Russia Doubles Number Of Military Dolphins
The Russian military has reportedly been making significant investments into security at a military base in the Black Sea by increasing the number of trained marine animals being utilized.
According to satellite images shown in a recent intelligence report from the U.K. Ministry of Defense, there are “at least four layers of nets and booms” across the entrance to harbors in Russia-controlled Sevastopol, Crimea — which means that the Russian Navy is increasing the amount of trained marine animals as part of their effort to “counter enemy divers.”
The images revealed that the harbor contains nearly twice as many floating mammal pens, which likely contain bottle-nosed dolphins.
These increases likely come as a response to the Black Sea Fleet being a target of multiple drone attacks since Russia invaded Ukraine early last year. The Ukrainian government has denied any involvement in the attacks.
The use of trained marine animals is not a new thing for Russia, as the former Soviet Union’s Navy began using animals including dolphins, seals and beluga whales during the Cold War — training the animals to detect mines, submarines and suspicious objects, as well as to carry out secret missions.
According to One America News (OAN), “A harness wearing beluga whale that was first spotted in Norway in 2019 is suspected of being a spy for the Russian Navy. An action camera was strapped to his harness with the words ‘Equipment of St. Petersberg.’ Locals named him ‘Hvaldimir’, which is a combination of the Norwegian word for whale – Hval – and Russian President Vladimir Putin.”
The same beluga whale was spotted in Sweden earlier this year, where officials requested that the public avoid contact with the animal.
Russia is not the only country that has trained marine animals for use by the military, as the U.S. Navy has been using dolphins and sea lions to help them save lives underwater since the 1960s.
While the U.S. Navy tried to end this program in 2022 in order to replace the animals with new advanced technology, Congress halted that change until the Navy provides proof that the new systems will have better results than mine-detecting dolphins.
