New Real-Time Whale Monitoring Technology In NY-Metro Region

By Barbara Russo

WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society’s) New York Seascape Program, based at the WCS New York Aquarium, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have partnered on a joint venture to protect whales in the New York Bight using new real-time monitoring technology, a program supported by the G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation.

Though whales are seasonally seen in local waters, much is still unknown about them in the New York Bight, an area of water that ranges from Cape May, N.J., to Montauk, N.Y. Whales found in this area are subject to many human activities, some of them harmful, such as ship strikes and underwater noise from various anthropogenic (human) related activities. WCS and Woods Hole Oceanographic scientists will implement new ways to better protect whales – many of which are the focus of state and federal efforts related to species and habitat protection.

“We have many to thank for making this new program possible, including the Vetlesen Foundation and the state of New York” said WCS President and CEO, Dr. Cristián Samper. “We look forward to working with our partners at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to implement these exciting new technologies to protect migratory whales that spend time in New York’s waters. We share the ocean with these species and have a responsibility to protect them when they are here.”

“I commend WCS and WHOI on this joint whale monitoring venture. Their work meshes well with New York’s efforts to monitor the whales in the NY Bight,” says NYS DEC Commissioner Joe Martens. “This summer DEC asked boaters to voluntarily slowdown in state waters to protect the visiting humpback whales that delighted many New Yorkers. Better information on the location and movement of whales is key to protect these magnificent endangered species.”
WCS has already begun working with scientists from WHOI, who have pioneered new whale monitoring technology – a digital acoustic monitoring buoy – to listen for and report the calls of whales in near-real time via satellite to a shore-side computer and publically accessible website. With complementary support from the federal government, the team will use a wave glider, a new mobile autonomous vehicle that harnesses the energy of the waves and the sun to move and power the acoustic instrument.

Near real-time detections from both the digital acoustic monitoring buoy and the wave glider can help minimize threats whales face from human activity by alerting ocean users about when and where whales are present. The system will initially be used for research, alerting scientists about where they can find whales using planes or boats to better assess their behaviors and habitat use. WCS and WHOI envision the technology will contribute to New York State’s comprehensive research and monitoring objectives to protect whales and their habitat in the New York Bight.

Ultimately, as part of the project, WCS plans to make the near-real time information on whales available at the New York Aquarium and via the internet. This monitoring system will advance the understanding of whale occurrence, habitat use, and interactions with the diverse human activities occurring in these New York waters.

“With this joint venture between WCS and Woods Hole Oceanographic, we’ll be able to learn more about whales in their native habitat including their migratory routes, with the potential to avert adverse impacts they face from human activity in the New York Bight,” said WHOI President and Director Susan Avery. “A strategy like this will quickly generate the scientific information needed by state and federal managers in their conservation planning.”

The WCS New York Aquarium launched the New York Seascape Program in 2010 to restore healthy populations of threatened local marine species, protect local marine waters, and inspire New Yorkers about the wonders of their local waters. In addition to whales and dolphins, other animals that can be found in this area include sharks, skates, seals, sea turtles, tunas, deep sea corals, and more – many of which depend on the Hudson Canyon, the East Coast’s largest submarine canyon.

Beyond the New York Aquarium, WCS’s marine conservation work and activities protect marine species and their habitat in the waters of 23 countries across all of the world’s oceans to help save marine life.

The New York Aquarium broke ground this past year on Ocean Wonders: Sharks!, a 57,000-square-foot building that will house more than 115 species of marine wildlife, including sharks, skates, and rays. It will feature exhibits dedicated to the animals of the New York Bight, and plans to include an exhibit on the real-time whale detection technology. Ocean Wonders: Sharks! is scheduled to open in 2016.