Why did the Russian army post dolphins at the entrance to a port?

There were horses, of course. But also dogs, pigeons, rats, elephants or even sheep. All used by men to support them in their military operations. And today, the examination of satellite images by theU.S. Naval Institute (USNI) reveals that Russia has deployed dolphins — bottlenose dolphinsfrom Tursiops truncatus, as scientists say –, in a naval base in the Black Sea, near the port of Sevastopol (Crimea). It was last February. At the very moment when the famous “special military operation” was launched in Ukraine by Vladimir Putin.

In 2018, satellites would have already shown, in the same way, that Russia had deployed dolphins in a base off Tartous, the second port of Syria. Norwegian fishermen, for their part, observed in 2019, a beluga with amazing behavior swimming around their boats. According to them, the animal was wearing a harness — on which it would have been possible to attach a GoPro camera — indicating “St. Petersburg Equipment”. It didn’t take much for the beluga to be suspected of spying.

But for what purpose were dolphin enclosures placed at the entrance to the port of Sevastopol this time? The experts have several ideas. So these dolphins could be used to detect mines — or other objects. Thanks to the’echolocation. Training programs were initiated by the Soviet Union — and the United States — during the Cold War. Because dolphins, of course, are better swimmers than humans. And that they do not suffer from decompression problems. Because the dolphins, then, manage to detect objects that our dedicated systems do not see. Their agility in water also most often prevents them from accidentally triggering wanted mines.

Waiting for the underwater drones

These dolphins could also serve as ” dogs guard of the sea ». They could patrol to spot intruders. And even, say some, to be trained to… kill human divers! Enough to prevent enemy operations forces from infiltrating the port to sabotage the ships stationed there.

Recall that the Sevastopol base is particularly important for Russia. Due to its proximity to Crimea, annexed by the country in 2014. Many ships are anchored there, out of missile range Ukrainians. But not beyond the reach of possible sabotage operations submarine.

It was in this same port that the Soviets trained their dolphins in mine detection during the Cold War. At the time of fall of the USSRin the early 1990s, the units ofmammals sailors had come under… Ukrainian control. When Russia has “recovered” Crimea, it has also reclaimed the dolphins. And strengthened its program on marine mammals. Even if underwater drone development programs are carried out in parallel. So the technology has already advanced. Yet, according to military experts, “it is still difficult today to fight against hundreds of thousands of years of evolution”.