The Blue BOAT Initiative installed the first smart buoy in the South American region in October 2022. It will be part of a network of acoustic buoys for the protection of whales in Chile, trying to counteract the risk factors caused by human activity.
The device avoids collisions with whales by sending early warning signals to vessels. The system will also provide data on oceanic global warming as the sensors monitor the health of the oceans. In addition to helping the preservation of these mammals, it contributes to combating climate change, since whales play a key role in the absorption and storage of CO2.
The point selected for the first buoy was the Gulf of Corcovado, an essential location for marine diversity. This Gulf is a nutrient-rich spot with a large amount of food for marine fauna and flora, making it a special place for marine diversity — among them blue whales and southern right whales.
Why are whales so important?
Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas of human origin. Whales can absorb more than 33 tons of CO2 over their lifetime (a tree absorbs only up to 48 pounds of CO2 a year). After their death, the carbon they absorbed does not surface, which may contribute to initiatives working to control climate change.
According to a 2019 study Nature’s Solution to Climate Change, by the International Monetary Fund, there are approximately 1.3 million whales alive in the world. In the past, there were an estimated four million. Among the main threats to whales are hunting, noise pollution, ship strikes and plastic pollution.
“Sadly, after decades of industrialized whaling, biologists estimate that overall whale populations are now to less than one fourth what they once were,” the IFM said. “Some species, like the blue whales, have been reduced to only 3 percent of their previous abundance. Thus, the benefits from whales’ ecosystem services to us and to our survival are much less than they could be.”
In recent years, many scientists have focused their interest on climate change. While there are a number of options for mitigation, researchers are exploring the ability of whales to capture carbon from the atmosphere.
“What if there were a low-tech solution to this problem that not only is effective and economical, but also has a successful funding model?”, the IMF said. “An example of such an opportunity comes from a surprisingly simple and essentially ‘no-tech’ strategy to capture more carbon from the atmosphere: Increase global whale populations.”
Although human activity puts whales at risk, some countries have taken measures to prevent these large mammals from being killed in accidents, captured or traded. These initiatives can help both species conservation and climate change mitigation.
How does it work?
The initiative is managed by the MERI Foundation, the Chilean Ministry of the Environment, and the Bioacoustic Applications Laboratory of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Spain. The buoy in Chile is the first one they placed; they expect to install five in the Gulf of Corcovado.
It works with two solar panels and the technology used is LIDO (Listen to Deep Ocean Environment) developed by the team of the bioacoustics expert Michel André. The LIDO system will allow real-time acoustic mapping of the marine habitat.
The buoy signals will be received by the Chilean Navy, which will be in charge of alerting the vessels. In addition to sending warning signals about the presence of whales, the buoy has oceanographic sensors and hydrophones that can be used to map sounds and measure salinity, temperature, oxygen and chlorophyll levels.
The data will be used for studies on ocean variations, marine biodiversity and climate change. In this way, it will be possible to know the impact of human activity and carbon in the ocean. LIDO software monitors acoustic sources in real time and uses artificial intelligence to identify them.
Other initiatives to keep whales safe
Although there is still a journey ahead, various initiatives have been undertaken over the years to protect them. In Massachusetts there is a network of smart buoys that detect whale calls. With these systems it will be also possible to collect data about the conditions of the oceans.
Similar systems have been installed in the Mediterranean for the protection of whales, which warn ships to change direction or be alert if a whale is close to them.
Very high-resolution satellites are another new way to know when a whale is stranded on a beach, according to a 2021 study. As the quality of these satellites improves, they will make it possible to accurately identify if the spots are beached whales and monitor these spaces.
Image: A whale in the Strait of Magellan, Chile by Delaney Van