Can dolphins accidentally detonate naval mines?

Question

According to animal rights activists, U.S. Navy's usage of dolphins to locate naval mines is questionable, as they may cause mine to explode:

The ethics behind using these mammals during war is still in question though, as they are reportedly large enough to set off an active mine.

source: Digital Journal "U.S. Navy to use dolphins against Iran"

I find it hard to believe, as naval mines are specifically designed to explode under big targets, often of very specific signature.

Is there any truth in animal rights activists' claims?

I know some mines are only triggered with electromagnetic detectors those won't be triggered by marine life — ratchet freak, Jan 17 '12 at 15:16
well, I know that the most modern mines are acoustic, but still there are older/simpler/cheaper magnetic and pressure activated ones. I don't have doubts about magnetic ones, but not sure about pressure activated ones. — vartec, Jan 17 '12 at 16:02
There also exist (or have existed) pressure triggered and impact triggered mines. — dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten, Jan 17 '12 at 18:45
If large sea mammals and fish can detonate (some subclass of) mines, surely it is irrelevant whether they are used to *place* the mines. The ethical question should be about whether the mines should be used at all in a wild environment where they could be triggered accidentally. But, the same applies to land mines, land animals, children and other civilians. Pretty soon you are left wondering if *any* mines are ethically sound! Where would THAT line of unpatriotic thought lead?! — Oddthinking, Jan 17 '12 at 22:00
As intelligent as we know dolphins to be, I'm sure they're intentionally detonating the mines, as an act of self-sacrifice to protect their less-intelligent neighbors, the humans, or perhaps as a gesture of gratitude for all the fish. — Flimzy, Jan 17 '12 at 23:03
@Oddthinking Unexploded landmines are a _huge_ problem in some places, for example, land mines are still [injuring](http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1070.html) [and](http://www.bhmac.org/en/stream.daenet?kat=19) [killing](http://www.unicef.org/bih/media_6394.html) [people](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_mine_contamination_in_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 17 years later. — Sam I Am, Jan 18 '12 at 02:39
@SamIAm, yes. I should have marked-up the last sentence with a sarcasm font. Given mines cause so much devastation to innocent human lives, it seems petty to argue that dolphins' lives shouldn't be risked due to accidentally detonation. Surely it is a stronger position to argue that HUMAN lives shouldn't be risked, and mines should not be deployed at all. (Another stronger argument: Forget the individual trained dolphin; what about all the sea-life killed when the mines function as intended?) — Oddthinking, Jan 18 '12 at 05:41
acoustic mines work by matching the sound signature of a passing ship with a database of known signatures of enemy vessels, not by detonating (except maybe the crudest ones) whenever a loud sound is heard. — jwenting, Jan 18 '12 at 07:10
@Oddthinking: but anyway question is, if there is any truth in claim that they actually can cause any detonation at all. It's beyond obvious, that they cannot detonate acoustic nor magnetic mines. — vartec, Jan 18 '12 at 11:24
@vartec - I do not know if this is answerable. Just because we do not have the specs of any mine that would detonate does not mean that there are no mines intended to be used to discourage/destroy small craft used as infiltration devices. I suspect there are such mines used to "protect" small harbors/ vulerable entryways and rivers during war time. — Chad, Jan 18 '12 at 14:40
@oddthinking - There is nothing civilized about warfare. It is about death, destruction, and terror. At least humans can understand and communicate the danger with each other. Though the dolphins that are trained to deal with them are at less of a danger than those who want to play with the devices not knowing the truth. — Chad, Jan 18 '12 at 14:43
@Chad: if there would be any such reported incidents, that would be very clear answer. — vartec, Jan 18 '12 at 15:09
@vartec: Absolutely, the question is about the second clause in the quote, and it seems fine to me. I was being distracted by the first clause of the quote. — Oddthinking, Jan 18 '12 at 16:37
@Oddthinking, I was just agreeing with you and pointing out an example of a known mine problem. — Sam I Am, Jan 18 '12 at 18:32

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 18 '12 at 15:41

In Vietnam it the rivers were mined to prevent the safe passage of forces opposed to Ho Chi Minh. There were forces with the primary duty to clear these mines.

Mine clearance forces also were essential to the security of Vietnam's waterways. Nowhere was this more crucial than on the rivers near Saigon, the country's most vital port. Viet Cong mining of the main shipping channel, the Long Tau River, which wound its way through the Rung Sat Special Zone south of the capital, could have had a devastating effect on the war effort.

In addition the US used mines to prevent the VC from using the waterways.

This site has a listing of different munitions and this PDF has better specs on weapons deployed in Iraq. A contact mine does not care what contacts it but generally requires the contact have enough force to prevent accidental detonation from wave action or debris.

This US Navy Marine Mammal site claims:

Sea mines are made so that they cannot be set off easily by wave action or marine animals growing on or bumping into them.

However the UK Naval Mine Countermeasures site indicates that WWI Era Mines were more volatile. It also indicates that devices similar to the WWI designs have been used as recently as 1980 during the Iran-Iraq war, and that its forces are still called to deal with legacy WWI and WWII devices.

So the devices being deployed today are designed not to detonate due to contact with sea life. Their are older devices still found (though rarely now) that are not discriminant.

Can dolphins accidentally detonate naval mines?

1 Answers1