1st Summary

In the article “Sleek Sailors – The Navy’s Marine Mammal Program” the Navy has discovered how useful and efficient marine mammals can be in helping to design new submarines and underwater weapons. In 1963, the Navy learned in its first experiment that dolphins could be used for military missions as dogs can be used to missions with police forces. Many marine mammals were experimented with to see which could be utilized the best, and the bottlenose dolphin and the California sea lion came out to be the best choices because they were easy to train, adaptable to different missions, and didn’t require a lot of health care. The first mission these mammals was sent on was in war with Vietnam; they were there to help with defense in ports, harbors, and restricted waterways. At first the use of these mammals was speculated among outsiders, but they were reassured that the animals were not killing machines because they already had sufficient weapons for that. However, it is believed that the Soviet Union utilized marine mammals as killing machines during the Cold War, but after the war those programs were terminated. The Navy’s most recent mission with the marine mammals was in the Iraq harbor of Umm Qasar in 2003 where they cleared underwater mines for a safe marine landing. Up to 150 marine mammals have been used in five training programs in the Navy and since the information has become declassified in the 1990s, huge amounts of research have been released.

Walsh, Don. (2007). "Sleek Sailors - the Navy's Marine Mammal Program." United States Navel Institute Proceedings. 133 (5) Retrieved January 28, 2008, from ProQuest database.