Tim Blair

MINE-AVOIDING SEA WEASELS: The US

MINE-AVOIDING SEA WEASELS:

The US Navy's mine-clearing dolphins have been the surprise media stars of the Iraq war, but they have not exactly won over Australian divers working alongside them.

The polite way to express their scepticism about the mine-clearing skills of the dolphins is to question their reliability and cost efficiency, but there is another way to put it.

"Flipper's fucked, mate," was how one diver saw things yesterday.

"The dolphins have had all this amazing publicity, but as soon as they put one in the water it shot through. There's a war going on and Flipper goes AWOL.”