“The U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program (NMMP) is a program administered by the U.S. Navy which studies the military use of marine mammals - principally bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions - and trains animals to perform tasks such as ship and harbor protection, mine detection and clearance, and equipment recovery. The program is based in San Diego, California, where animals are housed and trained on an ongoing basis. NMMP animal teams have been deployed for use in combat zones, such as during the Vietnam War and the Iraq War.”
Force protection
“MK 6 uses dolphins and sea lions as sentries to protect harbor installations and ships against unauthorized human swimmers. MK 6 was first operationally deployed with dolphins during the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1975 and in Bahrain from 1986 to 88.[6] When an enemy diver is detected by a dolphin, the dolphin approaches from behind and bumps a device into the back of the enemy’s air tank. This device is attached to a buoy which then floats to the surface, alerting the Navy personnel of the intruder. Sea lions carry a similar device in their mouth, but instead attach it by hand-cuffing one of the enemy’s limbs. The animals depend on their superior underwater senses and swimming ability to defend against counterattacks.”
Object recovery
MK 5 is dedicated to the recovery of test equipment that is fired from ships or dropped from planes into the ocean; the team uses California Sea Lions to locate and attach recovery hardware to underwater objects such as practice mines. In this role they can out-perform human divers, who are restricted to short working times and limited repeat diving.
This team first demonstrated its capabilities when it recovered an ASROC (Anti Submarine Rocket) from a depth of 180 feet (50 m) in November 1970. The team has trained in the recovery of dummy victims in a simulated airplane crash.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy_Marine_Mammal_Program#Force_protection
It’s the noses, isn’t it?