Amid continued concerns over Iranian mines disrupting the shipping operations in the Strait of Hormuz, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth fielded questions on whether Tehran might turn to “dolphins” to confront the US Navy in the ongoing war in the Middle East. The idea isn’t very far-fetched, it seems, as several nations, including the United States, have reportedly used “kamikaze dolphins” in conflict areas in the past– though not as weapons.
Hegseth, however, dismissed the idea, saying he could “confirm” that Iran didn’t have dolphins to deploy as part of operations but said he would neither “confirm nor deny” whether the US had kamikaze dolphins.
“I cannot confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins, but I can confirm they don’t,” he said at the briefing, responding to news reports about the possibility.
The idea was first reported by the Wall Street Journal on April 30, with an article claiming that Iranian officials had said Iran could use “mine-carrying dolphins” to attack US warships. It is not clear whether Iran has that capability.
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The US Navy, on the other hand, has a decades-old programme to train dolphins to detect mines. The US Marine Mammal Program is part of the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Department within the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific. But the dolphins trained by the US are not kamikaze dolphins, meaning they do not sacrifice their lives to detonate mines. Instead, they’re focused on detection.
However, citing a source, CNN reported that the US military isn’t using dolphins as part of its efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
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The Dolphin Warfare
The United States is not the only nation that uses sea mammals for military purposes. In the past, Russia has used dolphins to guard ports.
According to a BBC report, Iran also purchased dolphins in 2000. But those dolphins would most probably be too old to be used currently. Moreover, there is no indication that Tehran has any active dolphin programme.
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The US Navy’s own dolphin programme has been active since 1959. Under the programme, bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions are trained to detect and recover objects underwater. According to the website of the Marine Mammal Program, dolphins “possess the most sophisticated sonar known to science.”
It says the underwater drones are “no match for the animals.”
“Both dolphins and sea lions have excellent low-light vision and underwater directional hearing that allow them to detect and track undersea targets, even in dark or murky waters… Dolphins are trained to search for and mark the location of undersea mines that could threaten the safety of those on board military or civilian ships,” the website says.