disinformation | the search for the military marine mammalian candidate

Welcome to Disinformation | July 06, 2003

Abuse Your Illusions - the follow-up to Everything You Know Is Wrong & You Are Being Lied To is in the store and every bit as essential. The long-awaited Disinformation DVD is in too!
>>Go

U.S. Weighs Military Intervention in Liberia
>>Go

What The European Papers Say
>>Go

Violence Mars Nigerian Strikes
>>Go

Religion in the News: June 2003
>>Go

the search for the military marine mammalian candidate
by Preston Peet (ptpeet@cs.com) - December 20, 2000

I am prepared to go to Allah, or even to the Devil, as long as my animals will be OK, said the 'animal mercenaries' squad trainer of a dolphin group that have been sold to Iran by Crimean authorities, who can no longer afford to keep them. As reported by the English 'Times' newspaper (March 10, 2000), the group of twenty-seven militarily trained sea mammals, which includes dolphins, Beluga whales, walruses, and sea lions, was flown to an Iranian military base along the Persian Gulf. The animals have all been trained in finding mines, or placing mines on enemy shipping, finding lost torpedoes, and was even involved in airdrop experiments.

Another trick some of the dolphins know is to stab enemy divers with a harpoon mounted on the animal's back, then drag the diver to the surface impaled upon the point. Another horror story, which appears to involve dolphins that were part of military experiments were the scores of dead dolphins that, washed up on French Mediterranean beaches. 'Earth Island Journal' (Summer 1998), reported that John Henley, a reporter for the London 'Observer' told of seeing most with "an identical, and mysterious wound, a neat, fist sized hole, on the underside of their necks."

Leo Sheridan, an accident investigator, is quoted as saying he is "convinced that these were dolphins that were trained by the US Navy, and something went badly wrong." Sheridan went on, saying "they were disposed of to conceal the existence of the American's military dolphin program." Apparently, in 1989 the US began tests using dolphins fitted with special harnesses that would push electrodes into their flesh. The dolphins would be "monitored and controlled via electric signals transmitted through the neck harness." Most disturbingly, Sheridan pointed out that sixteen of the dead dolphins had wounds indicative of the explosive charge inserted into the harness worn by the military test subjects, to keep those dolphins from falling into enemy hands. "It seems incredible, but these programs are well known in military circles," Sheridan revealed.

Another expert, Anatoly Bezusko has been quoted saying, "Kamikaze dolphins work well in the movies, but not in real life," by 'Radio Free Europe' although there is no denying that, while reportedly giving up on them as they are not 'good soldiers', various militaries have been training dolphins and other aquatic animals for special high-risk military missions.

This subject was covered in the classic film by director Mike Nichols, 'Day of the Dolphin,' (1974) starring George C. Scott as a scientist studying dolphins, teaching them to talk and communicate with him. This entertaining film was closer to reality than most might believe, being based on the early research of Dr. John Cunningham Lilly, who didn't approve of the ultimate military application of his attempts at inter-species communication.

The' Seattle Times' reported (October 15th, 1997), that during the 1996 GOP Presidential convention held in San Diego, the US Navy had at least half a dozen dolphins patrolling the waters of San Diego Bay for intruder divers. The US Navy had ordered the unit of seventy-five dolphins and nineteen other mammals to be decommissioned, but as of 1997, nothing had been found that worked better at the sort of underwater work the dolphins and other creatures undertake for their human military minders, so US$15 000 a year was still going into each animal's upkeep. There are many reports that the US Navy deployed dolphins in the Persian Gulf to guard US warships against enemy divers, mines, and other undersea attacks.

Many cetacea seem to be close to humans in intelligence, and have been known through myth and legend as friends of humans. Yet even they can be trained, maybe even to kill!

Day Of The Dolphin
Here is a terrible review of a not too horrid movie, that was actually pretty decent for as late in the evening on TV when I originally saw it.

Dolphins Traded
Here is a very short note on the recent 'trade' to Iran of the military dolphins by the Ukrainian Crimean authorities.

Did US Navy Order Dolphin Deaths?
This 'Earth Island Journal' (Summer, 1998) regards the dead dolphins thought to have been involved in some sort of secret US Navy experiments, and killed when things went awry. Not the most pleasant thought, that these dolphins were killed so callously as this, but if the US military can drop missiles on human civilians, what's to stop their killing of innocent dolphins?

