According to US media reports, the Russian Navy also uses military-trained dolphins to protect its fleet in the Black Sea. Two undersea enclosures have been placed at the entrance to the port of Sevastopol, the independent US Naval Institute (USNI) wrote on its news portal Wednesday (local time). Satellite images suggested the pens were moved there in February, around the time Russia’s attack on Ukraine began.
It is conceivable that dolphins are used to repel enemy divers who might try to enter the harbor and sabotage warships. Many of them are currently beyond the range of Ukrainian missiles.
The Washington Post wrote that the US satellite photo service Maxar shares the assessment of USNI experts. The provider had made the relevant recordings available to the newspaper. Given their excellent sense of hearing, marine mammals are able to detect mines and other potentially dangerous objects, he said. The US military has also been training dolphins and sea lions to use against underwater threats since the 1960s.
Using animals to detect mines
According to the US Naval Institute, based in Annapolis, Maryland, the Soviet Navy developed several marine mammal programs during the Cold War, including one using so-called combat dolphins near Sevastopol. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it went to the Ukrainian military, but later came under the control of the Russian Navy as a result of the Russian annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Since then, these programs have been expanded.
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In addition to dolphins and sea lions, other animals are also used for military purposes – often also to track mines. In addition to tracking dogs, this task can also be performed by mice or bees, for example. The latter are said to be even more effective in finding mines than expensive search devices or sniffer dogs. Tens of thousands of bees can scour a large area in a relatively short time without accidentally activating mines. Trained animals are trained, for example, to associate the smell of explosive material with food. They then swarm near buried mines in hopes of finding food there. Horses and mules are also used to transport military equipment. Bundeswehr mountain troops, for example, use them to maneuver through the most remote passes.