A pod of dolphins swims in the Black Sea
Western media reported last year that Russian forces were using military-trained dolphins to protect their naval base in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, a measure seen as a deterrent to Ukrainian underwater activities aimed at sabotaging Russian ships.
Satellite imagery at the time, provided by Maxar Technologies, showed two cages containing the "military" dolphins.
But in a new analysis published in Naval News , the official newspaper of the British Royal Navy, author HI Sutton said the number of dolphins trained in the port of Sevastopol has recently doubled, from three or four to six or seven. Mr. Sutton is an expert on submarines and underwater systems and technology.
The increase in dolphin numbers comes after a number of drone attacks on Russian vessels in the area, as Ukraine launches its long-awaited counter-offensive.
Sevastopol is a major port and headquarters of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet. The city lies at the southern tip of the Crimean peninsula, which Russia unilaterally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
The dolphins were trained to defend against Ukrainian special forces divers if they tried to infiltrate the base. Sutton said the dolphins had an “inherent advantage” because “nobody can swim faster than a dolphin”. Dolphins can reach speeds of up to 60km/h.
According to the United States Naval Institute (USNI), the Russian military has operated a marine mammal training program in Sevastopol since the Cold War.
The animals in the program, which include dolphins and beluga whales, are trained to detect combat swimmers, as well as detect mines, according to Mr. Sutton.
"Our specialists have developed new devices so that each time a dolphin detects an underwater target, it turns into a signal sent to the operator's display," a source told Russia's RIA Novosti news agency last year.
The US Navy, as well as Sweden, and possibly Israel and North Korea, have also trained marine animals for military service, according to Business Insider .
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