Science & Technology

Photos show US Navy dolphins on an airplane

By T.K. Randall
March 10, 2020 ·  9 comments

Transporting dolphins on a plane... as you do. Image Credit: Facebook / Air Force amn/nco/snco They might not be the most conventional of soldiers, but these 'Mark 7 Marine Mammal Systems' (or bottlenose dolphins as they are more commonly known) have been a key part of the US Navy's strategy for sniffing out enemy mines on the ocean floor for the better part of six decades.

Now a new set of photographs published on Facebook have revealed how the seaborne mammals are transported from one place to another - in the back of a C-17 Globemaster III transport plane.

Personnel assigned to the 60th Maintenance Squadron at Travis Air Force Base in California can be seen tending to the dolphins which each have their own water-filled containment unit to sit in.The 60th Air Mobility Wing has confirmed that the images are genuine and a spokesman for the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command has revealed that the animals were being transported from Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, California to Naval Air Station Key West, Florida to participate in special training exercises as part of the US Navy's Marine Mammal Program.

The dolphins receive special training to enable them to detect mines as well as to ward off enemy swimmers and divers who might be encroaching on allied territory.

So far we haven't seen any with laser beams attached to their heads, however.



Source: Task and Purpose | Comments (9)

Tags: Dolphins