Military dolphin A military dolphin is a dolphin trained for military uses . The United States and Russia n militaries have trained and employed oceanic dolphin s for several reasons . Such military dolphins have been trained to rescue lost naval swimmers or to locate underwater mine s . The U . S . Navy trains dolphins and sea lion s under the U . S . Navy Marine Mammal Program , which is based in San Diego , California . They get some of their dolphins from the Gulf of Mexico . Military dolphins were used by the U . S . Navy during the First and Second Gulf Wars . About 75 dolphins are in the program . The Soviet Navy operated a research facility to explore military uses of marine mammals at Kazachya Bukhta , near Sevastopol . The Russian military is believed to have closed its marine mammal program in the early 1990s . In 2000 , the press reported that dolphins trained to kill by the Soviet Navy had been sold to Iran . Due to the secrecy of such practice , rumors of military dolphins include training them to lay underwater mines , to locate enemy combatants , or to seek and destroy submarines using kamikaze methods . There has even been speculation about the potential development of sophisticated equipment , such as poison darts , sonar jamming devices , and so on for dolphins , and about combat between cetaceans of both superpowers . The U . S . Navy denies ever having trained its marine mammals to harm or injure humans in any fashion or to carry weapons to destroy ships . In 2005 , there were press reports that some U . S . military dolphins based on Lake Pontchartrain had escaped during the Hurricane Katrina flooding . The U . S . Navy dismissed these stories as nonsense or a hoax , though they may be taking on the status of an urban myth . United States Navy dolphins . The United States Navy implemented a program in 1960 to work with dolphins and sea lions in order to help with defense , mine detection , and design of new submarines and new underwater weapons . The Navy did many tests with several marine mammals to determine which would be best for the jobs they needed done . " More than 19 species were tested , including some sharks and birds . " Eventually , the bottlenose dolphin and California sea lion were shown to be the best at what the Navy needed them for . The bottlenose dolphins ' asset was their highly evolved biosonar , helping to find underwater mines , and the sea lions ' asset was their impeccable underwater vision , which can help to detect enemy swimmers . In fiscal year 2007 , the United States Navy spent $ 14 million on research on marine mammals as weapons and marine mammal training programs in object recovery and mine detection . Dolphins have contributed to saving more lives in open water than specially trained life savers . Care of animals . The marine mammals used for the Navy ' s research and operations are taken care of with a full - time staff of veterinarians , veterinarian technicians , and highly trained marine biologists . The doctors and staff are on call around the clock so that the animals get the care that they need . Their focus is to keep the dolphins and sea lions healthy and fit for duty with routine physicals , nutrition oversight , and extensive data collection and management . Training . The dolphins and sea lions are trained by five teams of the Navy ' s Marine Mammal fleet members . One team specializes in swimmer detection , three teams in mine location , and another team in object recoveries . The quick - response goal of this fleet is to mobilize a team and be on site within 72 hours . Dolphins are trained much as police dogs and hunting dogs are . They are given rewards such as fish on correct completion of a task . Dolphins are trained to detect underwater mines and enemy swimmers and then report back to their handlers . Retired US Admiral Tim Keating claimed that military dolphins could be used to detect mines in the Strait of Hormuz , after Iran threatened to close the waterway in January 2012 . Other countries . In March 2000 the Russian navy transferred their military dolphin project to Iran . Iran bought the animals and the chief trainer carried on his research at their new oceanarium .