Dolphins on Duty: 5 Search for Mines in Gulf

The Navy has dispatched five trained dolphins to the Persian Gulf to assist U.S. forces there in hunting for underwater mines, Pentagon officials said late Thursday.

Responding to an NBC news report, the Pentagon acknowledged in a statement that “five dolphins arrived in the gulf on Oct. 13.”

“The dolphins have been deployed to the Middle East Force . . . to provide an underwater surveillance and detection capability. Further details are classified.”

One official said the dolphins “have been trained to detect this type of round, spiked mine” used by Iran to jeopardize gulf shipping.

The dolphins are trained only to hunt for mines and not to detonate them.

The Pentagon statement stressed that the Navy “has never trained nor does it intend to train marine mammals to perform a task which could result in intentional injury or death to the animal.”

Although the project has mostly been shrouded in secrecy, the Navy has long acknowledged the existence of a research and training program involving porpoises, dolphins, seals and whales. The mammals are trained in California, Hawaii and Florida, and the Navy has said that two of groups are “explosive ordnance disposal mobile units.”

NBC called the deployment the dolphins’ “first operational combat role.” But officials disputed that, saying the Navy had experimented with using dolphins and porpoises to detect swimmers during the Vietnam War.

While most of the details of the program are classified, it is reviewed annually by Congress. The 1987 Pentagon budget, for example, authorized “the taking of not more than 25 marine mammals each year for national defense purposes.”

The Navy is also required to abide by various federal laws governing the capture of marine mammals and must ensure that extensive veterinary care is available.

The Pentagon said a number of personnel had been sent to the gulf “to look after the health and welfare of the animals.” It declined to say how many. The Pentagon also refused to discuss how long the dolphins might be in the region or whether they had located any mines, saying: “We do not discuss tactical deployment of forces.”