San Diego Dolphin Deaths: Navy Defends Actions That Killed Animals

SAN DIEGO -- The Navy has concluded that it would have been dangerous to stop an underwater training blast believed to have killed three or four dolphins last month off San Diego Bay.

Navy divers monitored the area for marine mammals for more than 90 minutes on March 4 before placing a charge on the ocean floor, the 3rd Fleet public affairs office said Monday.

"All the training procedures were followed," said Lt. Beth Teach. "The divers were qualified."

Ten minutes into a 15-minute countdown, observers spotted dolphins approaching the area where the charge had been placed on the ocean bottom.

To stop the detonation, commanders could have sent divers back to the ocean floor or pulled the device to the surface to try and separate the detonators from the main charge.

"The officer in charge determined that either option would place Navy personnel in grave danger and had an extremely low chance of success due to the short time frame," the statement said.

As a last resort, the commanders placed their boat between the dolphins and the detonation site in an attempt to head off the pod, but the effort was unsuccessful.

Three dead dolphins were recovered at the site of the explosion. The carcass of another was found three days later near Ocean Beach. The carcasses were turned over to the National Marine Fisheries Service, Teach said. She didn't know if necropsies were performed.

"The Navy recognizes the need to do the investigation," Teach said.

But no blame was assigned for the deaths and there will be no disciplinary action taken.

The Navy suspended time-delay undersea detonation training in the San Diego area. Teach didn't know when the ban would be lifted.

The explosions are part of the Navy's ongoing underwater warfare training.

Comments

[Natures Conspiracy]

08:48 AM on 05/13/2011

I understand the need to not put the divers at risk 10 min into the 15 min countdown, that's why the navy needs to implement a STOP button, just like on my 1980's video recorder. SHAME these dolphins had to die unnecessarily. Get it together and plan for unforseen glitches, you're the Navy for Gods sake!

[bad spelling grammar]

06:21 PM on 05/02/2011

The death of the Dolphins in SD is bad but every Dolphin lover needs to KNOW that the Japanese still kill over 25000 dolphins a year (with knives and spears) for the reason, stated by Japanese fishermen in the documentary The Cove, “they compete with humans for fish and since fish is our food we must kill the dolphin”. If everyone here just put some time aside to address the real murders, we can take a step forward in conservation for everyone’s favorite marine mammal.

[unique]

11:15 AM on 05/07/2011

And that is why there was an Earthquake
and Tsunami in Japan. I

[youcantfoolmothernature]

03:20 PM on 05/07/2011

Excellent film...should be seen by everyone.

[butchcliff]

07:24 AM on 05/01/2011

The navy also defends driving whales to beach themselves, by using sonar to hunt for
(enemy?) subs Why the need for underwater bombs at the expense of wildlife?

[Justin Stamper]

04:30 PM on 04/28/2011

Just another reasons humans should stop toying with explosives.

[eljefefx]

04:57 PM on 04/29/2011

Explosives are not toys

[Justin Stamper]

05:13 PM on 04/29/2011

Under the control of the State, everything is a toy, your life, your family, the environment, our country, the planet. Weapons are just toys that blow things up.

[ModerateCentrist]

11:47 AM on 04/28/2011

there is no way i believe it was only 3 or 4 dolphins killed in a blast - dolphins live in pods of a dozen or more. and in high food areas (which southern Ca is), various pods can congragate and there can be as many as 50-100 in an area.

[peterz]

08:56 PM on 04/27/2011

give animals a break

gigantic scale of animal slaughter
http://www.poodwaddle.com/clocks/food/

unforgivea­bly inhumane
http://www.farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming/


.

[blytzd]

05:53 PM on 04/27/2011

Here is Panetta's first task as the new Sec of Defense.

[Judith Jaehn]

03:45 PM on 04/27/2011

Damn Navy, we told them this would happen because it's happened already!! Leave our Ocean life alone.

[Aaror]

12:47 PM on 04/27/2011

I think a lot of people are either misreading the article, only reading the headline, or posting a knee-jerk reaction. Here is another way to look at it (changing identities to get rid of bias).
A major new york construction firm was getting ready to demolish a building, when a gaggle of Japanese tourists decided to wonder into the danger zone. Construction crews tried to physically interpose themselves between the tourists and the blast, but because of lack of communication, were unable to turn the tourists around. Because the explosives had already been armed, and the tourists were already in the blast zone, sending crew members to stop the explosion had a low chance of success and would probably have only killed the construction crew members.
If you saw that headline, would you say the same sort of things about construction crews that people are saying about the navy? Note that Japanese tourists are humans, I am not demeaning the loss of life. But this is a regrettable accident, not a war crime.

[crparke]

11:47 AM on 04/27/2011

The dolphins don't love you back.

[HowthCastle]

05:29 PM on 04/29/2011

So what?

[Christian Figueroa]

11:02 AM on 04/27/2011

our military regularly causes the deaths of humans, why would we think for one second they'd stop to protect any other life?

[SgtBaker]

05:18 PM on 04/27/2011

Have you ever been to a military installation? My guess is no. Do you know how many times I have stopped live fire training exercises for the protection of wildlife? The answer is hundreds of times. Military bases are home to some of the most protected animals in the world. If you kill a snake on a Marine Corps base the minimum fine is a thousand dollars and if they prove that you did it knowing the regulations and with malicious intent the punishment can be far more severe. You know not of which you speak so keep your big trap shut.

[SworldPeas]

08:59 AM on 04/27/2011

Cut the program! We don't need it.

[crparke]

11:50 AM on 04/27/2011

Cut the Navy. The dolphins will protect us.

[toxicbrainpoison]

02:56 AM on 04/27/2011

The Navy is always getting in trouble for killing whales and dolphins. They are ready for maritime warfare but they shouldn't take it out on them.

[Stacey Jones]

02:39 AM on 04/27/2011

Ahhh but dolphins are so cool. They also protect human life. I've read stories and seen videos about people saved in the ocean by dolphins. Sad*

[atexasdem]

02:30 AM on 04/27/2011

Those dolphins were terrorists sent to disrupt the navy training. The navy hasn't tried that excuse yet. Give them time, just give them time.