Tom and I have heard of the Navy dolphins in the past, that work with divers in the open ocean. We weren't really sure if this was true or not, until we saw it with our own eyes.

While walking along Harbor Island, we saw a small Naval boat cruising along in the bay. Next thing we see, is a dolphin swimming along the side of the Navy boat. We thought, hmmm, is that a Naval dolphin? About another mile into our walk, we see another small Navy boat, again, with a dolphin swimming along side the boat.

After doing alittle research online, it appears that the US Navy Marine Mammal Program has been in business since 1960. The U.S. Navy has found that the biological sonar of dolphins, called echolocation, makes them uniquely effective at locating sea mines so they can be avoided or removed. The dolphins pens are located at Point Loma and the actually training takes place in the San Diego Bay. Pretty cool stuff.

In this picture, the dolphin is doing mine clearance in the Persian Gulf during the Iraq war.