烏克蘭海軍為戰爭訓練海豚

Killer dolphins with knives and pistols attached to their heads might sound crazy, but thats reportedly what one countrys navy is exploring.

According to RIA Novosti, the Ukrainian navy has restarted special training for dolphins and other animals for military duties including attacking enemy combat swimmers and detecting mines.

While the idea of 1)militarized dolphins sounds a bit out there, theres actually a history behind it.

According to PBS, the United States began using 2)tactically trained marine 3)mammals in the 1960s, and the Soviet Union started training sea creatures in the 1970s. The U.S. program reached its peak during the Cold War, when it had “over 100 dolphins, as well as numerous sea lions and 4)beluga whales, and an operating budget of$8 million.”

And CBS News reports theyre still 5)seeing action. “In the early days of the Iraq war, Navy dolphins were deployed to clear mines from the port of 6)Umm Qasr.”

Despite the history of such programs, only the U.S. and Ukraine have trained dolphins for those roles. A blogger for WIRED believes theres a reason more countries dont have similar programs.

“Theres a big risk in arming dolphins, as they could easily become a danger to your own side. Since dolphins cannot discern the difference between enemy and friendly vessels, or enemy and friendly divers and swimmers, it would not be wise to give that kind of decision authority to an animal.”

The Ukrainian dolphin base 7)allegedly has carried out several exercises with the dolphins in finding underwater weapons.

把海豚打造成殺手——將刀和手槍綁在它們頭上——這聽起來挺不可思議，但據說有一個國家的海軍正在探尋這樣的方式。

根據俄羅斯國際新聞通訊社報道，烏克蘭海軍重啟海豚以及其他動物特殊訓練計劃，讓它們執行軍事任務，包括攻擊敵方蛙人以及探測魚雷。

這個海豚軍事化訓練計劃聽起來有點不靠譜，但事實上，這背后還有一段歷史。

根據美國公共廣播公司網站上的資料，早在上世紀六十年代，美國就開始了對海洋哺乳動物進行戰術訓練，而蘇聯則在上世紀七十年代開始對海洋動物進行訓練。美國該項計劃在冷戰時期達到頂峰，當時，“超過100頭海豚，無數頭海獅和白鯨包括在內，執行費用高達8百萬美元之多”。

哥倫比亞廣播公司新聞報道，受過訓的海洋動物如今仍然參加戰斗，“伊拉克戰爭早期，海軍海豚被部署到烏姆蓋斯爾港口進行排雷行動。”

盡管這樣的訓練計劃早有先例，但也只是美國和烏克蘭訓練海豚作軍事用途。一位連線網站的博客主相信，有個重要原因促使更多國家不這么做。

“把海豚武裝起來其實有相當大的風險，因為它們很容易就成為我方的危險。因為海豚不能辨別敵方和我方船只，敵方或是我方的潛水人和蛙人，因此把決定權交給海豚是不明智的。”

據稱，烏克蘭的海豚基地已經在好幾次演習中利用海豚找尋海底武器了。