Russia uses “war dolphins” to protect the naval base in the Black Sea

According to analysts, dolphins are used to detect mines and enemy divers, for example. A Maksar spokesman confirmed the analysts’ theory and said dolphins had only been seen in the coastal city since the Russian invasion began.

The then Soviet Union developed a training program for war dolphins in the 1960s. The Ukrainian Navy captured dolphins after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but lost the animals after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Since then, Russia is said to have started training dolphins again.

A large part of the Russian fleet is currently moored in Sevastopol because the port of Crimea is out of reach of Ukrainian missiles. The flagship Moskva was also in this port before it sank in the Black Sea earlier this month after a fire broke out.

The Russian Northern Fleet also uses marine mammals for military purposes, only beluga whales or sea lions are the most resistant to the cold waters of the Arctic Ocean. Three years ago, Norwegian fishermen found a beluga believed to have escaped from Murmansk, home of the Russian Northern Fleet. They deduced this from the fact that the animal wore belts on which a camera could be attached.

Russia doesn’t just train dolphins. The US Navy also has a training program for dolphins and sea lions at the Naval Base in San Diego. Animals were used in both Gulf Wars to protect American ships from mines and enemy divers.