Marine Mammals Could Disrupt Terror Plots

The director of Russia’s Murmansk Marine Biology Institute says marine mammals have been useful in disrupting terror operations.

Gennady Matishov told the Interfax news agency that experts at his institute have been studying marine mammals in military operations since 1984. He said dolphins and other cetaceans were especially useful in protecting strategic installations, using their sonar abilities.

In our opinion, the use of marine mammals is a very promising aspect of programs to enhance the protection of coastal installation from terror attacks and in monitoring the underwater situation, he said. Marine animals possess a unique ability to locate underwater biological and technical objects in the environment of natural and artificial noises, and in conditions of complex seabed features.

Dolphins were reportedly employed for the first time to protect the U.S. 7th Fleet during the Vietnam War. Dolphins and sea lions were also used in U.S. Navy operations in the Persian Gulf during the 1990s, Interfax reported.

We have developed the most advanced methods of using these animals for protecting submarine bases and preventing terror attacks, Matishov told Interfax. There are no services of this kind anywhere else in Russia.