AI WhaleSpotter network launches in San Francisco Bay to warn mariners

A new artificial intelligence-powered detection network has launched in San Francisco Bay, designed to alert mariners to the presence of whales in real time and reduce fatal ship strikes. The system, known as WhaleSpotter, uses thermal cameras to scan the bay around the clock for whale blows and heat signatures up to two nautical miles away.

The initiative comes amid a sharp increase in gray whale deaths in the region. Last year, 21 dead gray whales were found in the wider Bay Area, the highest number in 25 years, with at least 40 killed by ship strikes, according to The Marine Mammal Center. At least 10 more have died so far this year. Scientists note these figures likely underestimate the true toll, as many carcasses sink or are swept out to sea.

Gray whales, which migrate along the California coast between Mexico and the Arctic, are increasingly diverting into the crowded estuary and lingering for days or weeks—a behavioral shift linked by scientists to climate change. Warming temperatures and shifts in Arctic sea ice are disrupting their food web, leaving many malnourished during their migration. This has led many whales to concentrate in a high-traffic corridor between...