Russia is using military-trained dolphins in the Black Sea, according to satellite images

Satellite images show that Russia has trained dolphins to protect its naval base in the Black Sea.

The U.S. Naval Institute analyzed the images taken by Maxar and found that there were two dolphin pens at the entrance to the harbor. The harbor is a major port and important to Russia. While many of the Russian ships anchored there are out of missile range, they could still be attacked underwater, giving trained bottlenose dolphins an important role to play in their defense.

Since the 1960s, Russia has trained and deployed marine animals. The U.S. and the Soviet Union used dolphins and sea lions in their marine mammal programs.

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After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the marine mammal units were taken over by the Ukrainians, but the Soviet navy still used the base for training dolphins. The dolphin units came into Russian hands after the annexation of the peninsula. Russia denied the return of the animals to Ukraine because it had expanded its marine mammal operations.

Dolphins can communicate through high-pitched whistles, and they can sense objects and determine distances through echolocation, sending out high-frequency clicks that bounce back off objects. The dolphins are trained to detect and draw attention to naval mines. Russia claims to be finding new ways to use dolphins.

The Ukrainian navy lacked funds for such know, a source said to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

According to Hakai Magazine, the U.S. Navy spent about $75 million on military dolphin upkeep between 2012 and 2019.

Russia's militarized marine mammals have been spotted before. Satellite imagery shows that Russia deployed dolphins at a base in Syria during the Syrian war. Live Science previously reported that Norwegian fishermen reported that a beluga whale had been harassing their boats while wearing a harness.

Maxar is the company which takes the photos and produces the majority of the intelligence used by the U.S. Government for national security and keeping troops safe on the ground.

It was originally published on Live Science.