A gray whale surfaces in San Francisco Bay on February 26. Whales are increasingly foraging in the heavily trafficked bay, facing danger of collision with ships.
Whale lovers and ship pilots unite! Thanks to a scientific coalition and a new company operating in San Francisco Bay, AI-powered thermal monitoring can detect foraging gray whales from 7 kilometers away, giving vessels crucial time to avert potential collisions. It’s a win for conservation that doubles as smart risk management, helping operators dodge liability, environmental fines and the logistical headache of a ship strike. Carolyn Gramling tells the whale’s tale in Science News.
🌡️ Thermal imaging meets machine learning
The solution, developed by scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts, starts with thermal cameras mounted on radio towers, passenger ferries and other vantage points to scan the water for whales in real time. Integrated with a machine learning algorithm trained on a boatload of water temperature images, the system can infer that slightly warmer water is coming from whales and their blowholes. With human researchers in the loop to verify these detections, alerts are sent to nearby vessels, with sufficient lead time to adjust course or speed.
⛴️ The marine safety market
In 2025 alone, 21 gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) were found dead in and around San Francisco Bay, with 40 percent of those fatalities attributed to vessel collisions.
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