Dolphin Trainer

Dolphin on bows in San Diego

After graduation I moved to San Diego, Ca and worked as a dolphin trainer for the United States Navy’s Marine Mammal Program. The U.S. Navy uses dolphins and sea lions for the detection of underwater mines and enemy divers as well as research and deep sea ordinance recovery.

I primarily worked on a small team that trained juvenile dolphins on behaviors that would get them ready for the rest of their lives as soldiers. I worked behaviors such as beaching into a boat, detecting swimmers, boat following in open water, and voluntary blood draw. Other responsibilities included animal husbandry, leading and teaching groups of interns on basic training tasks, under water facility maintenance on SCUBA, research assistant, and boat driving and maintenance.

Beaching a dolphin into a boat for transport

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I met my wife while working with the Navy’s Marine Mammal Program. She was a trainer for an auditory research project.

My beautiful wife (not the dolphin...)

If you are interested in learning more and seeing these animals work, The Pentagon Channel did a thirty minute overview of the Marine Mammal Program’s mission. Both my wife and I are in the show.