The Southern Resident orcas in Washington state's Puget Sound are critically endangered, with only about 74 remaining, due to declining populations of Chinook salmon, pollution, and ship noise. A new AI-equipped thermal imaging camera, WhaleSpotter, has been installed on a Coast Guard radar tower to help mariners locate and avoid disturbing the orcas. Developed by WhaleSpotter, the camera can detect whales at night, in bad weather, and when they are silent, filling in gaps left by human visual observations and hydrophone sound detection. The technology aims to protect the remaining orcas from the impacts of vessel noise in the region and is part of efforts by Quiet Sound to find solutions that allow whales to coexist with human use of the ocean, including promoting voluntary vessel slowdowns when the whales arrive to rest and forage for salmon. Funding challenges for installing more WhaleSpotter cameras in the region are being addressed, and building quieter ships can make shipping regions safer for whales, as their safety is a global issue due to migration across borders.
https://triplepundit.com/2026/artificial-intelligence-orca-conservation-pudget-sound-whalespotter/