Pete Hegseth said Iran does not have “kamikaze dolphins,” even as military use of dolphins and sea lions draws renewed attention amid Strait of Hormuz tensions.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday rejected the idea that Iran could use so-called “kamikaze dolphins” against U.S. warships, addressing an unusual question that has surfaced amid renewed fighting and shipping concerns in the Strait of Hormuz.
“I cannot confirm or deny whether we have kamikaze dolphins, but I can confirm they don’t,” Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing, referring to Iran.
The question followed reports that Iranian officials had discussed the possibility of using mine-carrying dolphins to target U.S. ships. The available reporting cited in the source material does not establish that Iran has an active capability to do so, and Hegseth’s public answer was a denial. The U.S. Navy Office of Information declined further comment to CNBC and pointed to Hegseth’s briefing.
The exchange came as the Strait of Hormuz remains a central flashpoint. The waterway has been largely blocked during the war, and President Donald Trump announced “Project Freedom” on Sunday, describing an effort to free ships stranded there since the conflict began. Hegseth said that mission is separate from Operation Epic Fury, the administration’s name for the war the U.S. and Israel began Feb. 28, and said U.S. forces would not need to enter Iranian waters or airspace to carry it out.
Fresh attacks in the key maritime corridor have raised fears of broader economic disruption. CNBC reported that Iran attacked the United Arab Emirates and that the U.S. said it sank Iranian boats in the strait Monday. Hegseth said the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran officially remains in place, adding, “we’re going to be watching very, very closely.”
While the phrase “kamikaze dolphins” has drawn attention, the use of marine mammals by militaries is not new. Since 1959, the U.S. Navy’s Marine Mammal Program has trained bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions to detect mines and other underwater threats, conduct surveillance, and locate and recover objects at sea, according to the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific.
Those animals are used for detection and marking, not as explosive weapons. During the Iraq War in 2003, Navy-trained dolphins helped detect and clear naval mines from the port of Umm Qasr, according to Scott Savitz, a senior engineer at the Rand Corporation who studies mine countermeasures. During the Vietnam War, the Navy trained dolphins to help detect swimmers and divers trying to access military facilities, Savitz said.
Dolphins are valuable in such missions because of echolocation, or biosonar, which can help them find underwater objects in open water. Sea lions are often used to locate and recover objects in cluttered waters because of their underwater eyesight. Savitz said dolphins can distinguish underwater objects with a level of ability that machines have not fully matched.
Other countries have also explored military marine mammal programs. The Soviet Navy trained dolphins during the Cold War, and the program was later transferred to Ukraine after the Soviet Union collapsed, according to reporting cited by CNBC. Russia reportedly revived its dolphin program after seizing Ukraine’s defense dolphins during the 2014 annexation of Crimea, and a 2022 analysis cited satellite imagery showing dolphin pens in Sevastopol harbor.
Fox News reported that Iran reportedly acquired dolphins from a former Soviet program in 2000, but said there is no confirmed evidence that such capabilities are active today. Savitz said the more important question is not only whether a country has trained animals, but whether its personnel have developed the expertise to work with them effectively.
The use of animals in military settings also raises legal and ethical concerns. Chris Jenks, a research professor of law at Southern Methodist University, told CNBC that few protections exist for animals in armed conflict, though some legal arguments could be made under international humanitarian law. The ASPCA, in a general position on military animals cited by CNBC, says animals used for military functions should be humanely trained, responsibly maintained and protected beyond their period of service.
For now, the immediate military issue remains the Strait of Hormuz and whether the U.S.-Iran ceasefire holds as Washington tries to move stranded ships through one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints. Hegseth’s answer put the dolphin claim to rest publicly, but the broader questions around mines, shipping security and the next phase of the standoff remain unresolved.
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