Dolphin Wars?

NATO Military Dolphins to Roam Black Sea – Media. © Photo public domain

NATO Military Dolphins to Roam Black Sea – Media -- RIA Novosti

MOSCOW, April 21 (RIA Novosti) – US military-trained dolphins and sea lions will participate in upcoming NATO military exercises in the Black Sea, the Russian Izvestiya newspaper reported Monday.

The paper, citing a spokesman for the US Navy’s marine mammals program, said some 20 dolphins and 10 sea lions will participate in exercises.

The exercises will test new equipment designed to "disorient enemy sonars, while sea lions and dolphins are looking for mines and military divers," the newspaper wrote.

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More News On NATO Exercises To be Conducted In The Black Sea Using Dolphins

US Navy to deploy combat dolphins for Black Sea military drills – report -- RT
Dolphins 'to Take Part' in NATO Black Sea Drills - Report -- Novinite
US, Russian military dolphins may face off in Black Sea -- News.com.au
US Military Dolphins to Participate in Black Sea Nato Drill -- IBTimes
Russian and American Military Dolphins Might Face Off This Summer -- Government Executive
Will U.S. and Russian Dolphins Face Off? No Way, Navy Says -- NBC

Ukraine's Military Dolphins Have Defected To The Russian Navy

Defecting: The Ukrainian army's dolphins, trained to hunt for mines, plant bombs and attack enemy divers, will be transferred to the Russian Navy. Daily Mail

Crimean Military Dolphins To Serve in Russian Navy -- RIA Novosti

SEVASTOPOL, March 26 (RIA Novosti) - The combat dolphin program in the Crimean city of Sevastopol will be preserved and redirected towards the interests of the Russian Navy, an employee at the facility where the dolphins are trained told RIA Novosti.

The program, dating to the 1960s, was previously scheduled to be disbanded by the Ukrainian navy in April, but the facility and the dolphins themselves have now become Russian following the reunification of Crimea with Russia last week.

"The oceanarium's engineers are developing new instruments for new applications to boost the operational efficiency of the dolphins underwater," the employee said, requesting anonymity. The employee added the animals are currently outfitted with extremely outdated equipment.

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More News On Ukraine's Military Dolphins Now Being A Part of The Russian Navy

Russian Navy takes over dolphin combat unit from Ukraine -- UPI
Ukraine’s secret unit of spy DOLPHINS that can plant bombs and attack divers with guns have defected to Russia -- Daily Mail
Russia Even Hijacks Ukraine’s Navy Dolphins -- ABC News
The Russian Navy Now Controls Ukraine's Combat Dolphin Program -- Business Insider
Ukraine's spy dolphins switch allegiance to Russia -- The Telegraph
Russia Stole Ukraine's Killer Dolphin Army -- The Wire
Russia commandeers Ukraine’s combat dolphins -- New York Post
Ukraine’s Combat Dolphins Are Now Russia’s Combat Dolphins -- Slate
Even Crimea's Dolphins Join Russian Forces, State Media Says -- Huffington Post

Are Dolphins Math Geniuses?

Dolphins May Be Maths Geniuses -- ABC News (Australia)

Dolphins may use complex nonlinear maths when hunting, according to a new study that suggests they could be far more skilled than was ever thought possible before.

Inspiration for the new study, published in the latest Proceedings of the Royal Society A, came after lead author Tim Leighton watched an episode of the Discovery Channel's Blue Planet series and saw dolphins blowing multiple tiny bubbles around prey as they hunted.

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My Comment: They have been around longer than modern man .... it looks like they have their act together.

Will Humans Communicate With Dolphions One Day?

Could we someday be able to talk to dolphins? Here, Beau Richter monitors the breath-holding capability of Puka, a bottlenose dolphin at UC Santa Cruz's Long Marine Laboratory. T. M. Williams/UCSC

Device May Let Humans Communicate With Dolphins -- Discovery News

A prototype dolphin speaker projects the full range of all dolphin-made sounds.

* Dolphins communicate in sounds beyond our realm of perception.
* A new device can project the wide range of sounds that dolphin used.
* The hope is one day it may be used to communicate with the smart animals.

A new dolphin speaker device could one day help us talk with these remarkably intelligent life forms, scientists say.

