Whale Alert - the app to prevent ship-whale collisions

Heading to the water? Help protect whales

IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) is a global non-profit helping animals and people thrive together. We are experts and everyday people, working across seas, oceans, and in more than 40 countries around the world.

We partner with local communities, governments, non-governmental organisations, and businesses. Together, we pioneer new and innovative ways to help all species flourish. From the beginning of Whale Alert, IFAW has been its principal champion, financial supporter, and lead NGO for outreach and expansion.

Whale Alert's technology stack is developed and maintained by Conserve.IO, a leading provider of mobile technology and data collection for conservation.

NOAA Stellwagen National Marine Sanctuary was the originating sanctuary of the Whale Alert project. It uniquely leverages acoustic technology to help detect the presence of right whales in the Boston Channel and uses the Whale Alert platform to alert commercial shippers.

The sanctuary hosts some of the largest aggregations of endangered whales to occur along the eastern seaboard of the US.

This collaboration includes the five national marine sanctuaries of the West Coast, Conserve.IO, and Point Blue Conservation Science, in coordination with ifaw, with a mission to reduce the number of ship collisions with whales. West Coast national marine sanctuaries encompass 12,843 square miles of marine protected areas around the Channel Islands, Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones, Monterey Bay, and Olympic Coast. Sanctuaries use a multi-pronged approach to reduce the risk of vessel strikes and have committed to activities in research and monitoring, policy and management collaborations, and education and outreach. To learn about new and continuing initiatives led by West Coast sanctuaries and partners, visit the sanctuary website dedicated to reducing ship strike risk to whales. Sanctuaries host numerous threatened and endangered whale species such as blue, humpback, fin, sperm, and western North Pacific grey whales, among others. These migratory whales rely on the highly productive waters located in the West Coast sanctuaries supplied by the California Current System.

The North Atlantic Right Whale Sighting Survey (NARWSS) is a NOAA Fisheries programme that locates and records the seasonal distribution of North Atlantic right whales off the Northeast US. Surveys are conducted year-round aboard a NOAA Twin Otter aircraft that flies systematic track lines within eleven primary survey blocks including Cashes Ledge, Franklin Basin, Georges Basin, Georges Shoal, Great South Channel (SCOPEX North and South), Howell Swell, Jeffreys Ledge, Jordan Basin, Lindenkohl Basin, and Stellwagen Bank.

The Canadian Whale Institute conducts and supports activities to better understand and protect marine mammals and promote responsibility for their habitats. They collaborate with marine industries to develop solutions, conduct scientific research, provide educational programmes, and rescue marine mammals entangled in gear.

The Channel Islands Cetacean Research Unit (CICRU) contributes daily to cetacean research and understanding the health of the oceans. CICRU is a bio-surveillance research group analysing the health of the ocean through the health of cetaceans. They believe in "One Ocean, One Health."

Tidal Energy is teaming up with scientists to better understand the potential impact of tidal turbine power generators on local marine life, including whales and other marine mammals. The group is utilising the Whale Alert platform to survey and track the movements of marine mammals in the proposed areas of development and will be using the platform to monitor the environment on an ongoing basis.

A partnership between NPS Glacier Bay, Whale Alert, NOAA, and the state of Alaska provides in-season daily updates of whale presence to reduce vessel strikes in the waters of Southeast Alaska. Vetted industry members, including cruise ship operators and pilots for the Alaska Marine Highway System, use Whale Alert to keep informed of recent sightings.

The Ørsted vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy. Ørsted is the global leader in offshore wind, responsible for more than a quarter of the world’s installed offshore wind capacity. Since 2006, they have increased the share of green energy in our heat and power generation from 13 to 64%. Now, they have set a new target of more than 95% green energy by 2023.​ Ørsted is a financial backer of Whale Alert and a key representative of a network of energy partners.

ProtectedSeas publishes the most comprehensive Marine Managed Area map online and is an active developer of ocean conservation technology. ProtectedSeas provides critical technical resources and ongoing support for the ever-expanding set of Whale Alert projects.