WARTIME ACCESSORIES

Northern Advocate, 8 April 1931, Page 8

WARTIME ACCESSORIES

USE OP SEA LIONS.

(Received 9 a.m.) LONDON, April 6. ; How sea lions, like white mice, canaries and other creatures did their bit jin the Great War, has been disclosed by Captain Joseph Woodward, extrainor of a troop of performing sea lions,, who foi nearly two years placed himself and his troupe at the disposal of the*Research Department of the Admiralty. The idea -was to use the sea lions’ acute hearing to detect German submarines and enable the dropping of depth charges.' Ho told the “Star” that with his own sea lions reinforced by others from the zoo, all muzzled with piano wire to prevent their catching fish, a series of experiments was conducted at the Westminster swimming baths in the presence of admirals and experts. The sea lions were taught to swim towards under-water buzzers. Later training began at Lake Balia in North Wales, where the sea lions were taken i out. in crates in motor launches ana [learned to locate apparatus making a j humming sound resembling submarine j engines. I Each sea lion towed a lifebuoy, I marking its. course when circling the apparatus. The sea lions were finally able to detect the apparatus from five miles distant. They were thereupon moved into the English 'Channel for actual tests against submarines, in which they proved themselves superior to hydrophones, then at an early stage of development. The experiment wms abandoned, when the Germans began operating with groups of submarines against which listening devices were comparatively ineffective.