Can your iPhone save whales? The answer just might well be “yes” if you’ve downloaded the app called Whale Spotter. That’s because collisions between whales and ships are much more common than most people are aware. Estimates are that as many as 50 whales-including the world’s largest living creature, the blue whale-are killed annually in the busy shipping lanes off of the California coast.
As part of its Whale Aware Program, PRBO Conservation Science, a non-profit based in the San Francisco Bay area, has developed the Whale Spotter app for iPhone and iPad for use by commercial ships, whale watchers and recreational boaters. The app allows NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the U.S. Coast Guard to collect data on whale pod locations, which can then be used to manage shipping traffic and minimize potential collisions with whales. With more “real time” data on where whales are gathering, the National Marine Sanctuaries (NMS) and the Coast Guard can alert ships to reduce speed or select alternative routes.
Whale Spotter uses GPS to record locations where whales and other marine wildlife have been spotted by mariners. The information is automatically loaded into an interactive map that can be used by mariners and the U.S. Coast Guard.
A Whale Spotter app for the Android platform is underdevelopment.
The introduction of Whale Spotter on the U.S. West Coast follows the roll out last year of the Whale Alert app, which provides up to date information about the NOAA’s right whale management initiatives and regulations for the Atlantic Coast. The Whale Alert app uses GPS, AIS and web technology to alert mariners to right whale conservation measures, such as Seasonal Management Areas where 10-mile-per-hour vessel speed restrictions are imposed.
Fines for violating vessel speed restriction zones can be hefty-NOAA has issued penalties of $11,500 to $92,000 to ships violating speed restrictions in designated Seasonal Management Areas.
Whale Alert also uses a passive acoustic right whale detection system to warn commercial ships of the presence of right whales in shipping lanes that pass through NOAA’s Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary heading to Boston, MA. The acoustic alert system uses sound-detecting buoys to detect right whale vocalizations within a five-mile radius. No such system yet exists on the West Coast.
Both the Whale Aware and Whale Spotter apps are available on iTunes for free.
[Marine Log]