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Members of the Whale and Vessel Safety (WAVS) Task Force, a Viking initiative, highlighted whale-identification technologies at a special National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) workshop earlier this month.
“The workshop demonstrated that technology to reduce vessel strikes exists today – and much more is to come,” says Task Force Chairman John DePersenaire, who is also Viking's Director of Government Affairs and Sustainability. “For instance, thermal imaging coupled with artificial intelligence software will allow mariners to identify whales on their electronics displays and notify others through tools such as AIS (Automatic Identification System). There are also immediate actions that NOAA could support, such as working with the industry to distribute whale positional information.”
WAVS members, NOAA managers, industry stakeholders, researchers and conservationists came together for two days with a common goal: protect the North American Right Whale (NARW) through science, technology and communication. Said DePersenaire: “We thank NOAA for giving us a chance to show that there are viable alternatives to speed restrictions.”
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