The U.S. military and several other countries utilize dolphins to protect naval bases due to their superior capabilities.
Dolphins are renowned for their exceptional intelligence. They are friendly, curious, and playful marine mammals. In fact, dolphins learn very quickly, have impressive mimicry skills, and demonstrate self-awareness and problem-solving abilities. Consequently, along with many other marine mammals, dolphins are employed by militaries around the world for various purposes, including the protection of nuclear submarine bases, according to IFL Science. The U.S. military maintains dolphins at the King’s Bay Naval Submarine Base in Georgia and the Kitsap Naval Base near Seattle. There, dolphins help protect one-fourth of the United States’ available nuclear arsenal.
Dolphins are used for various military missions. (Photo: Dolphin and You).
The U.S. Navy began testing different dolphin species in 1959 while assessing their capabilities alongside sea lions, turtles, birds, sharks, and rays. This involved reviewing their sensory abilities, physical capacities, and trainability. Not all animals can be trained for military purposes. Over the years, the focus narrowed primarily to bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions.
Training efforts are conducted through the Navy Marine Mammal Program (NMMP). By the 1980s, over 100 dolphins were residing at naval facilities across the United States, operating on a budget exceeding $8 million. Dolphins are trained to carry cameras in their mouths, report back, and even locate enemy divers. Similarly, sea lions are taught to retrieve mines from the seabed, while beluga whales patrol waters to identify threats. From 1986 to 1988, six dolphins escorted Kuwaiti oil tankers through the Persian Gulf. In 2003, other dolphins assisted allied forces in clearing mines at the port of Umm Qasr, Iraq.
Dolphins are chosen for military operations due to several factors related to their intelligence, physical capabilities, and high social nature. Dolphins have evolved to map their environment through echolocation, allowing them to “see” through sound waves they produce with clicks, which they then interpret from echoes bouncing back from objects.
The clicks are not emitted from the dolphin’s mouth. Instead, they are created by pushing air through a structure called the melon, connected to the nasal cavity. As air travels through the nasal cavity and through this structure, it causes surrounding tissue to vibrate and produce sound. Dolphins can create complex sounds with varying frequencies and waveforms, allowing them to “image” their surroundings in detail, including muddy or treacherous conditions where artificial technology cannot be used. This makes them particularly suited for locating objects like mines in shallow waters or ports. Additionally, dolphins can dive hundreds of meters below the surface, unaffected by physical limitations or dangers, unlike humans.
Despite their utility, military dolphins are a controversial topic. There are numerous concerns surrounding the use and exploitation of dolphins. Animal rights activists raise questions about how dolphins can be made to perform tasks they do not fully understand in potentially dangerous situations. Currently, the U.S. has about 85 bottlenose dolphins and fewer sea lions trained by the NMMP.
