Armed and Dangerous

[Nbadan]

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?'

The Observer



Escaped armed Dolphins? Are you kidding me?

Well, at least they didn't do it on porpoise!

[Clandestino]

stupid article.. it is not like these dolphins wear these darts 24/7...

[Useruser666]

This is a bunch of bull . The dolphins don't "shoot" anything. They have no weapons at all. The dolphins primary mission was to locate and detect intruders and place a grapling type floating marking on the intruder. Any such equipment is not left on the dolphin unless it's on a mission. This story is complete malarky.

[Slomo]

So the three of you agree?

[Manu'sMagicalLeftHand]

So the three of you agree?

[Useruser666]

So the three of you agree?

I don't see what he posted as something to "agree or not with". I think the story is total BS and so are fears that Rambo Flipper is going to go beserck and start killing surfers along the LA coast.

I'm sure Dan was trying to make some sort of "the government is evil, look what they did!" type of story out of this.

[Vashner]

Argh if I got scuba diving at the Flower Gardesn some fish is gonna shoot my ass with a dart? (jk)