US Sends Dolphins to the Gulf

The Navy Is Depending on Dolphins to Keep the Strait of Hormuz Open

If Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. Navy has a backup plan to save one-fifth of the world's daily oil trade: send in the dolphins.

The threat of Iran closing the strait has reached a fever pitch, reports today's New York Times, with U.S. officials warning Iran's supreme leader that such moves would cross a "red line" provoking a U.S. response. Iran could block the strait with any assortment of mines, armed speed boats or anti-ship cruise missiles but according to Michael Connell at the Center for Naval Analysis, “The immediate issue [for the U.S. military] is to get the mines.” To solve that problem, the Navy has a solution that isn't heavily-advertised but has a time-tested success rate: mine-detecting dolphins.

Of course, as you can imagine, the use of dolphins in war did not sit well with the usual crowd:

When this was an issue in 2003, lobbying for the rights of dolphins was much more politically sensitive given that scores of U.S. men and women were being sent into battle as well. "We're not going to second-guess the Navy at a time of war," said Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist with the Humane Society. "But we don't support the use of marine mammals for military use." According to the Chronicle, the two groups emphasized that "they were not placing the lives of animals above those of troops. But they questioned the ethics and wisdom of using wild animals to ensure safe passage through hostile waters." Petitions have also been sent to the Defense Department protesting the use of dolphins.

Seems to me, if they let the dolphins free in the Gulf, and they choose to come back and get in the boat, you've allowed the dolphins to make the choice.

Back in 2003, Tom LaPuzza, a spokesman for the San Diego-based Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, cast aside the skepticism about how the dolphins were treated:

By nature, dolphins are naturally reliable and trustworthy animals who seem to enjoy pleasing their human handlers, LaPuzza said. When they are released into the ocean for missions, "they come back to the handler, the trainer" ashore or on a ship.

But what if the Iranians off them a better deal?