Blog for a Better World

The Navy’s sea mammal program started in the late 1950s.  Now, about 75 dolphins and 25 sea lions are housed at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego Harbor as part of a Navy program to teach them to detect terrorists and mines underwater. The base briefly opened its doors to the media for the first time since the start of the war in Iraq. The display came a few weeks after the Navy announced plans to send up to 30 dolphins and sea lions to patrol the waters of Washington state’s Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, which is home to nuclear submarines, ships and laboratories. Both species can find mines and spot swimmers in murky waters. Working in unison, the dolphins can drop a flashing light near a mine or a swimmer. The sea lions carry in their mouths a cable and a handcuff-like device that clamps onto a terrorist’s leg and then sailors can then use the cable to reel in the terrorist.

Last May 2008, six sea lions have been found shot in Oregon, presumably as a result of annoyed fishermen blaming the animals for a lack of fish.  The January before, US federal officials recommended killing about 30 nuisance sea lions a year in the river, to keep them from gobbling up salmon. Officials went ahead with that, but in the face of a lawsuit from the Humane Society, they have been instead trapping animals and transporting them to nearby zoos. It looks like someone took advantage of these traps to shoot the captive animals before they could be spirited away.  The trapping program has been entirely put on hold while the killings are investigated.