Page 12 - aruba-today-20220531

A12 science
Tuesday 31 May 2022

Robotic buoys developed to keep

Atlantic right whales safe

than 340 in the world and
ship strikes are one of the
biggest threats to their
existence, as they travel
through some of the busi-
est stretches of ocean on
the planet. Now, French
shipping giant CMA CGM
is working with Woods Hole
to deploy two of the ro-
botic buoys off of Norfolk,
Virginia, and Savannah,
Georgia.
CMA CGM is funding the
deployment of the buoys,
which will add to the data
collected by six others off
the East Coast, Baumgart-
ner said. The two new
buoys could be deployed
for testing soon, he said.
“We have to change our
industrial practices when
whales are around. That’s
what this tech enables,”
Baumgartner said. “Hav-
ing the industry tell us what
works and what doesn’t is
the best way to have solu-
In this June 29, 2021, photo provided by Woods Hole Oceano- tions that will actually be
graphic Institution, an acoustic buoy floats in the water off the implemented.”
coast of Ocean City, Md. The whales were once
Associated Press abundant off the East
Coast, but their popula-
By PATRICK WHITTLE nology, which uses buoys tions were decimated gen-
Associated Press and underwater gliders erations ago by commer-
A Cape Cod science cen- to record whale sounds in cial whaling. These days,
ter and one of the world’s near real time. The robotic they’re vulnerable to ship
largest shipping businesses recorders give scientists, collisions and entangle-
are collaborating on a proj- mariners and the public an ment in fishing gear. And
ect to use robotic buoys to idea of the location of rare they’ve dwindled in popu-
protect a vanishing whale North Atlantic right whales, lation in recent years be-
from lethal collisions with said Mark Baumgartner, cause of high mortality and
ships. a marine ecologist with poor reproduction.
A lab at Woods Hole Woods Hole whose lab also The whales are aided by
Oceanographic Institu- operates the buoys. a complex network of pro-
tion developed the tech- The whales number less tected areas and shipping
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johnnypaesch@gmail.com Representatives for CMA
also visit(new): CGM, which has a U.S.
www.halleyadventures.com headquarters in Norfolk,
said the company chose
to locate buoys off the Vir-
ginia city and Savannah
because those are among
the busiest shipping ports
in the United States. Ed Al-
dridge, president of CMA
CGM America, said it’s an
effort to “responsibly share
the ocean with marine
mammals and protect en-
dangered species.”