From: "Mark" 

Way too complicated and far off Rich, it'll be Castro's fault 

"Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
news:43374912$1{at}w3.nls.net...
> Ands if they train free dolphins we could have an armed ( flippered? )
> rebellion in the Gulf.  Although Bush will proclain that US dolphins
> aren't responsible - It's those outsider dolphins from the Indian Ocean
> that are the culprits 
>
>
> "Mark"  wrote in message
news:4337448e{at}w3.nls.net...
>> Finally, I know what the big deal is on the dolphins in the news all the
>> time! I had been thinking, so what?, they're out in their natural
>> environment again...
>>
>> Now I know, hapless snorkeling fools off the coast of Sanibel Island may
>> just get taken out, instead of taking out shells. 
>>
>> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
>> news:43373bbf{at}w3.nls.net...
>>> Think Flipper will have a wanted poster hung in the Post Office?
>>>
>>>
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1577753,00.html
>>>
>>> Armed and dangerous - Flipper the firing dolphin let loose by Katrina
>>>
>>> by Mark Townsend Houston
>>> Sunday September 25, 2005
>>> The Observer
>>>
>>>
>>> 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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