Anti-swimmer Dolphins Remain Ready to Defend
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Old news but it's still interesting
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Anti-swimmer Dolphins Remain Ready to Defend
Story Number: NNS041119-07
Release Date: 11/19/2004 12:51:00 PM
By Journalist 2nd Class (SW/AW) Sarah Bibbs, Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet Public Affairs
MANAMA, Bahrain (NNS) -- Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 3, Det. 86, conducted demonstrations of their anti-swimmer dolphin system Nov. 18-19, as part of their ongoing forward presence mission in the Arabian Gulf.
The MK-6 Marine Mammal System (MMS), from Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego, is currently on its longest combat deployment in history, providing valuable protection to Navy assets in the region.
Due to their hydrodynamic shape and a highly effective biological sonar system, the bottlenose dolphins are uniquely equipped to detect, locate and mark underwater threat swimmers, divers, and swimmer delivery vehicles, through a process called echolocation, in which the dolphins emit broad-band high frequency clicks and listen to the echoes of those clicks as they bounce off objects.
“They have natural abilities that no man-made machine can duplicate,” said Hull Technician 2nd Class (DV) Jayson Boyse, lead mammal handler of EODMU 3, Det. 86. “They’re highly effective at detecting and marking divers in the water.”
The danger exists primarily for those whom the dolphins seek out, Boyse said. “They can be very harmful to divers or swimmers. If someone were to get into the water near one of our high-value assets, it wouldn’t be a good place to be.”
Even the MK-6 trainers are unable to swim with the dolphins, except under carefully controlled conditions.
“No matter how close the relationship, the handlers can’t ignore the dolphins’ wild instincts," said Lt. Kary Olson, MK-6 MMS officer in charge. "They look like your average Sea World dolphin, but they’re trained to a much higher level.”
Through constant training, the handlers develop trust and familiarity with the dolphins to achieve desired behaviors from the animal, which in turn secures successful operations.
Physical care for the dolphins is a high priority for EODMU 3 Det. 86. Army veterinarian Maj. Brad Blankenship and biological technician Daniel Peterson are assigned to MK-6 MMS to take care of all the mammalsÂ’ needs.
“These dolphins probably get more focused attention than any Sailor would,” said Peterson. “They have a full clinic and a dedicated team that gives them excellent, 24 hour attention.”
Though the dolphins are on their longest combat deployment, Blankenship said the duration of the operation has had no affect on the dolphinsÂ’ operability.
“They probably don’t know the difference between San Diego and here,” he said. “Their care is still the same, if not better, and their job is still the same.”
The healthy, highly trained mammals of MK-6 have the ability to patrol waters at any hour, day or night, anywhere in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.
“They can be rapidly deployed anywhere in the world,” said Boyse.
How much longer the team will stay in the area remains undetermined. Coalition forces are constantly working to prevent terrorist attacks in the region, and MK-6 MMS provides key support.
“We hope that by being out here, we won’t have another incident like we did in Yemen with the USS Cole (DDG 67),” said Blankenship.
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Maybe we can start a thread on animals in war. There are many animals being used in war since ancient times such as horses for the cavalry(equivalent to armoured forces in modern times),mules and oxens for transport(equivalent to the jeeps and trucks)and pigeons for long-disatnce communications(equivalent to the modern comms). Another modern use of animals for war is Man's best friend the dog. Dogs are used in the military in particular the Military Police(MP) for crowd control and drug sniffing duties. The Soviet/Russians made extensive use of dogs,they are used against enemy infantrymen and even trained to carry explosives to be detonated under armoured vehicles! We should have the utmost respect for these animals of war.
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I heard about the first Soviet experiments with explosive carrying dogs. These dogs were trained to run towards tanks and when close enough, the explosives they carried on their backs would detonate, killing the creatures and the tank.Originally posted by tankee1981:Maybe we can start a thread on animals in war. There are many animals being used in war since ancient times such as horses for the cavalry(equivalent to armoured forces in modern times),mules and oxens for transport(equivalent to the jeeps and trucks)and pigeons for long-disatnce communications(equivalent to the modern comms). Another modern use of animals for war is Man's best friend the dog. Dogs are used in the military in particular the Military Police(MP) for crowd control and drug sniffing duties. The Soviet/Russians made extensive use of dogs,they are used against enemy infantrymen and even trained to carry explosives to be detonated under armoured vehicles! We should have the utmost respect fo0r these animals of war.
But there was one big mistake that the Soviets did that made the first experiments quite famous.
Apparently, the first time such dogs were released, they ran the opposite direction and homed in on their Soviet tanks instead of German ones. The reason was simple: the Soviet trainers had trained these dogs by teaching them to run underneath Russian tanks. So when they were released, they ran straight towards the tanks that were most familiar... the Russian tanks.
You can just imagine the "oh shit!" look on the Dog trainers faces... -
Ouch!Originally posted by aerozapper:I heard about the first Soviet experiments with explosive carrying dogs. These dogs were trained to run towards tanks and when close enough, the explosives they carried on their backs would detonate, killing the creatures and the tank.
But there was one big mistake that the Soviets did that made the first experiments quite famous.
Apparently, the first time such dogs were released, they ran the opposite direction and homed in on their Soviet tanks instead of German ones. The reason was simple: the Soviet trainers had trained these dogs by teaching them to run underneath Russian tanks. So when they were released, they ran straight towards the tanks that were most familiar... the Russian tanks.
You can just imagine the "oh shit!" look on the Dog trainers faces... -
Human-error!!!Originally posted by aerozapper:I heard about the first Soviet experiments with explosive carrying dogs. These dogs were trained to run towards tanks and when close enough, the explosives they carried on their backs would detonate, killing the creatures and the tank.
But there was one big mistake that the Soviets did that made the first experiments quite famous.
Apparently, the first time such dogs were released, they ran the opposite direction and homed in on their Soviet tanks instead of German ones. The reason was simple: the Soviet trainers had trained these dogs by teaching them to run underneath Russian tanks. So when they were released, they ran straight towards the tanks that were most familiar... the Russian tanks.
You can just imagine the "oh shit!" look on the Dog trainers faces...