US Navy sea lions show off their protection skills during maritime exercise скачать в хорошем качестве

US Navy sea lions show off their protection skills during maritime exercise

(19 Nov 2014) LEADIN: A specialist team of sea lions have been showing off their detection skills in waters off Bahrain. They're part a US Navy unit, which has been taking part in a maritime security exercise. STORYLINE Meet Codi the sea lion. The mammal is part of the US Navy's defence against underwater threats such as mines. It has a Marine Mammal Programme which teaches sea lions, dolphins and whales to protect its personnel and military assets. The sea lions are trained in San Diego, California. But they can be deployed anywhere within 72 hours. Today Codi and three other sea lions are in Bahrain for the International Countermine Measures Exercise (IMCMEX). Two of them are are protecting the port. "We have a port security system that employs California Sea lions and electronic sensors to ensure that under water threats, swimmers and divers cannot come into the port, " explains Brian Weisman, the Operations Supervisor for the US Navy Marine Mammal Programme. And Codi has the opportunity to demonstrate his skills. He's tasked with finding a person in the water. In real-life, he could be hunting an intruder or helping on a search and rescue mission. "A sea lion is deployed down into the water. He detects the underwater threat, alerts the crew that something is out there by touching a small disk on the side of the boat and then the handlers hand off a marking device, a restraint device that the sea lions clamps onto their (the intruder's) leg," says Weisman. Codi finds his target and the marking device is attached to the man's leg. Naturally, the sea lion is rewarded for his success. This is the first time the sea lions have come to the Arabian Gulf. It's a very different climate to their Californian home, but the animals' attributes mean they are capable of working in a variety of environments. "Sea lions are just very adaptable animals. As you can tell, they are also terrestrial animals as well as in water animals. They can walk around. They are very easily transported from one area to the next," says Weisman. He continues: "They have exceptional hearing, underwater hearing. And they have very good vision in low light areas and no light areas. So they are very good about getting into small areas, high clutter areas. Areas and environments that you see in ports and that are difficult for manmade systems to do the same job." The US Navy claims one sea lion, two handlers, and a rubber boat is so effective at hunting for objects on the ocean floor, it can replace a full-sized naval vessel and its crew - including a group of human divers, and the doctors and machinery necessary to support the diving operation. Two other sea lions are onboard the USS Ponce in the Persian Gulf to help with the countermine measures. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...