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Dolphins that can detect mines buried on the seafloor. Sea lions trained to cuff the leg of a waterborne saboteur. It sounds like the stuff of a James Bond film, or at least Austin Powers.
It's actually the culmination of more than 40 years of U.S. Navy research that will be showcased today as part of a statewide exercise simulating suspected terrorist attacks on ports. Federal officials are seeing how the specially trained sea mammals, previously used almost exclusively for military operations, could be employed to help thwart a domestic terror attack.
"We are really putting our first foot forward in developing relationships with Homeland Security," said Fred Jolly, who manages the team of animal handlers from the Navy Marine Mammal Program that came to San Francisco. "We are really at the forefront on what we can do domestically."
Look for the Atlantic bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions to steal the show during the three-day simulation that will have hundreds of state, local and federal officials practicing their disaster response.
Details of this year's scenario have not been released, but it will include a diver playing a saboteur attaching a fake limpet mine on a pier near AT&T Park, said Tom LaPuzza, spokesman for the Navy Marine Mammal Program.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...#ixzz0oJxue9nF
Dolphins that can detect mines buried on the seafloor. Sea lions trained to cuff the leg of a waterborne saboteur. It sounds like the stuff of a James Bond film, or at least Austin Powers.
It's actually the culmination of more than 40 years of U.S. Navy research that will be showcased today as part of a statewide exercise simulating suspected terrorist attacks on ports. Federal officials are seeing how the specially trained sea mammals, previously used almost exclusively for military operations, could be employed to help thwart a domestic terror attack.
"We are really putting our first foot forward in developing relationships with Homeland Security," said Fred Jolly, who manages the team of animal handlers from the Navy Marine Mammal Program that came to San Francisco. "We are really at the forefront on what we can do domestically."
Look for the Atlantic bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions to steal the show during the three-day simulation that will have hundreds of state, local and federal officials practicing their disaster response.
Details of this year's scenario have not been released, but it will include a diver playing a saboteur attaching a fake limpet mine on a pier near AT&T Park, said Tom LaPuzza, spokesman for the Navy Marine Mammal Program.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...#ixzz0oJxue9nF
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