Introduction

Animals

Training

Fleet Systems

Mine Hunting

Force Protection

Object Recovery

Fleet Support

Deployments

Marine Mammal Health Care

Research Programs

NMMP FAQs

Calendar Wallpaper

Internship Program

In The News

Organizational Chart

Annotated Bibliography

Enemy sea mines have been responsible for 14 of the 19 Navy ships destroyed or damaged since 1950. That is why the Navy created the mine hunting systems. The mine detection systems are MK 4, MK 7, and MK 8 MMS. In the operation of these systems, a dolphin waits to receive a cue from its handler before it begins to search a specific area using its biological sonar called echolocation. When a dolphin echolocates, it emits a series of clicks that bounce off an object and return to the dolphin, allowing a dolphin to construct a mental image of the object. The dolphin reports back to its handler, giving one response if a target object is detected and a different response if no target object is detected. If a mine-like target is detected, the handler sends the dolphin to mark the location of the object so it can be avoided by Navy vessels or dealt with by Navy divers.

The MK 4 MMS uses dolphins for detecting and/or marking the location of sea mines that are tethered off the ocean bottom. These deep-water mines are easy targets for the dolphin's highly effective echolocation. The MK 4 MMS offers reliable and effective mine detection, classification, and marking capabilities in areas that are highly cluttered or where rough seabed, high marine growth, and other complex acoustic conditions hamper the performance of Navy hardware systems.

Here a MK 4 dolphin attaches a marker to a tethered mine simulator.

In the MK 7 MMS, dolphins are trained to detect and/or mark the location of mines sitting on the ocean bottom or buried in sediment. The dolphins are sent out after the first troops have gone into the area. They help to clear a wider path of safety for additional troops and equipment.

A dolphin works in the open ocean.	Another MK 7 MMS about to place a marker.
MK 7 crew deploys a temporary enclosure to house bottlenose dolphins operating near the USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44) in the Arabian Gulf during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Photo courtesy Navy NewsStand. Search for 'dolphin'.	MK 7 crew push their dive boat off the well deck of the USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44) while transporting a bottlenose dolphin operating in the Arabian Gulf during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Photo courtesy Navy NewsStand. Search for 'dolphin'.
A MK 7 mammal handler sprays water on a bottlenose dolphin before transporting it in the well deck aboard the USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44) in the Arabian Gulf during operation Iraqi Freedom. Photo courtesy Navy NewsStand. Search for 'dolphin'.	A MK 7 mammal handler brushes the teeth of a bottlenose dolphin in the well deck aboard the USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44) operating in the Arabian Gulf during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Photo courtesy Navy NewsStand. Search for 'dolphin'.

MK 8 MMS is a human/dolphin team that allows troops to quickly identify safe corridors for the initial landing of troops ashore. MK 8 MMS operates with a low profile in very shallow water.

A MK 8 dolphin marking a practice target	Another successful mark
Staff Sgt. Justin Roberts escorts a bottlenose dolphin in a rigid hull inflatable boat in the Arabian Gulf during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Photo courtesy Navy NewsStand. Search for 'dolphin'.	A bottlenose dolphin leaps out of the water while training near USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44) in the Arabian Gulf during Operation Iraqi Freedom. It is wearing an acoustic tracking device on its fin. Photo courtesy Navy NewsStand. Search for 'dolphin'.
A bottlenose dolphin is beached up on a transporter mat before going out on a training mission from the well deck of the USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44) operating in the Arabian Gulf during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Photo courtesy Navy NewsStand. Search for 'dolphin'.	The Honorable Richard H. Jones, U.S. Ambassador to the State of Kuwait, visits the newest U.S. citizens at Camp Patriot, Kuwait. The dolphins helped clear waterways leading into Iraq, so that civilian humanitarian assistance ships could provide food, water, and supplies to the people of Iraq. Photo courtesy Navy NewsStand. Search for 'dolphin'.

Iraqi mines confiscated during mine sweeping and interdiction operations sit in a warehouse at the port of Umm Qasr, Iraq. These are examples of what the marine mammal systems could be tasked to locate and mark. Photo courtesy Navy NewsStand. Search for 'dolphin'.