If you love whales and iPads, today is a good day indeed. We are happy to announce the launch of Whale Alert – a free iPad/iPhone app that helps captains to avoid running giant ships into endangered whales.
The app warns ship captains when they enter areas of high risk of collision with critically endangered North Atlantic right whales, and also uses data transmitted from Acoustic Whale Detection Buoys to alert vessels to the presence of right whales in almost real-time.
We were delighted to be involved in the development of the app and to have our software platform applied in such an interesting and positive way. This project involved the collaboration of many groups: Bioacoustics Research Program at Cornell University, Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping at the University of New Hampshire, EarthNC, Excelerate Energy, EOM Offshore, Gaia GPS, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Massachusetts Port Authority, NOAA Fisheries Service, National Park Service, Cape Cod National Seashore, NYK Lines (North America), United States Coast Guard and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Here are some additional links about the project: