US Navy Dolphins Find Mines, Sea Lions Recover Underwater Gear

San Diego, United States – Navy trainers showed how dolphins find and mark undersea mines and how sea lions recover objects from the sea floor during a public demonstration on Broadway Pier at Fleet Week San Diego on Tuesday, November 10.

Footage released by the U.S. Navy on Wednesday, November 11, shows a dolphin swimming through the bay beside a rigid-hulled inflatable boat as trainers lean over the side, then a sea lion wearing a harness on a workboat next to transport cages as handlers in wetsuits work beside an American flag. Crowds of spectators, including children, watch from the pier, some holding up phones, as a trainer addresses the group. Later shots show the dolphin surfacing next to the boat and the vessel moving across the water.

The Navy's Marine Mammal Program, run by Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific in San Diego, trains bottlenose dolphins to search for and mark undersea mines that electronic sonar can miss, and trains California sea lions to locate Navy equipment on the ocean floor and attach recovery lines. Both also help security personnel detect unauthorized swimmers and divers. The Fleet Week demonstration was part of the event's 25th year, which lets residents and visitors meet Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard teams and see their equipment and capabilities.