Kelly the Dolphin: armed and dangerous?

The Guardian Unlimited ran a story on September 25 about armed dolphins having escaped from US Naval facilities during Hurricane Katrina. The article explains the dolphins have been trained to shoot toxic darts at terrorists and spies using a specially designed harness and could prove extremely dangerous to surfers, divers and windsurfers should they be mistaken for terrorists by the dolphins. It went on to state, “The US Navy admits it has been training dolphins for military purposes, but has refused to confirm that any are missing.” It’s a great yarn and it really got us going, until we checked with the US Navy’s press office and found the following press release had been issued on September 17, eight days prior to the Guardian's article. It reads, “Kelly the dolphin is placed in a temporary saltwater pool in a facility at Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport. Kelly has spent the last two and a half weeks in the Gulf of Mexico with four other dolphins who escaped when Hurricane Katrina destroyed their home at the Marine Life Oceanarium in Gulfport.” The press release continues ...

“The aboveground pool, along with other necessary filtration equipment needed to care for sea mammals, was provided by U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program personnel from San Diego, Calif. Department of Defense units are mobilized as part of Joint Task Force Katrina to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster-relief efforts in the Gulf Coast areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina.”

The photo is the work of Petty Officer 3rd Class Chris Gethings, U.S. Navy.

And we suspect that surfers and divers and other aquatic users are probably safe to go back in the water now.