Inter-species slavery–Russian military dolphins guarding the Kerch Strait Bridge
Adapted from the Trenchant Observer, October 9, 2022
Dispatches
1) Eleonora Goldman, “Crimean bridge construction boosts dolphin population in Kerch Strait, Russia Beyond, February 28, 2017;
2) Will Maule, “Vladimir Putin using killer dolphins to defend key waters as Crimea bridge blown up; Those behind the bridge explosion managed to evade a series of defence systems including fighter jets, warships and – believe it or not – killer dolphins; Vladimir Putin is said to have a unit of military-trained dolphins,” The Mirror, October 9, 2022 (01;59);
3) Team Proto Animal, “Are dolphins intelligent as humans?” Proto Animal March 25, 2021 ;
4) James Crisp, “Europe’s new ‘Iron Lady’; Kaja Kallas says the West mustn’t negotiate with Putin; Estonia’s PM, who calls Margaret Thatcher ‘an inspiration’, has also told Russians fleeing (the) draft they cannot seek asylum in her country,” The Telegraph, October 8, 2022 (6:28 pm);
Analysis
Flight of Fancy
One fact to emerge from the explosion of a bomb on the Kerch Strait Bridge is that Russians have been using “military dolphins” to guard it. The U.S. has also used military dolphins for many years.
As the Proto Animal Team article explains, dolphins have a sophisticated brain and intelligence.
By one measure they are far more intelligent than humans. They don’t make war on each other. Also, they appear to speak a universal language, at least among a single species, and are not divided by linguistic barriers like humans are.
Is it moral to virtually enslave these animals and train them to serve in the military forces of different countries?