The State : Critic of Navy Program Fired

A marine mammal trainer, who criticized the handling of dolphins and sea lions in a Navy program, has been fired from his job with a defense contractor for speaking to reporters about the matter, a Navy spokesman said. Trainer Rick Trout was fired about three weeks ago by Seaco Inc., a San Diego firm that has a Navy contract to train sea lions and dolphins for classified underwater reconnaissance and surveillance programs, said Tom LaPuzza of the Naval Ocean Systems Center in San Diego. “The terms of his contract stated that he would not speak to the news media,” LaPuzza said. Trout, who most recently worked with sea lions, alleged that the Navy purchases dolphins from a private contractor whose techniques are so poor that he drowns many while attempting to capture them. Further, the dolphins, which are caught off Mississippi, are immediately transferred to colder water off the Pacific coast and are deprived of food, which causes unnecessary stress, he said. The Navy denied the allegations.