Armed and dangerous - Flipper the firing dolphin let loose by Katrina

[TechBear_Seattle]

Too weird, but (sadly) I can believe it. The Guardian, from the UK, is generally reliable.

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.

The full story continues at http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1577753,00.html

[thoughtanarchist]

1. "Is it too much to ask...

for sharks with frickin' lasers on their heads?

someone throw me a frickin' bone here"


-- Dr. Evil

[txindy]

3. That sure does sound like Cheney, doesn't it?

With Mini-Me Junior sitting on his knee. Huh, no wonder he needed surgery on both knees this weekend - Junior's fat head is heavier than his airheadedness implies.

[htuttle]

2. Everybody run! Angry Cetacean with a gun!

"When cometh the day we lowly ones,
Through quiet reflection, and great dedication
Master the art of karate,
Lo, we shall rise up,
And then we’ll make the bugger’s eyes water."
-- Pink Floyd, Sheep

[ET Awful]

4. They call him Flipper, Flipper, Flipper

faster than lightening
No one in the sea
is safe from his killing spree

[meow2u3]

8. They call him Flipper

They call him Flipper, Flipper
faster than lightning
Armed and so frightening
Clear out the sea!

[HereSince1628]

5. Renegade dolphins, welcome to the new American Century

[raccoon]

6. At first I thought this was a joke, The Onion or something.

After reading it, it still boggles my mind.

[papau]

7. Very real - but fewer than 100 are loose - and the harness is a 2 shooter

one dart on each side

So the total persons killed should be under 200.

They started this in 1988 - so can't blame W - we need to blame Reagan/Bush H W.

Meanwhile they said they are trained to attack "terrorists in the water" but did not say how those terrorists were indentified - as being with wet suit or being without, color of skin, color of hair, or whatever.

Indeed they refuse to discuss the project now!

Every day brings more news that our media forgot to tell us about!

SURF'S UP !!!!!

:-)

[soleft]

9. Is this really a legit story?

[Silverhair]

10. Yawn. Dolphins would NOT have been wearing the harnesses.

Contrary to popular DU opinion, the military is NOT stupid. The dolphins would wear the harnesses only for actual missions and for training. And they would wear live ammunition only for real missions.

So the dolphins would not have been armed.

All that has actually happened is the military lost some money and some time with the armed dolphin programs.

[ET Awful]

11. Maybe they were being readied for a New Orleans deployment?

:evilgrin:

[TechBear_Seattle]

12. I don't think anyone said there were armed

Even the article, citing unnamed military "observers", claimed they could be armed.

[Silverhair]

13. Please read the title of the original post. "Armed and Dangerous"

Also, post 7 assumes they are armed with live ammo.

[TechBear_Seattle]

14. Which is the title that the Observer Guardian gave to the article

What, I should post news articles under a different title than the one they were first printed under? That would be a violation of copyright. :eyes: The Guardian also claimed that at least one of the cetaceans was named "Flipper"; I'm sure that was for eye catching effect, too.

As for Papau's post, he only said that the harnasses to which they were trained only held two darts. I don't see anything about them actually being armed (not that Papau would know, regardless of what was written.)

[pitohui]

15. it's a leg pull ya'll

it's a british humor thing, animal stories in the newspaper & dudes wearing curlers and dresses

no one was meant to believe the story

come on