As a teenager, I read “The Day of the Dolphin,” a Cold War potboiler about a scientist who teaches dolphins to communicate with humans.
The dolphins are stolen by a shadowy government group, which tries to use them to assassinate the U.S. president. The movie was directed by Mike Nichols, written by Buck Henry and featured George Scott — a trio guaranteed to provide a subtle tone of paranoia and parody. (Nichols and Henry were responsible for “The Graduate,” and Scott was the inimitable Gen. Buck Turgidson in “Dr. Strangelove.”)
I recalled “The Day of the Dolphin” last week after reading reports that Russia had deployed dolphins to guard the entrance to the Sevastopol harbor, a key Black Sea port that houses an important Russian naval base. The news was a reminder that animals have been an integral part of the military since armed forces were first organized and planners and strategists continue to devise ways to use them more efficiently and creatively.