Marine Security

The US Navy says dolphins and sea lions will stand guard this year at a submarine base to detect any underwater swimmers who might approach the base on Hood Canal.The US Navy is keeping security details secret, but the environmental impact statement for the project said there would be fewer than 20 animals kept in heated enclosures when not on patrol in Washington state. 
Marine mammals have been used as guards for years at another Trident submarine base at King's Bay, Georgia. Navy spokesman Tom LaPuzza in San Diego told the Kitsap Sun that Atlantic bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions are ready to go on patrol at Bangor. The dolphins can find an intruder and release a beacon. Sea lions can attach a cuff to a swimmer's leg.

 

Power to a flower

Britain's rarest wild flower is to be protected by extra police patrols and possibly even CCTV in an attempt to stop it being stolen when it flowers this month.

The Lady's Slipper orchid at Silverdale Golf Course in Carnfoth, Lancashire, is the last remaining flowering plant in the country. Cuttings from the plant can be sold to collectors for up to £5,000.

Although experts have tried to re-introduce the purple and yellow bloom in other areas, none of them have flowered.

Lancashire Police is now mounting a three-pronged defence of the flower amid concerns thieves may strike in May or June when the plant flowers.

Officers have been ordered to 'ensure the safety' of the orchid by including it in their routine foot patrols, meaning they will pass it every hour or so. Police will also tag the 100-year-old orchid with a coded security mark so that anyone who tries to sell a cutting to wildflower collectors can be caught.The orchid has been given a unique log number on the police computer system - which will alert the duty officer whenever a report concerning the flower is received.  The force is also considering spending thousands of pounds on CCTV cameras to keep a 24-hour watch on the orchid, which is protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

PC Tony Marsh, beat manager for the area, told Police Review: "We will be doing passing patrols, putting up deterrent notices, warning people about the offences and (asking them) to report any suspicious activity."

Last June a thief took a cutting from the plant, leaving it with just six flowers, and in 2004 a collector tried to dig up the entire plant by its roots, but managed to get away with just a part of the plant.

PC Marsh added: "The biggest threat is collectors. When flowers were taken last year, we think purely just to press and put in a book, the value on the crime report was thousands of pounds." PC Marsh has even circled the rare orchid with police crime scene tape in a bid to deter potential thieves.

PC Duncan Thomas, wildlife officer for Lancashire Constabulary, said the orchid - whose Latin name is Cypripedium calceolus - was "incredibly important". He said: "The Lady Slipper orchid is an incredibly important plant, having survived for over a hundred years when all other plants were thought extinct. It is iconic to many people who enjoy wildlife in Britain. People travel from all ends of the country on what is almost a pilgrimage to view the plant in bloom and are often overcome with emotion at the sight.We have been monitoring this amazing plant for a number of years and you can't help being impressed by not only its rarity but the incredible display when flowering. Sadly there are persons who will seek to steal it and as such we are working with Natural England staff to ensure its continued success."

Rob Petley-Jones, of English Nature, said: "It is completely illegal to even touch this plant, you would need a special licence for it."

Garden Wars

A Russian man, who planted landmines in his garden to defend it from intruders, has been convicted to two-and-a-half years suspended sentence on weapons charges, prosecutors said on Friday. Alexander Skopintsev, a resident of the far eastern Primorye region near Russia's border with China, built three explosive traps in his garage last July and planted them around his garden, Primorye region prosecutors said. "During the court hearings, Skopintsev testified that he had prepared the explosive devices to protect his garden against thieves," a statement said. Police arrested him after a trespasser set off one of the landmines in August and was injured, spokeswoman for the prosecutors Irina Nomokonova said.

Parlimentary bite

A prominent opposition lawmaker faces expulsion from Malaysia's Parliament after being convicted on Thursday of biting a policeman at a protest. A Kuala Lumpur magistrate's court sentenced Tian Chua, who is head of strategy for the Pakatan Rakyat opposition alliance, to six months' imprisonment and fined him 3,000 ringgit (880 dollars). Under Malaysian law, an MP will lose his or her seat if sentenced to more than one year in jail or a fine exceeding 2,000 ringgit. The policeman had testified that during a scuffle he punched Tian Chua, and that Chua bit him in retaliation.

Crash-test baby

A 6-month-old baby had a miracle escape after his pram rolled onto the tracks and into the path of an oncoming train at a railway station in Melbourne. Security video footage released on Friday shows the baby's mother looking away for a moment as the pram suddenly rolls off the edge of a station platform and onto the tracks at Ashburton station. The mother looks back and panics as she watches the oncoming train hit the pram, dragging it about 130 feet along the track as the desperate driver tried to stop the train. Miraculously, the baby boy survived with only minor injuries, including a bump to his head.