Trained Navy dolphins losing out to robots

Some dolphins used by the Navy to track down mines will soon lose their jobs to robots but they’ll be reassigned, not retired.

Some dolphins used by the Navy to track down mines will soon lose their jobs to robots but they’ll be reassigned, not retired.

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Starting 2017, 24 of the Navy’s 80 military-trained dolphins will be replaced by a 12-foot (3.6-meter) unmanned torpedo-shaped
vehicle, according to the newspaper UT San Diego.

The military said the machines can do some of the same mine-hunting duties as the sea creatures. And they can be manufactured quickly, unlike the seven years it takes to train a dolphin.