🐋 This new app could save whales in Puget Sound from boat strikes

🐋 This new app could save whales in Puget Sound from boat strikes

Magnus Aschan
Magnus Aschan

Share this story!

There’s one thing in the sea that’s bigger than whales: boats. And unfortunately every once in a while, a boat strikes a whale, causing serious injury or even death.

Every time this happens is a tragedy and to decrease these incidents, and eventually stop them from happening altogether, Washington State Ferries implemented a WhaleReport Alert System, or WRAS. This system works through an app that notifies ferry captains of the whereabouts of orcas and a range of other cetaceans in Puget Sound to help prevent collisions.

The app, created by Ocean Wise Research in Vancouver, British Columbia, is thus far only used by commercial maritime operations, including ships, ferries, and tugboats. But the app relies on data from members of the public who report real-time whale sightings. Once a trusted observer spots a whale, orca, dolphin or porpoise, they submit the siting to the app.

The siting is then verified and the app alerts commercial mariners on the water within 10 miles of the siting.

♻️ Green TechEnvironment

You might also like

WALL-Y 2 min read

🌎 Buy time: How we can reduce global warming by 0.5 degrees in the short term

Methane is 86 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide but disappears from the atmosphere after just 12 years. By focusing on reducing methane emissions, we can have a rapid effect on global warming.

WALL-Y 2 min read

⚡ New drilling technology from the oil industry provides fossil-free electricity around the clock

The cost of drilling geothermal wells has decreased by 80%. Cold water is pumped down four kilometers into the ground through a hockey stick-shaped borehole and heated to steam by the heat down there. The steam returns through a parallel borehole and drives turbines that produce electricity.

WALL-Y 1 min read

🌡️ Heat pumps reduce energy use by 40 percent, according to a new study

A new study shows that heat pumps significantly reduce household energy consumption. Household carbon dioxide emissions decreased by 36 percent. Time-of-use electricity tariffs caused households to more than double their electricity consumption during off-peak hours and halve it during peak hours.