Whale Alert 3.1

Whale Alert contributes to the mitigation of fatal ship strikes involving large vessels by providing information on active whale management areas, mandatory reporting zones, recommended navigation paths, areas to avoid, and real-time warnings within shipping lanes along the coastlines of the United States and Canada. This data empowers vessel operators to prevent collisions with whales through measures like reducing speed and enhancing visual vigilance.

Furthermore, Whale Alert enables the maritime community and the general public to report whale sightings. These reports are promptly shared with prominent whale researchers, as well as state and federal regulatory bodies. In certain instances, documented whale sightings prompt verification flights by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) or the United States Coast Guard (USCG), who then assess the necessity of implementing temporary speed restrictions known as Dynamic Management Areas.

Key features of Whale Alert 3.0 encompass:

• A growing list of whale preservation zones and speed advisories, such as NOAA Atlantic Seasonal Management Areas and Dynamic Management Areas, along with NOAA Atlantic MSR Boundaries, Recommended Routes, designated Areas-to-be-Avoided, Traffic Separation Schemes monitored by NOAA and IMO—encompassing regions like San Pedro and Santa Barbara Channels—as well as the Traffic Separation Scheme in San Francisco Bay, and NOAA Alaska Right Whale Critical Habitat
• Real-time data from Acoustic Whale Detection Buoys in the Boston area (reserved for Right Whales), Wave Glider technology for detecting whales in real-time along with selected human observations
• Accessibility to Dynamic Management Areas via the internet or AIS over WIFI along with seamless U.S. Nautical Raster Charts
• GPS Position Tracking and Alert for Managing Area Entries
• Support for recording whale sightings through forms and camera functionalities
• Automatic uploading of sighting data to a central research database

Whale Alert is the result of a collaboration among governmental agencies, academic institutions, non-profit conservation organizations, and private enterprises such as IFAW, Conserve.IO, Excelerate Energy, EOM Offshore, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Massachusetts Port Authority, NOAA Fisheries Service, NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries, National Park Service, Cape Cod National Seashore, Point Blue Conservation Science, NYK Line (North America), United States Coast Guard, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Please note that continuous use of GPS running in the background may significantly impact battery life.