Navy Sticking With Dolphins
This 'Seattle Times Extra' article (October 15th, 1997) is on how the US Navy is going to continue spending lots of money researching and using dolphins and other creatures for highly sensitive military missions underwater.

US And Ukraine At Cross Porpoises
The second story at this 'bulletins' page (November/December, 1997) deals with the group of dolphins that have apparently just been sold to Iran, but in this story, they are working with "disturbed and extremely shy children," in the Ukraine still. Unfortunately for the Ukraine, it has not been able to raise enough money to continue to keep the animals, and now (March 2000), they've been bought by Iran, for unspecified purposes. Maybe they will be fine?

Killer Dolphins
Gee, are dolphins really killers for fun? This 'Environmental News Network' article (September 1st, 1999) states so, or at least that they kill other dolphin babies for no apparent reason!

Russian Trainer Sells 'Mercenary' Dolphins To Iran
This 'Salon' magazine article (March 24th, 2000) by J.A. Getzlaff looks at the sale of these militarily trained dolphins to Iran. This is a sad tale. It must be really difficult to be one of these animals, to live in confusion all one's life, never really understanding what is happening to oneself!

Flipper Goes Postal
This 'GettingIt' article (August 8th, 1999) by Mark Dery explores the dolphin as a symbol for America's pathological psyche.

Iranians Buy Soviet 'Killer' Dolphins
This 'Times' newspaper article (March 10th, 2000) discusses the implications of Iran buying trained 'killer' dolphins, and just what they may have been trained for. An excellent collection of links to related web-sites is here as well.

Like Dolphins? US Navy Marine Mammals
If this stuff is legit, then the US Navy has been working extensively with dolphins and other sea mammals for years, since the late 1950s. Be sure to click on the top picture here of the leaping dolphin, and read about the top secret Navy operations involving these highly intelligent animals.

US Navy Marine Mammal Program
This is the official site of the US 'Navy Marine Mammal Program': very interesting information to be found here, so look around!

Annotated Bibliography Of Publications Of The US Navy's Marine Mammal Program
Here is an amazing array of information on the US Navy's use of different marine mammals, including sea lions and dolphins.

Strategies For Pursuing A Career In Marine Mammal Science
For all those boys and girls out there who want to work with the dolphins and other mammals of the sea, here is a place to get all the information one might need to pull off that dream career!

US Navy's Low Frequency Active Sonar: Cause For Concern
While this is not exactly the US Navy using sea life for conducting military operations, it does involve tests with long-range underwater LFAS research, which is apparently causing great damage to the hearing of the various cetacea that live in the world's oceans, or could if it is deployed by the US Navy.

A Whale Of A Business: The Story Of Navy Dolphins
This is the 'Frontline' story of the US Navy's dolphin program, with chronology of the entire thing. Click on the hyperlink within the main article here that mentions video taken by dolphins with a mouth-held underwater videocamera to see one of these Navy dolphins in action. Also at the very bottom of the page, there are a lot more links in teeny tiny print, so don't miss them.

Marine Mammal Systems
There are some good pictures here of some hard at work dolphins. Kind of sad to think about. One of the things I liked about Douglas Adams' 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe' books and television series was the comment, and I paraphrase, that humans think they are the smartest animals on the planet because they work, and fight wars, and build things, while dolphins think they are the smartest animals on the planet for the exact same reasons, because humans work, and fight wars, and build things. So long and thanks for all the fish?

Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) Program
There's some pretty cool photos here, including one of a futuristic robot used to removed unexploded ordinance and a section on Marine Mammal recovery systems.

Don't Let The US Navy Deafen Marine Mammals
The 'Humane Society of the United States' says the LFAS creates about the loudest sounds possible for humans to create under the oceans' surfaces, with the sound traveling hundreds of miles. this disrupts, "calving, breeding, feeding and communication," of the world's sea mammals.

Dolphin's Dirty Dozen
This page is a statement on the horrors perpetuated upon dolphins as experimental subjects. Describes really creepy horrid stuff to carry out on such an obviously cognizant living creature.

