Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Ukrainian Military Killer Attack Dolphins On The Loose?



Update: Ukrainian Military Dolphins Not Actually On The Loose -- The Atlantic

If you're swimming in the Black Sea, beware dolphins with weapons strapped to their heads.


Update! Sad news, friends. It turns out that one piece of the Ukrainian dolphin story is, in fact, a hoax. No dolphins from the Ukrainian army's complement have actually escaped, according to this newspaper report. The hoax began with this faked report from the museum director, which led to a story by RIA Novosti. The strangest thing about this is how plausible the whole thing actually is. Gregg studies dolphins for a living and did not seem skeptical. That's because the US and Ukrainian military do indeed have dolphins, which they've been, according to previous reports, training for combat. A reader wrote in to tell me that when he was a young sailor in Turkey, this beluga whale was rumored to have escaped from a military installation in Crimea. That is to say, the oddest part of this story -- that dolphins have regularly been used in the military -- is unchanged. But the specifics turn out to be a hoax. Our apologies for the mistake. In recompense, allow me to give you this video about the history of militarized dolphins.

Read more ....

More News On Ukrainian Military Dolphins

Why Ukrainian 'killer' dolphins probably aren't on the rampage -- The Week
Are Ukrainian 'killer' dolphins really on the loose? -- Passport/Foreign Policy
Dolphin down! World’s only 'military trained mammals' go AWOL as they desert Ukrainian Navy in search of a mate -- Daily Mail
Killer dolphin escape story ‘absolutely fabricated,’ officials say -- Kyiv Post
Military dolphins desert training to chase tail -- Wired
Three Ukrainian Killer Attack Dolphins Are On The Loose In The Black Sea
-- Business Insider

My Comment: Not surprising .... this story is false. But it did capture the world's attention for a day.

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