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TL, just a comment about Military Dolphins. It takes years to train them and thousands or tens of thousands to keep them healthy and well fed. That being the case, the military is as careful with them as they are with their Fighter Pilots and other valuable human resources.
There are not a lot of dolphin casualties since they don't possess any of the characteristics that anti-ship mines sense to cause them to explode. Naval Mines are triggerd in several ways, magnetic field disturbances, pressure waves or direct contact...Dolphins don't create pressure waves the way ships do, they do not have a magnetic signature (being organic) found in ships and don't need to touch the mine to locate them since their sonars are so acute. Contrary to what people see in certain hollywood movies, dolphins aren't sent out as crack suicide squads bearing bombs on their back to self destruct. That kind of insanity is reserved for the fanatical two legged types.
There is however a real effort being made to develop mechanical means for doing this job...not just out of humane concerns but out of cost concerns...dolphins are expensive to keep.
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