Dolphins in War

(Artist credit: catrina330 @ Deviant Art)

When I think of dolphins these words come to my mind: love, joy, harmony, playful, spiritual, etc.  So to hear about them being used in war or military actions goes very much against what not just I, but most people think of when it comes to dolphins.

the US Navy has trained about 80 dolphins to detect mines. Some reports say that the dolphins only locate the mines and drop acoustic transponders nearby, so that humans can destroy the mines, but it is also possible for the dolphins to set off the mines and die in the resulting explosion, and, of course, using the dolphins in this way makes them – and any other dolphins in the area – targets for the Iranians to destroy if they can. ~ Peter Singer, The Guardian UK ~

Please read this excellent commentary here:  Dolphins Have No Part in Dispute with Iran

I realize there are arguments to be made for dogs being used as explosive sniffers and historically, horses have been used in wars, as a couple of examples.  But with today's technology, as imperfect as it may be, it's my personal opinion that animals simply should not be sacrificed just so that certain governments and war mongers can satisfy their primal needs and greed.

Shame on the United States Navy for their role in this.  Sending in the dolphins to do a "man's" job is just plain pathetic and cowardly.  If you're foaming at the mouth for war, then do it your damn selves.



 Down near the bottom of the world, things have been getting violent between the Japan whalers and the Sea Shepherd activists.  Apparently some of the Japan whalers decided it made perfect humane sense to use hooks to get the S. Shepherd activists to back off.  Consequently, three were injured.

As usual, there are two differing accounts of the incident by SSCS and ICR.  I'm more inclined to believe the SSCS activists than the whalers.  Mainly because based on the information provided publicly, the whalers stated they were only trying to push the boats back, not hurt anyone.  Well if that's the case, then why not use something that won't cut some one's face or risk ripping the boat which could then result in the people ending up in the water and possibly dying?

Yeah, using grappling hooks makes a LOT of sense.

One article of many here:  Activists injured by whalers

This is an interesting and thought provoking article:  Who are the Outlaw Heroes?

Excerpt:

Acting outside the law for the greater good is always dangerous practice, but where the public and media believe that we can pick and choose our outlaws based on how they look and whether their ideal is government transparency or saving marine mammals, it becomes even more of a lottery.

While I'm no advocate of violence as an ends to justify the means, I have to say that with the way most governments these days are run in addition to how controlled the mainstream media is, I'm more inclined to support some actions against the law and/or the governments in order to bring about change for the greater good.


On a side note, yesterday's SOPA / PIPA internet blackout / protest garnered not only international attention, but appears to have been instrumental in influencing certain politicians to either backtrack on their support or drop it altogether.   One summary here:  SOPA-PIPA Protest What's Next?


As Margaret Mead once said: "Never underestimate the power of a small group of people to change the world.  In fact, it is the only thing that ever has."  

Indeed, my friends, indeed.

Mahalo,


Dolphin