Wikipedia Wednesday: Military Dolphins

One of the things you'll come to know about me is that I think dolphins are really cool. In fact, I'll probably write a whole post, some time in the future, explaining why I think Douglas Adams was right when he said that dolphins are more intelligent than humans. However, today I'll be covering a much more eerie aspect of Delphinidae life.

Military Dolphins!

So, for at least 20 years, the U.S. Military has been training dolphins (and sea lions) to carry out some, at first basic, and later more complicated tasks. They found that dolphins' biosonar (and sea lions' excellent eyesight) made them very adept at locating underwater mines and enemy divers. Of course, if an enemy diver did see one of these cetacean operatives, they would just see them as a curious marine animal.

Here's the really crazy part: According to the Wikipedia article on Bottlenose Dolphins (under Interaction with Humans), "Navy scientists fit the dolphins with equipment that amplify their natural sonar pulses, and relay the information back to Navy Intelligence. The equipment strengthens the dolphin's sonar burst; giving the dolphin enhanced scouting abilities, and can even allow it to inflict damage on medium density materials such as low-grade steel, carbon-plating, and wood."

I just hope to God we keep a close eye on these underwater agents. I heard about this one dolphin who, probably like many of his brethren, was faster than lightening and also that no one, you see, was smarter than he. I don't want that coming to get me in the middle of the night.

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