Flipper is armed and dangerous and could be freely roaming in the gulf!

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Flipper is armed and dangerous and could be freely roaming in the gulf!

Posted: 9/26/2005 6:00:43 AM EDT

observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1577753,00.html

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.

Posted: 9/26/2005 6:04:06 AM EDT

[#1]

Posted: 9/26/2005 6:07:27 AM EDT

[#2]

Somebody needs a bigger tinfoil hat.

Posted: 9/26/2005 6:12:09 AM EDT

[#3]

Posted: 9/26/2005 6:13:39 AM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:
Somebody needs a bigger tinfoil hat.

Somone needs to turn their sarcasm meter on

Posted: 9/26/2005 6:16:06 AM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
Somebody needs a bigger tinfoil hat.

Posted: 9/26/2005 6:19:47 AM EDT

[#6]

Posted: 9/26/2005 6:20:11 AM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Somebody needs a bigger tinfoil hat.

img242.imageshack.us/img242/3705/siviakhatsized12li.jpg

Now that's good

Posted: 9/26/2005 6:21:20 AM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Somebody needs a bigger tinfoil hat.

Somone needs to turn their sarcasm meter on

theres no sarcasm in that article. it honestly sounds like something youd read in the weekly world news. i read it last night ans was really wondering how much more sensationalistic the media was going to go. almost every concern in the article is based on completely unconfirmed unlikely possibilities. it is definite tinfoil material.

Posted: 9/26/2005 6:22:44 AM EDT

[#9]

Just when you throught it was safe to go back in the water....

CWO

Posted: 9/26/2005 6:23:07 AM EDT

[#10]

Posted: 9/26/2005 6:23:37 AM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Somebody needs a bigger tinfoil hat.

Somone needs to turn their sarcasm meter on

theres no sarcasm in that article. it honestly sounds like something youd read in the weekly world news. i read it last night ans was really wondering how much more sensationalistic the media was going to go. almost every concern in the article is based on completely unconfirmed unlikely possibilities. it is definite tinfoil material.

No, I realize the article is tinfoil. I thought Spade was referring to me, and I thought that my Dr. Evil pic would have made my sarcasm obvious. Maybe he was referring to the article?

Anyhow, no matter. I still think the story is hilarious..."fricken sharks with laser beams.."

Posted: 9/26/2005 6:26:20 AM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:

members.roadfly.com/agent7/funny/tinfoil_massive.jpg

Posted: 9/26/2005 6:26:49 AM EDT

[#13]

IIRC, the Navy keeps their dolphins in San Diego.

Posted: 9/26/2005 6:28:02 AM EDT

[#14]

Homer

Wait! Stop! We can outsmart those dolphins. Don't
forget, we invented computers, leg warmers, bendy
straws, peel-and-eat shrimp, the glory hole and the
pudding cup. I'm not going to let a bunch of hoop-
jumping tuna-munchers push me around!

I for one welcome our finned overlords.

Posted: 9/26/2005 6:35:32 AM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
IIRC, the Navy keeps their dolphins in San Diego.

Texas.

I can neither confirm nor deny if there are armed aquatic mammals currently loose in the Gulf of Mexico.

Posted: 9/26/2005 7:01:10 AM EDT

[#16]

"Faa loves Bee"
"Faa loves Bee"

George C Scott would get those fuckers under control.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Flipper is armed and dangerous and could be freely roaming in the gulf!

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