Navy Dolphins
Citing fears of the US Navy's super-secret 'swimmer nullification program', in which, as described in this 'Progressive Animal Welfare Society' (PAWS) report, involves the stabbing of swimmers by dolphins with a hypodermic device that then explodes the swimmers. This is the first mention I have come across of exploding divers, but hey, truth is stranger than fiction I hear, so check this out. This report also says that dolphins were not deployed in the Persian Gulf, so someone has their wires crossed somewhere, because I'm seeing all sorts of different stories. PAWS was able to keep the US Navy from deploying their top-secret dolphins in the Puget Sound.

The Search For The Manchurian Candidate: Chapter 8
This is a chapter from John Mark's classic book 'The Search for the Manchurian Candidate: The CIA and Mind Control' (London: Allen Lane, 1979) titled 'Brainwashing'. Seven or eight paragraphs from the end of this very long, very detailed, down-right scary chapter is a paragraph on how scientist protagonist (played by George C. Scott) in the film 'Day of the Dolphin' is actually based on the real life experiences of Dr. John Cunningham Lilly, who besides eventually doing experiments in communication with dolphins, was also an expert on the brain, with extensive research time spent implanting electrodes into the brains of monkeys to find out the centers of pleasure, and pain. Lilly did not approve with the ends that the US military eventually put his research to.

The Global Industry In Whales And Dolphins
Get a bucket because this one is really 'horrific', to borrow one of this reports' adjectives. The last quarter of this paper is on the US military's use of dolphins, including a rundown of the Vietnam 'swimmer nullification program', with another mention of exploding enemy divers, and Persian Gulf deployment, so rest assured this is a juicy bit of reporting here. It is also an entirely nauseating read. There is also information on various doctors and scientists who worked with, and experimented on the dolphins, like Dr. John Cunningham Lilly. According to this pretty negative portrayal of him, "many of Lilly's dolphins suffered an agonising death. 'Despite disappointment and sadness,' he announced, 'we had to go on with our research: our responsibilities lie with finding the truth.' It was not until years later however that a repentant Lilly finally stumbled across that apparently elusive truth. After suffering drug addiction and a mental breakdown, he characterised his research in an entirely different light: 'I was running a concentration camp for my friends.' "

More Killer Dolphins
Here is another report on the not-so-gentle giants, bottlenose dolphins, who are slaughtering porpoises, and dolphin calves by the hundreds. Doesn't have anything to do with the military, but these suckers do have a killer instinct it appears.

Dolphins Of War
This article from 'Dive International' magazine (June, 1998) discusses in depth the US and Ukrainian dolphin programs, and again mentions blowing up divers with hypodermic syringes, so perhaps there is something to this story?

Victims Of Captivity
Doug Cartlidge, Director of the 'European Cetacean Organization' writes about the military use of dolphins, and has photos posted here of some of the terrible treatment these dolphins in captivity can receive. Cartlidge has an expertise in the subject of military use of dolphins, and visited the facility in the Ukraine to try and give the Crimean trainers some ideas for alternative uses for their military dolphins. Now the last of those dolphins are on their way to Iran, whose soldiers during the Iran-Iraq war would machine-gun every dolphin they spotted for fear they might be American dolphins!

Dr. John Cunningham Lilly
Check out the Disinformation dossier on Dr. John Cunningham Lilly.

Seven Seas On Jeff Rense's Sightings: Low Frequency Active Sonar
This Jeff Rense 'Sightings' show (December 19th, 1999) covers the latest disturbing developments in 'Low Frequency Active Sonar' research. RealAudio. 3 hours.

Benedick Howard On Jeff Rense's Sightings: Sonar Killing Whales
This Jeff Rense 'Sightings' show (May 19th, 1998) explores further developments regarding covertly trained killer whales for Navy 'LFAS' missions. RealAudio. 3 hours.

Benedick Howard On Jeff Rense's Sightings: Navy Sonar Killing Whales
This Jeff Rense 'Sightings' show (May 10th, 1998) explores the possible existence of covertly trained killer whales for Navy 'LFAS' missions. RealAudio. 3 hours.

Sheryl Magill On Jeff Rense's Sightings: Saving The Seas From LFAS
This Jeff Rense 'Sightings' show (February 29th, 2000) features environmental activist Sheryl Magill on the latest strategies to thwart the Navy's 'LFAS' program. RealAudio. 3 hours.

Dolphin Synergy
An amazing dolphin appreciation web-site featuring the majestic photography of Daniel McCulloch. You will think twice about the horrors of military trained dolphins after viewing this web-site!

No Messages Posted Yet...