US Navy's 'Flipper' goes AWOL

News.com (Australia) ^ | March 31st, 2003

[Sabertooth]

US Navy's 'Flipper' goes AWOL

Staff Sgt. Justin Roberts escorts K-Dog, a Bottle Nose Dolphin belonging to Commander Task Unit.

In Bahrain, sea lions are being used to detect unauthorized swimmers near U.S. Navy ships.

A sea lion moves through the water with a training device during a harbor-patrol exercise.

Photo Credits: Courtesy U.S. Navy

March 31, 2003

AUSTRALIAN military divers yesterday questioned the effectiveness of the US Navy's mine-clearing dolphins, revealing one had disappeared for two days.

The polite way to express their scepticism about the mine-clearing skills of the dolphins is to question their reliability and cost-efficiency, but one diver spoke more plainly yesterday.

"Flipper's f----ed, mate," he said.

"The dolphins have had all this amazing publicity but as soon as they put one in the water it shot through. There's a war going on and Flipper goes AWOL (absent without leave)."

The diver said the dolphin returned two days later.

But in the interim, the US Navy brought in another dolphin by helicopter.

"That meant some of our gear got bumped off the flight," he said.

K-Dog, a U.S. Navy dolphin trained to detect underwater mines,
leaps out of the water during exercises in the Persian Gulf.

The handlers of the five dolphins at work in the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr confirmed yesterday that one of their charges, a male named Tacoma, did disappear when put in the water to go to work.

"Two days later we found him in the same spot where we put him in the water," said Lieutenant Robert Greene, the officer in charge of the M-7 series of mine-clearing dolphins.

Tacoma was yesterday resting in his holding pool with the Navy's oldest dolphin, 33-year-old Makay.

Makay has been more diligent in Iraq, perhaps learning from a painful experience when he, too, took off from duty once in Florida.

A shark attacked him during his self-declared holiday, leaving him with scars on his back.

Lt Greene said the dolphins had been a great success in Iraq in using their sonar to detect potential mines and placing markers on them to guide human divers to the targets.

[Sabertooth]

Operational Fleet Systems

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From the capabilities demonstrated in the Advanced Marine Biological Systems program, four operational Fleet Marine Mammal Systems (MMS) have been developed to fulfill Navy requirements where hardware is inadequate or safety is an issue. Dolphins are used in MMS because of their exceptional biological sonar that is unmatched by hardware sonars in detecting objects in the water column and on the ocean bottom. Sea lions are used because of their very sensitive underwater directional hearing and low light level vision. Both of these marine mammal species are trainable for tasks and are capable of repetitive deep diving. Fleet MMS are assigned to Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Units (EODMU). Each system has from 4 to 8 marine mammals, an Officer-in-Charge, and several enlisted personnel. All MMS are rapidly transported by aircraft, helicopter and land vehicles with all equipment to sustain an operational deployment. These systems regularly participate in major Fleet exercises. The Mk 6 & 7 MMS were used to support waterside security at the 1996 Republican Convention in San Diego, CA. SPAWAR supports these Fleet systems with replenishment marine mammals, hardware, training, personnel and documentation.

What is a "System"?

"System" is the term used for the various marine mammal programs developed for use by the Fleet. They include:

Mk 4 is a dolphin mine searching system that detects and marks locations of mines moored off the ocean bottom. It is capable of shipboard forward deployment to support post-amphibious operations. (EODMU THREE, Coronado, CA)

Mk 5 is a sea lion exercise mine recovery system that locates pingered training mines. The sea lions can locate these mines to depths of 1000 feet and attach a grabber device for recovery. (EODMU THREE, Coronado, CA and EODMU SIX, Charleston, SC)

Mk 6 is a dolphin swimmer and diver detection system that can detect and mark the location of an intruder. This system was used in Vietnam in 1970-71 and the Persian Gulf in 1987-88. (EODMU THREE, Coronado, CA)

Mk 7 is a dolphin mine searching system that detects and marks the location of mines on the ocean bottom. This system is also capable of shipboard forward deployment to support post-amphibious assaults. (EODMU THREE, Coronado, CA)

LINK

[Sabertooth]

((((((growl)))))

[new cruelty]

related thread: Takoma the dolphin is AWOL

[Conservative Me]

PETA cheered....that is, until the dolphin returned.

[MeekOneGOP]

[Sabertooth]

Thanks. Good thing I didn't post this in breaking news.

[MeekOneGOP]

They forgot they gave him a 48 hour pass I bet . . .

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Well, at least they got him back. Just when you think that you've got an animal figured out, they'll do something to surprise you.

[Carry_Okie]

My impression is that the dolphins are very capable, but perhaps not terribly reliable. As part of a total system they probably save a lot of labor and dive time, particularly when investigating targets that have been previously mapped to GPS coordinates by magnetic anomaly detectors.

I wonder if they can be "steered" to particular locations through some form of underwater communication?

[Carry_Okie]

Yeah, that AWOL dolphin sounds fishy.
I wonder if the seals are talking.
Maybe he's a pinnipedophile?

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Slyfox]

Now, did they tell me to 'get bombs' or 'get bombed'?

[Bluntpoint]

At least Flipper did not try to avoid service like the great Maha Flipper. He avoided the porpoise draft by whinning about his pilonidal cyst.

[Sabertooth]

I wonder if they can be "steered" to particular locations through some form of underwater communication?

Oh, I don't think there's any doubt that they can be steered, they do that at marine parks.

About 20 years ago I worked at Sea World in San Diego, and had a chance to play around with a lot of the cetaceans. I wasn't a trainer, but I've had direct experience with bottlenose, Pacific whiteside, pilot whales, beluga, and killer whales. They're very doglke, but there is more happening upstairs than there is with canines. Cetaceans have an advanced play instinct, a much greater capacity for calculated mischief, and also for the spontaneous creation of games with basic rules. I'm not at all surprised that there is an element of unpredictability with the Navy's dolphins.

[NautiNurse]

Just when you think that you've got an animal figured out, they'll do something to surprise you.

LOL--that describes the average spouse!

[Sabertooth]

[sweetliberty]

He's back! How did you miss this thread? It's a good one.

[TopQuark]

"Flipper's f----ed, mate," he said.

Yeh, without this quote the story would certainly lack authenticity. This and smear is is what passed for journalism today.

[Slyfox]

LOL!

[Mister Baredog]

The handlers of the five dolphins at work in the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr confirmed yesterday that one of their charges, a male named Tacoma, did disappear when put in the water to go to work.

I wonder if there are any girl dolphins in the area, or perhaps he just wanted to check out the new neighborhood. I hope they don't court marshall him.