DATELINE: 25 February 2003

SEA LIONS DEPLOYED TO DETECT DIVERS IN PERSIAN GULF

US Navy-trained sea lions are being deployed in the Persian Gulf to protect military shipping by detecting and attaching marker buoys to any divers in the water.
20 sea lions have been trained at the US Naval Warfare Systems Center is San Diego and an undisclosed number have been flown to Bahrain to assist the Harbor Patrol Unit guarding the US Navy's 5th fleet against attack. The animals are used to detect divers in the water, and will attach a 'C' shaped clamp, similar to a handcuff, to a diver's leg. A floating marker buoy is then deployed from the clamp by the sea lion. This signal, accompanied by a barrage of loud barks, leaves noone in any doubt about the position of an underwater intruder.
Sea lions are considered particularly well-suited to this role because they adapt easily to warm water conditions, can dive repeatedly and swim up to 25 miles per hour, see in near-darkness and have multi-directional hearing. In training exercises, the sea lions even pursue divers out of the water and onto dry land.