Knitting For Dolphins

A PowerPoint presentation for the non-existent "Directed Energy Sea Mammal" program (dolphins with "frickin' laser beams attached to their heads") is pretty funny, but maybe not so far from truth. For example, the Navy is about to deploy up to 30 dolphins and sea lions to patrol Washington state’s Kitsap-Bangor naval base, which is home to nuclear submarines, ships and laboratories.

Animal rights activists are resisting Navy plans to ship the dolphins and sea lions to Washington state. They worry that waters in the region, which are about 10 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius) cooler than in San Diego Harbor, could put stress on the animals. They also are concerned diseases could be transmitted to the area’s native orca population.

There are no bottlenose dolphins in these waters for a reason and I would say it’s because it’s too darn cold,’ said Seattle-area marine biologist Toni Frohoff.

Protesters showed up at public meetings held by the Navy in the Seattle area to discuss the Navy’s plan. Several of them knitted woolly hats and sailor uniforms for the animals as a way of drawing attention to the issue - costumes that could never actually be worn.

People contributed some handsome hats, and there’s talk of mittens,’ said Knitting for Dolphins member Janet Bailey.

Mittens? Yeah, that should help.