Free Willy: Russian Navy Trained Dolphins Hit By Storm
A massive storm battered Crimea on the November 27. Preliminary analysis of the damage done to Russian defenses reveals that the dolphin pens in Sevastopol harbor are gone as a result. They may have been sunk or washed away. It is plausible that some or all of the trained dolphins have been freed.
The Russian Navy's marine mammal programs are increasingly well known. They have been deployed to the war in Syria in 2018. And since the start of the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, to defend Sevastopol harbor from Ukrainian special forces divers. Recently it appears that some were deployed to Southern Naval Base which is (confusingly) north of Sevastopol.
It should be remembered that if the dolphins are indeed free they have been raised in captivity. It can be expected that they were reliant on their human trainers for food and may be unable to fend for themselves. Escape may thus be a death warrant.
It is possible that the Russian Navy moved the pens in advance of the storm, but there is currently no evidence of this. I am awaiting clearer imagery for further analysis.
Iconic movie artwork for Free Willy, a 1993 American family drama about an orphaned boy who befriends a captive orca, Willy, at an amusement park. When he discovers that the park owners plan to dispose of Willy, he hatches a scheme to break him out of captivity.
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