America will replace dolphin detectors with robots

The robot will take on the underwater mine detection work of dolphins and sea lions on the US Navy payroll.

The ability to locate by sound waves makes dolphins become
Ideal choice for underwater mines.

The difficulty of mine detection and demolition makes dolphins a great candidate for the job, because they have the ability to locate in echoes. The whale emits ultrasound and then based on the reverberating sound to determine the location of the mine or explosive.

The US Navy has trained dolphins and sea lions to detect and destroy mines for more than 50 years. But now naval officials want to replace them with robots, the BBC reports.

"In general, the US Navy wants to replace dolphins and sea lions with robots since 2017," said Frank Linkous, director of the US Navy mine research division.

US naval experts train a sea lion. (Photo: BBC)

In April, the US Navy announced plans to build Knifefish, a torpedo-shaped robot, 7 meters long and operating underwater. It is capable of swimming in water for up to 16 hours to search for mines with ultrasound. Manufacturing has not finished yet, but the US Navy wants Knifefish to operate in 2017.

"We want to use Knifefish to replace dolphins, sea lions in explosive detection , " Linkous said.

Manufacturing equipment to replace animals in explosives is a huge challenge. For example, for many years US military scientists have tried to make electronic noses to replace professional dogs, but they all acknowledge that dogs still defeat machines in search of explosives. So the US Navy admits that it is possible that they still have to use dolphins and sea lions in some special types of tasks after 2017.