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

Kamikaze Dolphins

There's a blame game happening in the story from about three weeks ago regarding 152 dolphins that washed up on Iran shores dead. First it was stated it was a mass suicide among the dolphins. Then the blame was shifted to the fishermen, who allegedly beat the dolphins to death with grappling irons after the dolphins got caught in their nets. Finally, the blame was then put on the United States Military for their use of spying surveillance equipment, which, to put it simply, mess with the sonar capabilities of dolphins and other marine mammals.

Excerpt from the article:

However, Mr Nezami blamed more sinister factors, telling Iranian journalists: "As these dolphins are not among the species normally found in the surrounding Persian Gulf and Oman Sea, probably the Americans - for tracking purposes - have brought them to carry out laboratory works in the Gulf region. This group of dolphins have not been able to tolerate the tests. The likely reason for these deaths is water pollution, the spreading of electro-magnetic waves by military ships or a kind of virus disease."

The explanation was dismissed by environmental experts after tissue examinations showed no sign of poisoning or pollution. The environmental protection agency found bruising on some corpses, arousing suspicion that the dolphins had suffered violent blows. It has formed an inquiry committee consisting of officials from the oil ministry, the state-run shipping organisation and Tehran University's veterinary medicine faculty.

Read more here: Suicide or Murder? Iran blames U.S. after 152 Dolphins die It's interesting to note that about 7 years ago, an article came out about how dolphins are trained to kill for the Soviets, and then were sold to Iran.

Excerpt from article:

The animals were trained to attack enemy frogmen with harpoons attached to their backs, or to drag them to the surface to be taken into captivity.

They could also undertake kamikaze strikes against enemy shipping carrying mines that would explode a ship on contact with its hull.

The dolphins could allegedly distinguish foreign and Soviet submarines by the sound of their propeller.

According to research by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, numerous ex-Soviet military dolphins have been sold to aquariums around the world.

Many have been kept in poor conditions on arrival, and others have died en route.

Kamikaze Dolphins

I find it rather hysterical that the USA had raised objections on the sale of these dolphins to Iran for these purposes. It's been well documented that the military has used these, and other mammals, for their own warmongering purposes.

Wikipedia has information on "Military Dolphins" and personally, I find it abhorrent that any country on this planet would do such a thing.

I know, I know ... people use dogs for the military, drug sniffing, search & rescue operations, etc. People use horses (or used to) in wars, etc etc.

Doesn't mean I have to like it or agree with it. Utilizing animals to help humanity is one thing. Utilizing animals to help kill other people is quite another.

Send humans to be kamikazes. Seriously. If people are insane enough to go into war, then they're insane enough to blow themselves up all by themselves.

Last but not least, the US Navy was recently told to reduce sonar effects on marine life.

The Navy says, "With more nations, including China, acquiring quiet, hard-to-detect submarines, the Navy says training sailors in the use of high intensity sonar is a priority."

I disagree. Research on the effect of sonar on our marine life includes, but is not limited to, brain damage and bleeding in the brains and out the ears.

War is inhumane, no matter how you slice it. But if the nations of the world really feel the need to quietly blow each other up, then use human subjects. Once someone has bleeding out their ears happen, perhaps then they'll see just how inhumane these so-called military tests are.

Just sayin'

Mahalo,

Dolphin