Armed and dangerous - Flipper the firing dolphin

Conspiracy Theorist

Dolphins armed with toxic darts—escapees from covert military training ponds near Lake Pontchartrain —are roaming the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and they might be looking to harm swimmers they mistake for terrorists. An article in the British newspaper the Observer attributes this information to Leo Sheridan, “a respected accident investigator who has worked for government and industry.” But a review of other articles based on Sheridan’s claims—many of them in the Observer—show that Sheridan has a history of promoting unlikely conspiracy theories. MORE:>>

Armed and dangerous - Flipper the firing dolphin let loose by Katrina

by Mark Townsend Houston
Sunday September 25, 2005
The Observer
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1577753,00.html

It may be the oddest tale to emerge from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico.

Experts who have studied the US navy's cetacean training exercises claim the 36 mammals could be carrying 'toxic dart' guns. Divers and surfers risk attack, they claim, from a species considered to be among the planet's smartest. The US navy admits it has been training dolphins for military purposes, but has refused to confirm that any are missing.

Dolphins have been trained in attack-and-kill missions since the Cold War. The US Atlantic bottlenose dolphins have apparently been taught to shoot terrorists attacking military vessels. Their coastal compound was breached during the storm, sweeping them out to sea. But those who have studied the controversial use of dolphins in the US defence programme claim it is vital they are caught quickly.

Leo Sheridan, 72, a respected accident investigator who has worked for government and industry, said he had received intelligence from sources close to the US government's marine fisheries service confirming dolphins had escaped.

'My concern is that they have learnt to shoot at divers in wetsuits who have simulated terrorists in exercises. If divers or windsurfers are mistaken for a spy or suicide bomber and if equipped with special harnesses carrying toxic darts, they could fire,' he said. 'The darts are designed to put the target to sleep so they can be interrogated later, but what happens if the victim is not found for hours?'

Usually dolphins were controlled via signals transmitted through a neck harness. 'The question is, were these dolphins made secure before Katrina struck?' said Sheridan.

The mystery surfaced when a separate group of dolphins was washed from a commercial oceanarium on the Mississippi coast during Katrina. Eight were found with the navy's help, but the dolphins were not returned until US navy scientists had examined them.

Sheridan is convinced the scientists were keen to ensure the dolphins were not the navy's, understood to be kept in training ponds in a sound in Louisiana, close to Lake Pontchartrain, whose waters devastated New Orleans.

The navy launched the classified Cetacean Intelligence Mission in San Diego in 1989, where dolphins, fitted with harnesses and small electrodes planted under their skin, were taught to patrol and protect Trident submarines in harbour and stationary warships at sea.

Criticism from animal rights groups ensured the use of dolphins became more secretive. But the project gained impetus after the Yemen terror attack on the USS Cole in 2000. Dolphins have also been used to detect mines near an Iraqi port.
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Flipper the firing dolphin
World Magazine Blog, IL - Sep 26, 2005
Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico because of Hurricane Katrina ...
MORE:>>

Flipper the firing dolphin

Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico because of Hurricane Katrina, says one British newspaper. The US navy admits it has been training dolphins for military purposes since the Cold War but have refused to confirm that any of the are missing. The underwater warriors are reportedly equipped with special harnesses carrying toxic darts and trained to shoot at divers in wetsuits who have simulated terrorists in exercises. But the dolphins could fire on divers or windsurfers who are mistaken for spies or suicide bombers, says accident investigator Leo Sheridan: “The darts are designed to put the target to sleep so they can be interrogated later, but what happens if the victim is not found for hours?”

Update: Gelf Magazine did some investigating into into the story and found that the man who proposed the theory, Leo Sheridan--described in the story as "a respected accident investigator who has worked for government and industry"--has a history of peddling conspiracy theories.
Posted by Joe Carter at September 26, 2005 01:29 PM
http://www.worldmagblog.com/blog/archives/018583.html