MOLDY DICK – PUTIN ALL AT SEA AS HE SENDS IN TRAINED MILITARY DOLPHINS AND WHALES, SAY EXPERTS
Russia is mobilising marine mammals to protect a key Black Sea naval base, according to war experts.
Satellite images are said to show what military experts believe are two dolphin pens floating off the mouth of its key navy base in Sevastopol harbor off Crimea.
Military analyst H.I. Sutton first broke the news in the USNI military outlet after analyzing current and archival satellite imagery which he says show that the pens were put there in February to coincide with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia keeps some of its most important military hardware at the base and the dolphins are likely trained for operations that would counter enemy divers or retrieve explosives to protect the port.
Russia first used militarized dolphins and whales during the Cold War. In 2019, a giant Beluga whale wearing a curious Russian harness with a camera attached was spotted off the coast of Norway.
The Naval Information Warfare Center says marine mammals can be trained to do everything from attach recovery cords to lost equipment to attacking and even apprehending divers or swimmers who breach security areas. They can also identify and mark locations for underwater mines.
The dolphins at the mouth of the Crimea port are probably used to deter underwater sabotage attempts. Russia kept its dolphin training base in Crimea after its annexation in 2014. The Moscow Times said Russia was training the dolphins to plant explosives on ships.
The U.S. has used highly trained dolphins and sea lions for similar activities since the 1960s.
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