The US military wants to recruit sea creatures such as fish, mammals and other organisms to spy on enemy submarines. The Pentagon's research arm, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), announced a new programme earlier this month.
Called Persistent Aquatic Living Sensors (PALS), it will aim to tap into sea creatures' "natural sensing capabilities" to monitor adversaries' naval activities.
The programme will involve Darpa studying both natural and modified sea creatures to determine which of them can best support such hybrid sensor systems. PALS will also analyse the way sea creatures respond to the movement of manned and unmanned underwater vehicles.
Although the US Navy already uses trained sea lions and dolphins to help detect mines and other objects on the ocean floor, Darpa's new programme may see other sea organisms also being used.
