Issue 10: Tech from the Military

MILITARY MARINE MAMMALS | 33
During the anti-Communist war in Vietnam, human
soldiers were not the only ones on the battlefront.
In 1959, out of California, the U.S. Navy
began the Marine Mammal Program. Dolphins
were deployed to Vietnam in 1970 to patrol
nearby warships and end underwater sabotage
in Cam Ranh Bay. By 2003, dolphins were used
to mark active mines for deactivation in Iraqi
waters near Umm Qasr.
During the Cold War, the U.S. Navy, as well as
Russia, used dolphins to detect mines out of
reach for human divers. Dolphins and sea lions
are used today since both are physically ideal
for deep sea diving. Compared to a human diver,
dolphins can stay under water longer and
dive much deeper. Also, dolphins do not have
to resurface as slowly as deep divers for decompression.
The deepest dive record is held
by Tuffy, a U.S. Navy trained bottlenose dolphin,
at 300 meters (900 feet).
The U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program (NMMP)
has five systems called marks, MK for short:
MK4, MK5, MK6, MK7, and MK8. NMMP uses
bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions.
These teams can be deployed within 72 hours
and rapidly transported around the world.
MK4: (Dolphins) Detect and mark the location
of mines tethered to the sea floor.
MK5: (Sea lions) “QuickFind” system of recovery
for hardware on the sea floor as well
as people, such as victims of a plane crash.
MK6: (Dolphins and sea lions) Trained for
locating intruders in the water and detect
threats.
MARION DOSS | CC BY-SA 2.0
MK7: (Dolphins) Detect and mark the location
of mines sitting on, or buried under, the
sea floor.
MK8: (Dolphins) Human/dolphin teams identify
safe corridors for taking troops to shore.
Typically operate in very shallow water.
The program is an accredited member of the Alliance
of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums,
an international organization committed to the
care and conservation of marine mammals. ◊
Origins Scientific Research Society