PTSD

Fishing for terrorists?

Okay, I know they aren't really fish. They are mammals. But, I'm always in favour of a title that is wrong.

Getting on to the point of this post though, did yous know that the US Army (Navy) had a Marine Mammal Systems programme? They use dolphins and sea lions to (I quote):
"...fulfill Navy requirements where hardware is inadequate or safety is an issue. "

The web site goes on to add:

"Dolphins are used in MMS because of their exceptional biological sonar that is unmatched by hardware sonars in detecting objects in the water column and on the ocean bottom. Sea lions are used because of their very sensitive underwater directional hearing and low light level vision. Both of these marine mammal species are trainable for tasks and are capable of repetitive deep diving. Fleet MMS are assigned to Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Units (EODMU)."

I'm not entirely sure this is not a web site set up by anti-war protesters. Does the US Navy really use mammals for surveillance? And can I add this to my ongoing project on Maritime Security in the Pacific Coast? It seems to me that if dolphins and sea lions are out there, helping to secure the US, we are pretty good hands (flippers?)

Sorry, I couldn't resist that :-)

posted by Priya @ 4:44 PM