Well we all know that dogs have been used to detect land mines, IEDs etc. But ever wonder even sea mammals can be used for mine detection in sea. Yeah you heard it right, US Navy trained Dolphins and sea lions to detect mines under water. Dolphin used in US Navy were divided into groups each group is dedicated to different task like:
Mine hunting:
MK 4 uses dolphins to detect and mark the location of tethered sea mines floating off the bottom, while MK 7 dolphins are trained to detect and mark the location of mines on the sea floor or buried in sediment. The MK 8 team is trained to swiftly identify safe corridors for the initial landing of troops ashore.
Mine-clearance dolphins were deployed to the Persian Gulf during the Iraq War in 2003. The Navy said these dolphins were effective in helping to detect more than 100 antiship mines and underwater booby traps from the port of Umm Qasr.
MK 6 uses dolphins and sea lions as sentries to protect harbor installations and ships against unauthorized human swimmers.
When an enemy diver is detected by a dolphin, the dolphin approaches from behind and bumps a device into the back of the enemy's air tank. This device is attached to a buoy which then explodes, alerting the Navy personnel of the intruder. Sea lions carry a similar device in their mouth, but instead attach it by hand-cuffing one of the enemy's limbs. The animals depend on their superior underwater senses and swimming ability to defend against counterattacks.
MK 5 is dedicated to the recovery of test equipment that is fired from ships or dropped from planes into the ocean; the team uses California Sea Lions to locate and attach recovery hardware to underwater objects such as practice mines.
But the good thing is that US Navy never trained dolphins for attack missions, here check out video of US Navy training dolphins.
Share your views on this.
0 comments:
Post a Comment