I had seen fictional films about trained dolphins used for war, but never thought those stories wre real.
Well, I was wrong.
StrategyPage has an essay on using dolphins and seals, not for suicide missions (as usually implied by the fictional movies) but to tow ropes or find stuff in the ocean, like mines, something that trained animals, usually dogs, do above ground.
it took four decades of trial and error for the navy to determine how its dolphins could perform certain military functions like finding mines close to shore...
The human handlers finally found a way to teach the dolphins how to find mines and report what they have found. The dolphins are rewarded with food and affection. Although the navy still classifies the program as "experimental," recent exercises using the dolphins shows that the sea mammals are ready for prime time.
Here is a video about the program.
....
by the way: The SP article also discusses military dogs, who are used not just for guard duty but to detect mines etc.
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