Animals
The Navy identifies the following animal species as having been used or studied by the program at various times:
Cetaceans:
|
Pinnipeds:
|
Other:
|
Bottlenose Dolphins and California Sea Lions are the main animals used, and are kept at the base in San Diego. Dolphins have powerful biological sonar, unmatched by artificial sonar technology in detecting objects in the water column and on the sea floor. Sea lions lack this, but have very sensitive underwater directional hearing and exceptional vision in low-light conditions. Both of these species are trainable and capable of repetitive deep diving. As of the late 1990s, about 140 marine mammals were part of the program.
Read more about this topic: U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program
Famous quotes containing the word animals:
“To err is human also in so far as animals seldom or never err, or at least only the cleverest of them do so.”
—G.C. (Georg Christoph)
“The alcoholic trance is not just a haze, as though the eyes were also unshaven. It is not a mere buzzing in the ears, a dizziness or disturbance of balance. One arrives in the garden again, at nursery time, when the gentle animals are fed and in all the world there are only toys.”
—William Gass (b. 1924)