Navy Dolphinarium (Sevastopol)

 military, navy, draw only border, closed / former military, dolphinarium

Slightly corrected Google translation of Russian page:
In the past — also 184 NIEB Navy (military unit 13132, including the Aquarium of the Navyof USSR, working with marine animals).
Initiator and inspirer of the Aquarium was a Soviet Navy Commander, Admiral Sergei Gorshkov. In the summer of 1965 was established research experimental base of the Navy. February 24, 1966 approved its staff. At the time, the base was listed as a secret "military unit 13132-K" or "Area 75". Construction led by Captain 1st Rank V. A. Kalganov, and he also became its first chief. To work in the Oceanarium were attracted eminent scientific staff of the country in biology: Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy V. E. Sokolov, L. G. Voronin, Professors L. V. Krushinsky, G. B. Agarkov and V. M. Akhutin. The activities of the aquarium as custodial facility MoD not publicized and over the decades has acquired a mass of speculation. It existed until 1987. In 1992 it transferred to Ukraine. Now this is quite a popular excursion object that's called "Research Center 'State Oceanarium of Ukraine'" (SIC double submission — Defense and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine), to a large extent lost its research functions.

In the Sevastopol military aquarium in Kazachya Bay achieved the most significant results in the creation and exploitation of biotechnological systems. Dolphins have been trained to find torpedoes, mines and other military ammunition sunk to a depth till 120 m and are adapted to the landing from helicopters. These animals were trained to protect the waters of the naval base of Sevastopol.
One of the main challenges of working with dolphins was to teach them to stay under water for all kinds of objects, both moving in the water and lying. The venue of the training expeditions was elected district Laspi — Batiliman. The first was organized in the summer of 1971, was called the "Laspi-71+", though based on one of the beaches Batiliman. Four tents, fishnet enclosure for four dolphins coaching group — that's all the training base. And the goals were only preliminary: the establishment of an active, fearless contact with the dolphins (procedure trapping remained quite brutal), working out the simplest forms of fetching, trained to respond to sonar detector. Already worked with tame animals, who spent some time in the pens Kazachya Bay. The second expedition, "Laspi-72" was better organized and more serious problem set: release the dolphins at sea, escort boats, leader, etc. After the 1974 dolphin Hercules was first discovered in the country's history and marked the sunken torpedo at a depth of 51 meters, the General Staff of the Navy decided to create a dolphin special forces to find sunken military hardware, help divers with underwater search and rescue operations. In the spring of 1983 were practical exercises: dolphin hid mine across the bay: once it buried even under board the sunken ship. The result exceeded all expectations: dolphin Titanium detected targets in minutes.
From 1979 to 1994 dolphins found objects, worth about 50 million rubles, which is many times worse than the cost of maintaining them. Search biotechnical system (BTS) to operate there, where the search was otherwise impossible or ineffective. It is shallow, complex soil profile, low visibility under water, current, search of weapons under a layer of soil and camouflaged, acoustically transparent charges. Bottlenose dolphins coached for the detection of military targets — such as a wetsuit, a diver in the equipment, a diver on the underwater vehicle movement such as "Prometey", booby-sucker, spray, scuba. In the Great Bay of Sevastopol, near Konstantinovsky ravelin built four floating cages and four radio-sonobuoys — RSB. And at the very top ravelin — the command post, where there was a setting that allows the monitor to observe the ground and underwater cages. Duty at the command center was conducted 24 hours a day. Sailors deployed computer system with the TV display setting. Noticed a suspicious object on the sea surface or in the depths, the dolphin was to give the appropriate signal to a central console. A coach decided to do. To tell you push this "something" to the surface, to unmask, send a speedboat to intercept armed boat or neutralized immediately. At that time there was already a killer underwater weapons for animals — from pistols to machine guns: a powerful triple-barreled gun with dolphin nose easily hit the target with bullets 12 gauge at a distance of 20 meters. Probability of failure of anti-sabotage BTS estimated at 80-90 percent, significantly higher than that adopted in service machinery.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union almost all animals with a leading trainer (Captain 1st Rank B. A. Zhurid) and the unique equipment were shipped to Iran (Iranian Research Center for the Study of the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea) to continue scientific and military research.
Sevastopol Dolphinarium in Artbuhta — a branch of the Navy dolphinarium (dolphinarium works only in the summer, and in winter it moved to the main pool in the Kazachya Bay).
www.ras.ru/FStorage/download.aspx?Id=9020e02c-e19b-4662...
bdg.press.net.by/dsp/2002/06/2002_06_03.5/5_16_1.shtml
www.vokrugsveta.ru/vs/article/6843/