Whale Alert tells mariners if they’ve entered a seasonal or temporary management area to prevent ships from striking the animals. The app, which also works on the iPhone, shows a coastal map of Massachusetts and a blinking yellow circle where a whale has been sighted.
Right whales, which live along North America’s east coast from Nova Scotia to Florida, are the most endangered whale species with only about 400 left in the North Atlantic and 60 left in the North Pacific, according to the Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute and the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Once popular among whalers for their high blubber content, they’ve been protected since 1931 but boat operators often don’t see the whales, which swim just below the surface.
“This technology allows right whales to contribute to their own conservation,” said Patrick Ramage, director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s Global Whale Program. “Prior to the iPad app, captains were essentially operating blind.”
Before Whale Alert, mariners could get faxes or emails from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association or receive broadcasts from the United States Coast Guard but the information was sporadic and unorganized.
The app works by relaying information from acoustic buoys in Boston Harbor. The buoys pick up whale noises then wirelessly send the information to NOAA headquarters in Maryland where the data is compared to overhead sightings from monitoring planes.
A lighthouse in Truro, Massachusetts receives the information from NOAA, sends it to Boston Harbor, and then boat operators receive the data through Whale Alert in nearly real time.
“Right whales face a daily threat but with this 21st century technology it’s possible to save them,” Ramage said.
The app was developed by a collaboration of government agencies, academic institutions, non-profit conservation groups and private sector industries.
Rick Nolan, the owner of Boston Harbor Cruises, which runs whale watching trips, had an iPad installed on one of his boats three weeks ago. “It’s terrific real time information relative to where the whales are in the area,” Nolan said. “What’s nice is that when captains are navigating they have more accurate information in any given minute or hour.”
Andy Hammond, the executive director of the Boston Harbor Pilot Association, a company that helps mariners navigate their way into port, was similarly enthusiastic about the app.
“It’s a natural fit for us to be a test platform because we’re here all the time,” Hammond said. Hammond’s staff works twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to monitor all incoming ships before they dock as required by state and federal law.
“Even though I work in the merchant marine I believe there is room for environmental protection and commercial activity; the two go hand in hand.”
An average of two North Atlantic right whale deaths and serious injuries from vessel strikes were reported annually in 2004 through 2009, the most recent year for which data is available.
A boat owned by the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, an organization that helped produce the app, struck a whale while traveling between Scituate and Boston just a few years ago.
“We were obeying all the rules,” said Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Research Coordinator David Wiley, referring to the requirement that mariners slow down in protected waters.
“But it drove home the fact that you can do everything right and still have a situation occur, these animals are so vulnerable.”
Though the app is free to download, the total installation cost is around $1,000 since boats need an iPad in addition to a transmitter, which costs anywhere from $250 to $650, to will decode the incoming signals.
Gregory Silber, coordinator of recovery efforts at the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, thinks expecting mariners to have an iPad may be unrealistic. “Facilitating the way people get information is good but when they’re at sea they’re probably not tending to their iPads and not everyone has those devices.”
So far a dozen devices were donated to ships that regularly frequent Boston Harbor, two of which were given to the Boston-based Pilot Association. Both Boston Harbor Cruises and the Boston Harbor Pilot Association plan to purchase more iPads in the future.
“There are so few [right whales] left that even preventing one death a year can help ensure their survival,” Wiley said.
