A new article from the US Naval Institute — which is not necessarily representative of the US Navy — claims to have spotted evidence of dolphin holding pens along the Taedong River in North Korea. However, the author, HI Sutton, also conceded that, "It's also possible that the pens are some type of fish farm. […] North Korea has placed increased emphasis on fish farming in recent years and they are cropping up all over the country. Many are run by the armed forces."
More from the report:
Based on image intelligence, North Korea's program dates back at least to October 2015. Their first appearance was at the site of a major naval display in Nampo, a naval base and port city on the west coast. The program is likely part of the widespread modernization of the navy that has taken place under North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The animal pens were spotted in satellite imagery in the brown waters between a shipyard and a coal loading pier. This location may still be in use intermittently, possibly for training with the naval units based nearby. But the main activity moved to a site further up the river on the edge of town. This base, possibly where the dolphins are bred, began its development in October 2016.
If this is indeed a holding pen for Communist assassin dolphins — which is not out of the realm of possibility, considering that there's also a dedicated dolphinarium training ground in the Korth Korean capital of Pyongyang — it would not be the only such known military initiative in the world. Iran almost certainly has a fleet of these aquatic mammal warrior, which were likely purchased from Russia; Russian espionage dolphins were also reportedly spotted spying in Ukraine in 2018, and just this past summer, Russia deployed some of their warrior dolphins to Syria. Weaponized dolphins are also believed to have been used for recent suicide bombings as well. And of course, the US has its own marine mammal bomb squad, too.
This could also explain the sudden disappearance of Fungie the Dingle Dolphin.
New Evidence Suggests North Korea has a Naval Marine Mammal Program [HI Sutton / US Naval Institute]
Satellite Images Suggest North Korea Is Training Kamikaze Dolphins [Kyle Mizokami / Popular Mechanics]
A Short History of War Dolphins [Rachel E. Gross / Slate]
Image: Public Domain via NASA
