San Francisco turns to AI to avoid collisions between ships, whales searching for food

An AI-powered WhaleSpotter network scans San Francisco Bay around the clock for whale blows and heat signatures up to 2 nautical miles away. Alerts prompt mariners to slow down or reroute when whales are nearby, enabling route adjustments during whale season. The system also supports tracking data over time to identify areas where whales linger. Gray whale deaths in the Bay Area have risen sharply, with 21 dead gray whales found last year and at least 40% attributed to ship strikes. Additional deaths have occurred this year, and scientists say carcasses may sink or be swept away before detection, underestimating the true toll. Gray whales increasingly enter the bay and remain for days or weeks, a shift linked to climate change and disruptions to Arctic food webs.

"The system, called WhaleSpotter, scans the bay around the clock for whale blows and heat signatures up to 2 nautical miles away, alerting mariners to slow down or reroute when whales are nearby. "They'll be able to make adjustments way before they get anywhere close," said Thomas Hall, director of operations for San Francisco Bay Ferry. "It will also allow us to track data over time and see where the whales are camping out so we can adjust our routes during whale season to avoid those areas completely.""

"Last year, 21 dead gray whales were found in the wider Bay Area - the highest number in 25 years, according to The Marine Mammal Center - with at least 40% killed by ship strikes. At least 10 more have died in the Bay Area so far this year. Scientists say those figures likely underestimate the true toll as many whale carcasses sink or are swept back out to sea before they are ever found or reported."

"Gray whales have long migrated along the California coast on their roughly 12,000-mile (19,300-kilometer) journey between breeding lagoons in Mexico and feeding grounds in the Arctic. But instead of simply passing offshore, increasing numbers are now diverting into San Francisco Bay and lingering for days or even weeks inside the crowded estuary - a shift scientists increasingly link to climate change. Warming temperatures and shifts in sea ice in the Arctic are disrupting the food web gray whales rely on during summer feeding months, according to a 2023 study in Scie"

Read at ABC7 San Francisco