By
Rebecca Gibson |
Scientists from Point Blue Conservation Science (Point Blue), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Cordell Bank and Gulf of Farallones National Marine Sanctuaries are set to field test a Whale Spotter Bay app in San Francisco’s Golden Gate and Bay area.
Developed by Conserve.IO, the app is designed to track the movement of whales in the Golden Gate and San Francisco Bay areas to help prevent collisions between commercial ships and rare species of whale.
“Each year, more than 7,300 large ship transit Golden Gate – a number that continues to increase,” said Jaime Jahncke, director of Point Blue’s California Current Research Group. “We need a way to gather real-time data about where whales are likely to congregate given how many ships travel near their feeding areas. This will, in turn, better inform decisions by wildlife management agencies and the shipping industry.”
The app can be used by researchers, commercial ship operators and other boat operators to document whale sightings in real-time and all of the data will be verified by aerial surveys and observations from both onshore and offshore Point Blue biologists. The NOAA and the US Coast Guard’s Vessel Traffic Service will then advise operators of any potential collision risks and recommend alternative traffic lanes or reduced speeds.
In June, the coast guard organisation established three new narrowed and extended shipping lanes for traffic entering the bay, ensuring ships are more closely contained through whale feeding grounds and avoid the areas with a concentrated whale population.