Dolphins live in a world of sound far beyond our own. They can distinguish very small differences in the frequency or pitch of sound waves, and can hear and generate low-frequency sounds below 20 kilohertz that lie within human capabilities, as well as high-frequency sounds of up to more than 150 kilohertz, well beyond the range of our hearing. In addition, dolphins not only can produce tones just as humans do, but they can also communicate at a variety of frequencies simultaneously. With whistles, burst-pulse sounds and clicks, dolphins use sound not only to communicate and to scan their surroundings and prey in the dark sea (called echolocation).

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My Comment: The day that such a communication is achieved ..... that will be an incredible day.

Do Dolphins 'Resort To Rape'?

Two bottlenose dolphins breaching in evening light, Moray Firth, Inverness-shire, Scotland. The study found dolphins lived in an "open society". Photo: John MacPherson/2020VISION / Rex Features

Dolphins 'Resort To Rape' -- The Telegraph

Dolphins appear to have a darker side, according to scientists who suggest they can resort to 'rape' to assert authority.

Researchers found the marine mammals lead complex social lives, living in an "open society" where regular homosexual and bisexual relationships are found.

The conclusions from the international team of scientists came after they spent the past six years studying the behaviour of 120 bluenose dolphins in Shark Bay, Western Australia.

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My Comment: Hmmm .... they are acting like humans.

Dolphin's Social Lives More Complicated Than First Thought

Dolphins Lead ‘Complicated’ Social Lives -- ABC News

In what can only be described as “West Side Story” meets “Flipper,” scientists say they’ve discovered that male bottlenose dolphins break out into gangs to protect their females.

The researchers from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, studied more than 120 adult dolphins, with a focus on the males, during a five-year period in Shark Bay, western Australia.

Their findings were published in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B.

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My Comment: It sounds like they are in conflict almost all of the time.

A Bill Of Rights For Dolphins?

Flippin' heck: A coalition of scientists are calling for a bill of rights to protect dolphins like bottlenose Fungie who loves to entertain sightseers in boats in Dingle, Ireland

A Bill Of Rights For Dolphins: They're So Smart We Must Treat Them As 'Non Human Persons' Say Scientists -- Daily Mail

Dolphins are so intelligent that they should be thought of as ‘non-human persons’ and given their own bill of rights, it is claimed.

A coalition of scientists, philosophers and animal welfare groups have come up with a declaration of dolphin rights which they hope will one day be enshrined in law.

This would stop them being kept in zoos and waterparks, and being attacked by fishermen.

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My Comment: One can also make the case for whales.

Californian Dolphin Gang Caught Killing Porpoises

Photo: Frustrated youth (Image: Mark P. Cotter)

From New Scientist:

SEEMINGLY random acts of violence by bottlenose dolphins on porpoises could be down to sexual frustration among young males.

Cases of the cetaceans killing other creatures for no apparent reason have been reported in UK waters. Now bottlenose dolphins have been seen attacking harbour porpoises in the Pacific Ocean. Crucially, these observations show for the first time that the attackers are young males (Marine Mammal Science, DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2011.00474.x).

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Dolphin Species Attempt 'Common Language'

A Guyana dolphin leaps to escape the attention of a bottlenose dolphin

From The BBC:

When two dolphin species come together, they attempt to find a common language, preliminary research suggests.

Bottlenose and Guyana dolphins, two distantly related species, often come together to socialise in waters off the coast of Costa Rica.

Both species make unique sounds, but when they gather, they change the way they communicate, and begin using an intermediate language.

That raises the possibility the two species are communicating in some way.

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Free Flipper! Argues Scientist

Studies show how dolphins have distinct personalities, a strong sense of self and can think about the future. Photo: JASON HELLER / BARCROFT MEDIA

From The Telegraph:

Dolphins should be treated as “non-human persons” and merit special rights above other animals because they are so bright, scientists claim.

Researchers argue that it is morally unacceptable to keep such intelligent animals in captivity or to kill them for food.

Dolphins have long been recognised as among the most intelligent of animals but many researchers had placed them below chimps, which some studies have found can reach the intelligence levels of three-year-old children.

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Killer Dolphins Baffle Marine Experts

From The Telegraph:

It's hard to visualise but the intelligent and ever-friendly dolphin can also be a determined killer.

• Orca whales hunt eider ducks for practice
• 'Tougher laws' to protect friendly dolphins
• Shark pictures show amazing killing display

New evidence has been compiled by marine scientists that prove the normally placid dolphin is capable of brutal attacks both on innocent fellow marine mammals and, more disturbingly, on its own kind.

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