Dolphins armed with guns and knives allegedly escape into wild

A Russian news report clains a trio of "armed" dolphins have escaped into the wild (Australian AP)No, it?s not a promo for the latest SyFy movie. There are claims circulating that three dolphins have escaped from a Ukrainian military training facility armed with head-mounted guns and knives and trained to attack humans.

Could this seemingly outrageous claim actually be true? Unfortunately, the U.S. media has nothing on a number of international publications that publish completely fabricated tales, often to score political points. And for their part, the Ukrainian government has denied the claim, calling it a ?fabrication? and a ?gross provocation.?

The Russian publication RIA Novosti claims that the Ukrainian dolphin program is two-fold: Training the dolphins to detect and mark mines but also equipping them with weapons to attack enemy human swimmers who may pose a threat to Ukrainian navel vessels.

Interestingly, Wired points out that some Russian soldiers are actually trained to combat dolphins in case they are attacked by them while on a mission.

And as sensational as it may sound, it?s not like this story simply appeared out of thin air. As several news outlets have reported, the former Soviet Union engaged in similar training practices with dolphins and the sea-faring mammals have been used by countries around the world in various naval exercises, including in the U.S. Navy.

On its website, the Navy explains: ?The U.S. Navy has found that the biological sonar of dolphins, called echolocation, makes them uniquely effective at locating sea mines so they can be avoided or removed. Other marine mammals like the California sea lion also have demonstrated the ability to mark and retrieve objects for the Navy in the ocean. In fact, marine mammals are so important to the Navy that there is an entire program dedicated to studying, training, and deploying them.?

Of course, as Wired points out, the U.S. Navy has a perfectly good explanation for why they don?t weaponize dolphins: self-preservation. In a FAQ on their marine mammal-training program, the Navy writes:

?Since dolphins cannot discern the difference between enemy and friendly vessels, or enemy and friendly divers and swimmers, it would not be wise to give that kind of decision authority to an animal.?

Indeed. No one wants to get caught in the crosshairs of a ?Flipper.?

You can read more about the Soviet-era dolphin-training program here.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/dolphins-armed-guns-knives-allegedly-escape-wild-005525870.html

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