasn't advanced to the point that the Navy expected it to. Five years from now, we'll be able to use technology that won't require us to use mammals. I don't know if we're at that point yet, I've worked with underwater and surface vehicles.
Truver said that the Kingfish can't do what the navy thinks is important for buried mines.
The ability of dolphins and sea lions to detect an object, determine if it's a mine, and decide what to do with it is something new. The mammals use paddles to alert their trainer when they find a mine.
It's an exquisite capability that's able to overcome a lot of environmental challenges, because they have great precision in differentiating objects that are similar to mines or mines themselves.
Dolphins can work in strong currents, which battery-operated systems can't. "Just as we use dogs to find drugs or explosives, there is a lot of benefit for relying on the natural ability of dolphins," he said. We have a capability that we don't need to change.
Wilson said the dolphins and sea lions' home base is at Point Loma and three other bases on San Diego Bay. Similar to seagoing sailors, they deploy on ships or aircraft for exercises.
The animals are not kept in captivity. They are free to swim away and not come back when working with trainers. There are many stories of dolphins swimming up to boaters looking for food.
Wilson said that they get the highest-quality care available anywhere in the world. They spend their days exploring with us out on the bay here in San Diego or further offshore, in the Intracoastal Waterway down south, and when they aren't working, they're at home socializing with their companions.
In the past, dolphins raised in captivity have died after being reintroduced to the wild. The mammals will stay with the Navy.
The Navy cares for its animals for the rest of their lives. The number of animals will decrease as they get older. Natural causes cause the loss of one or two marine mammals annually. In combat, we have never seen an animal casualty.
Richard "Ric" O'Barry, an animal trainer-turned-activist and author, said that dolphins are perfect for their mission.
The Navy's best sonar system looks like a toy according to O'Barry. They were conscripted into the navy because of that.
O'Barry was employed at Miami Seaquarium for a decade. He caught five dolphins on his first day. He didn't ask about the orders. It seemed like a great way to spend time.
Before he questioned captivity, he trained dolphins for a TV show. He and another activist were fined for releasing two former Navy dolphins.
Three rehabilitated dolphins were released in September at O'Barry's rescue dolphin sanctuary in WestBali. The Navy should retire the mammals, according to him.
The Navy is something I enjoy. He said that he had spent five of the most important years of his life in the navy. The Navy does not like what it does with dolphins.
Gidget has reported extensively on the military, including the Marine Corps, the Navy, and Pacific regional issues. You can follow Gidget on the social networking site.
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