A new artificial intelligence-powered whale detection network has been launched in San Francisco Bay, designed to alert ships in real time to the presence of whales and reduce deadly collisions. The system, named WhaleSpotter, uses thermal cameras to scan the bay day and night for whale blows and heat signatures up to two nautical miles away, sending alerts to mariners to slow down or change course.
The initiative comes amid a sharp rise in gray whale deaths in the bay. Last year, 21 dead gray whales were found in the wider Bay Area, the highest number in 25 years, with at least 40 percent killed by ship strikes, according to The Marine Mammal Center. At least 10 more have died so far this year, though scientists say the true toll is likely higher as many carcasses sink or are swept out to sea.
Gray whales have long migrated along the California coast, but increasing numbers are now diverting into San Francisco Bay and lingering for days or weeks inside the crowded estuary. Scientists link this shift to climate change, which is disrupting the Arctic food web and leaving many whales malnourished during migration. Many now concentrate in a high-traffic corridor between Angel Island, Alcatraz and Treasure Island, directly overlapping with ferry routes and shipping lanes.
“It’s the worst place possible in terms of all the ship traffic,” said Rachel Rhodes, a project scientist at the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory who led the initiative. The eastern North Pacific gray whale population has declined by half over the last 10 years, with just 13,000 remaining, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The WhaleSpotter system uses artificial intelligence to flag potential whale sightings, which are then verified by trained marine mammal observers before alerts are sent via radio to ferry operators and vessel traffic controllers. The network is the first to integrate land-based and vessel-mounted detections with official mariner alerts, allowing near-real-time relay of sightings. One camera has been installed on Angel Island, and a second will soon be fixed aboard a ferry to create a “moving data collection platform.”
“Suddenly to have a full sense of how much whale activity is in this space honestly put me a little bit on edge,” said Douglas McCauley, director of the Benioff lab. “But we're going to use that data and we're going to be smart about how we use that space and share it with the whales.”
