Sea Lions Enlisted In U.S. Navy

Californian sea lions have become the U.S. Navy’s newest animal recruits alongside dolphins and a Beluga whale.

The sea lions are trained to help disarm underwater mines by swimming down and placing a clamp on to the device,handlers from the U.S. Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific are then able to reel it in.

U.S. Navy Sealion

The sea lions have also learned to attach leg cuffs to enemy divers, immobilizing them and allowing human sailors on the surface to pull in the intruders. A special sea lion harness can also carry cameras that provide live underwater video.

This particular sea lion (shown in the pic) demonstrated his skills for officials at the NATO Underwater Research Center in La Spezia Bay, Italy.

The U.S. Navy has now begun using its sea lions to patrol for terrorists or other underwater saboteurs at a base in Washington State. This bumps up the U.S Navy’s sea mammal squad to 100 plus, including 80 Atlantic and Pacific bottle-nose dolphins, a Beluga whale, and the 28 new Californian sea lions.

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