Killer Dolphins

Claim: Dolphins trained by the U.S. Navy to hunt terrorists were washed out to sea by Hurricane Katrina and are now missing.

Origins: The winner for "Most bizarre rumor to come out of Hurricane Katrina" so far is the above-cited Observer report that a group of killer dolphins armed with "toxic dart" guns, and trained by the U.S. Navy to track down and immobilize spies and terrorists, was washed out to sea in the Gulf of Mexico by the storm. The cetaceans are now missing and presumed to be armed and dangerous, at least according to rumor.

The Observer article quotes a "respected accident investigator," Leo Sheridan, who maintains that the killer dolphins now supposedly on the loose pose a serious threat to innocent lives:

My concern is that they have learnt to shoot at divers in wetsuits who have simulated terrorists in exercises. If divers or windsurfers are mistaken for a spy or suicide bomber and if equipped with special harnesses carrying toxic darts, they could fire,' he said. 'The darts are designed to put the target to sleep so they can be interrogated later, but what happens if the victim is not found for hours?'

The sole source for this story seems to be the above-mentioned Mr. Sheridan, whose validity as an information source is dubious at best.
In 2003 Sheridan reported that he believed his private team of divers had located the airplane flown by Amy Taylor (an aviation pioneer who was killed when Airspeed Oxford she was flying from Scotland to Oxfordshire on went down in the Thames Estuary on 5 January 1941), but no more has been heard about the elusive airplane since then. Sheridan has also long been beating the drums about the U.S. Navy's having a secret team of dolphins trained "to recognize and drown enemy divers," claiming in another Observer article back in 1998 that sixteen of the animals were destroyed with small explosive charges planted in harnesses on the undersides of their necks and detonated via radio signals "in order to prevent the dolphins and the Navy's technology from falling into the wrong hands" when they got loose off the coast of the French Mediterranean.

The U.S. Navy does employ trained dolphins for tasks such as detecting and marking mines, but even such intelligent creatures as dolphins aren't too good at the advanced tasks of distinguishing friend from foe or ordinary scuba divers from terrorists. Killer dolphins are likely to be found only in the realm of fiction and overactive imaginations.

If and when humanity expands in to the universe , and by chance meets other life forms , how will we treat them?

As I have said before humans acknowledge the skill and intelligence of Dolphins, some whales , and others in the sea. And what do we (change that to they) do. Turn a gentle fun loving sentient being into a tool of War .

If and when humanity expands in to the universe , and by chance meets other life forms , how will we treat them?

How is this any different from bomb-sniffing dogs or beer-fetching monkeys?

Could a dolphin kill a human without a poisonous dart?

First, it seems to be a wild rumor inspired by the true report that eight bottlenose dolphins were washed out of their marina by Katrina, but were later recovered. Second, The Observer's story relies entirely upon one source, a "respected accident investigator" named Leo Sheridan. But as The Register points out, Mr. Sheridan has been the source for many dubious conspiracy-style claims in the past.

Don't dolphins have the ability to kill fish with their echo location? I think they use their "melon" to focus it.

Umm, no, no they don't. They have the ability to locate fish with it, then the fish dies by being eaten.

If a dophin knocked you with its nose it would hurt. Badly. They do this to sharks as well so I think it would kill a human.

I was sure they can do something. Like stun them?

I think you're right. I read somewhere that they can use ultrasonic waves to stun prey and possibly as a defensive mechanism as well. I wish I had a source for you, but I'm fairly certain that it's legitimate.

yeah, they 'charge' at the sharks belly, making it explode.

ER....no..they charge the gills sufficating the shark. They should use Elephants for war machines...if properly trained they could take out a entire base without a elephant death.

I'm not too thrilled about using them to find mines if it harms them, i.e. blows them up, but I have no problem with them shooting terrorists with darts. Hey, dolphins don't care a bit as long as they get their fish in the end.

ER....no..they charge the gills sufficating the shark. They should use Elephants for war machines...if properly trained they could take out a entire base without a elephant death.