Trained Dolphins Are Now Patrolling Russia's Black Sea Naval Base: Report

Russia has reportedly deployed trained dolphins at Sevastopol harbor to protect its Black Sea naval base in the event of a Ukraine invasion. Satellite images from the site prove that two dolphin pens were moved to the entrance of the harbor in February.

The pens have been sheltered just inside a sea wall, and the animals may be tasked with counter-diver operations, reported USNI News. The report by defense analyst H I Sutton added that the animals could be used to prevent Ukrainian special operations forces from infiltrating the harbor underwater to sabotage warships.

The Sevastopol naval base, located at the Southern tip of Crimea, is home to the Black Sea Fleet, and many of the high-value Russian ships are currently anchored there, as evident from the satellite images. Though they are out of range from missiles, they are potentially vulnerable to undersea attacks.

Using trained dolphins for military purposes is nothing new, and both the U.S. and Russia have trained mammals for counter-diver operations before.

The Soviet Navy had conducted several marine mammal programs, including dolphin training, in the Black Sea during the Cold War. Then, the unit was based at Kazachya Bukhta near Sevastopol.

The unit later became a part of Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Though Ukraine tried to expand the program, Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, and the unit fell into Russian hands.

Though reports claim that Ukraine demanded the animals back, Moscow paid no heed and instead focused on expanding the scheme. "Our specialists developed new devices that convert dolphins’ underwater sonar detection of targets into a signal to the operator’s monitor. The Ukrainian navy lacked funds for such know-how, and some projects had to be mothballed," a Russian source was quoted by The Guardian.

Although details are not available, it is believed that the dolphins now housed in the pen at Sevastopol were those purchased by the Russian Navy in 2016.

Not just for the Black Sea Fleet, the Arctic unit of the Russian Navy too had mammals for military purposes. Satellite images had revealed that Beluga whale pens existed at Olenya Guba, a secretive naval base that carries out undersea espionage. Besides, a trained beluga whale, wearing a tight harness for external equipment, turned up in northern Norway on April 23, 2019. The animal was nicknamed "Hvaldimir" by the locals and was believed that this whale escaped from the Russian Navy program.