Spartan359
09-26-2005, 14:21
Ok. I couldn't decide to put this in the comic center or here so I'm taking a chance. Something about this article screams Austin Powers.
Armed and dangerous - Flipper the firing dolphin let loose by Katrina
by Mark Townsend Houston
Sunday September 25, 2005
The Observer
It may be the oddest tale to emerge from the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina. Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot
terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf
of Mexico.
Experts who have studied the US navy's cetacean training exercises
claim the 36 mammals could be carrying 'toxic dart' guns. Divers and
surfers risk attack, they claim, from a species considered to be among
the planet's smartest. The US navy admits it has been training
dolphins for military purposes, but has refused to confirm that any
are missing.
Dolphins have been trained in attack-and-kill missions since the Cold
War. The US Atlantic bottlenose dolphins have apparently been taught
to shoot terrorists attacking military vessels. Their coastal compound
was breached during the storm, sweeping them out to sea. But those who
have studied the controversial use of dolphins in the US defence
programme claim it is vital they are caught quickly.
Leo Sheridan, 72, a respected accident investigator who has worked for
government and industry, said he had received intelligence from
sources close to the US government's marine fisheries service
confirming dolphins had escaped.
'My concern is that they have learnt to shoot at divers in wetsuits
who have simulated terrorists in exercises. If divers or windsurfers
are mistaken for a spy or suicide bomber and if equipped with special
harnesses carrying toxic darts, they could fire,' he said. 'The darts
are designed to put the target to sleep so they can be interrogated
later, but what happens if the victim is not found for hours?'
Usually dolphins were controlled via signals transmitted through a
neck harness. 'The question is, were these dolphins made secure before
Katrina struck?' said Sheridan.
The mystery surfaced when a separate group of dolphins was washed from
a commercial oceanarium on the Mississippi coast during Katrina. Eight
were found with the navy's help, but the dolphins were not returned
until US navy scientists had examined them.
Sheridan is convinced the scientists were keen to ensure the dolphins
were not the navy's, understood to be kept in training ponds in a
sound in Louisiana, close to Lake Pontchartrain, whose waters
devastated New Orleans.
The navy launched the classified Cetacean Intelligence Mission in San
Diego in 1989, where dolphins, fitted with harnesses and small
electrodes planted under their skin, were taught to patrol and protect
Trident submarines in harbour and stationary warships at sea.
Criticism from animal rights groups ensured the use of dolphins became
more secretive. But the project gained impetus after the Yemen terror
attack on the USS Cole in 2000. Dolphins have also been used to detect
mines near an Iraqi port.
Armed and dangerous - Flipper the firing dolphin let loose by Katrina
by Mark Townsend Houston
Sunday September 25, 2005
The Observer
It may be the oddest tale to emerge from the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina. Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot
terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf
of Mexico.
Experts who have studied the US navy's cetacean training exercises
claim the 36 mammals could be carrying 'toxic dart' guns. Divers and
surfers risk attack, they claim, from a species considered to be among
the planet's smartest. The US navy admits it has been training
dolphins for military purposes, but has refused to confirm that any
are missing.
Dolphins have been trained in attack-and-kill missions since the Cold
War. The US Atlantic bottlenose dolphins have apparently been taught
to shoot terrorists attacking military vessels. Their coastal compound
was breached during the storm, sweeping them out to sea. But those who
have studied the controversial use of dolphins in the US defence
programme claim it is vital they are caught quickly.
Leo Sheridan, 72, a respected accident investigator who has worked for
government and industry, said he had received intelligence from
sources close to the US government's marine fisheries service
confirming dolphins had escaped.
'My concern is that they have learnt to shoot at divers in wetsuits
who have simulated terrorists in exercises. If divers or windsurfers
are mistaken for a spy or suicide bomber and if equipped with special
harnesses carrying toxic darts, they could fire,' he said. 'The darts
are designed to put the target to sleep so they can be interrogated
later, but what happens if the victim is not found for hours?'
Usually dolphins were controlled via signals transmitted through a
neck harness. 'The question is, were these dolphins made secure before
Katrina struck?' said Sheridan.
The mystery surfaced when a separate group of dolphins was washed from
a commercial oceanarium on the Mississippi coast during Katrina. Eight
were found with the navy's help, but the dolphins were not returned
until US navy scientists had examined them.
Sheridan is convinced the scientists were keen to ensure the dolphins
were not the navy's, understood to be kept in training ponds in a
sound in Louisiana, close to Lake Pontchartrain, whose waters
devastated New Orleans.
The navy launched the classified Cetacean Intelligence Mission in San
Diego in 1989, where dolphins, fitted with harnesses and small
electrodes planted under their skin, were taught to patrol and protect
Trident submarines in harbour and stationary warships at sea.
Criticism from animal rights groups ensured the use of dolphins became
more secretive. But the project gained impetus after the Yemen terror
attack on the USS Cole in 2000. Dolphins have also been used to detect
mines near an Iraqi port.