The Navy had planned to bring 15 dolphins to Puget Sound, possibly as early as this year, to guard the Trident Naval Submarine Base at Bangor, Wash., home port for eight Trident submarines, each carrying enough nuclear warheads to destroy 240 mid-sized cities. Although the exact mission was classified, former trainers have said the dolphins were being drilled to detect potential saboteurs.

"Due to changes in the world situation resulting in Defense Department budget reductions and reallocations of funds within the Navy, the permanent deployment of dolphins to the Naval Submarine Base at Bangor, Wash., has been canceled," Les Bivens, head of the Navy's marine mammal program, said in a statement made public today.

The Navy has been spending about $8 million a year to train the dolphins. About 110 will remain in captivity at two installations in Key West, Fla., and San Diego, said Mr. LaPuzza.

"We are continuing to train the animals," said Mr. LaPuzza. "If the Navy says, 'Let's go,' with some new assignment, we will be ready." Judge Ordered a Study

The Navy program at Bangor had been held up by a lawsuit filed two years ago in Federal District Court here by the Progressive Animal Welfare Society. In November 1989, Judge John Coughenour ruled that the Navy could not proceed with the Puget Sound program until it did a study on whether the animals would be harmed by bringing them to the submarine base.