Monday
Dec192011
New Computer Program to Help Whales Avoid Hitting Big Ships
Monday, December 19, 2011 at 12:00AM
Courtesy sciencedaily.com
Whales are big but ships are bigger. So when a whale collides with a ship, you can guess who the loser is.
To keep whales from running into ships around the Saint Lawrence River estuary in Canada, scientists at the University of Montreal have developed a computer program that helps ship captains predict when and where they’ll run into whales.
As noted in this ScienceDaily.com article the program takes into account the movements of five different whale species (minke, fin, beluga, humpback and blue) that use the area for food. The programmers interviewed ship captains and pilots and examined actual whale sightings dating back to 1994.
The hope is that with this computer program to guide them, ships will be able to adjust speed and direction to avoid collisions while not slowing down so much as to interfere with the ships’ schedules.
To keep whales from running into ships around the Saint Lawrence River estuary in Canada, scientists at the University of Montreal have developed a computer program that helps ship captains predict when and where they’ll run into whales.
As noted in this ScienceDaily.com article the program takes into account the movements of five different whale species (minke, fin, beluga, humpback and blue) that use the area for food. The programmers interviewed ship captains and pilots and examined actual whale sightings dating back to 1994.
The hope is that with this computer program to guide them, ships will be able to adjust speed and direction to avoid collisions while not slowing down so much as to interfere with the ships’ schedules.
