Navy Halts Dolphin Guard Plan

SEATTLE —  The Navy has canceled plans to use dolphins as underwater guards at its Trident submarine base at Bangor, Wash., citing budget cuts and changes in global politics.

“The Department of Defense is taking drastic budget reductions and canceling programs all over the place,” said Tom LaPuzza, a spokesman for the Naval Ocean Systems Center in San Diego.

“But we will maintain the capability to move the animals there if the Navy changes their mind and re-funds the program,” he said.

Animal rights activists claimed victory in their fight to keep Atlantic bottlenose dolphins from being sent to the site on the Hood Canal, about 25 miles east of Seattle.

“This is a face-saving way for them to back out gracefully of an ill-conceived project,” said Laurie Raymond of the Progressive Animal Welfare Society in the Seattle suburb of Lynnwood.