New iPad App Will Help Mariners Avert Right Whale Collisions

A coalition of conservation groups has created an iPad/iPhone app capable of warning mariners when they are approaching areas of high risk for collision with endangered North Atlantic right whales. The so-called Whale Alert app, which is available for free

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Whale Alert iPad Application NOAA

NOAA
Whale Alert app
download, sends the latest information on right whale detections and relevant management advisories to the mariners’ devices. One feature links near real-time acoustic buoys that listen for right whale calls to the mobile devices. Theoretically, mariners will be able to slow down or alter course when whales are detected. Developers of the technology hope the system will prevent fatal collisions between vessels and right whales, which are vulnerable to being struck by ships because they live near shore, feed near the surface, and are slow swimmers. Scientists say populations of the species have dropped to between 350 and 550.