platform
Whale Agent
An open-source agentic solution to reduce whale-vessel collisions at scale
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Decision makers
- Environmental organizations
- Shipping companies
- Ship captains
- Insurance companies
Objectives
Reduce the number of whale strikes globally.
Deliverables
- A dynamic risk map highlighting potential vessel–whale interaction zones across wide ocean regions, updated as environmental and traffic conditions change
- Dynamic, seasonal shipping routes that are optimized for reducing whale strikes
- Timely warnings and recommendations, intended to support proactive mitigation actions such as speed reduction, course adjustment, or increased situational awareness in higher-risk areas.
User interface
The user interface could take the form of a web application or a mobile app. If possible, the whale collision risk and avoidance recommendations could be integrated into existing shipping management systems, used directly by planners. Even better, it might be possible to integrate the recommendations into ship navigation systems, providing real-time guidance to captains and crews.
Decision-making example
Each type of ship has its own set of constraints. Container ship captains, for instance, have to be at the right stop at the right time. If they already know they'll be late, then their main objective could switch from rushing to be on time to reducing whale collision risk and saving fuel. The recommendations can then become things like "reduce speed to x and navigate further north to avoid whale strikes and save fuel". In the end captains choose the trade-offs, but now they have tools to weight their options and evaluate them to make better informed decisions.
Data attributes
Context
The situation decision makers are in when they have to make a decision can be described by the following attributes:
- Type of ship: container, tanker, cruise ship, etc.
- Ship location
- Collision risk map
- Vessel traffic
- Current weather condition
- Air temperature
- Ocean temperature
- Ocean currents
- ...
- Season
- Whale spotting areas
- Krill spotting areas
- ...
Actions
Decision makers can take the following actions:
- Dynamically adjust global shipping routes
- Suggest protection areas for whales, maybe dynamically
- Reduce speed when entering a high-risk zone
- Adjust ship's course
- Increase situational awareness when entering a high-risk zone
Outcomes
Decision makers are evaluated on the following outcomes:
- Maximize crew safety
- Minimize whale strikes
- Minimize ship fuel consumption
- Minimize delays
Data
Possible data sources:
Code
TBD
Needs
List of needs:
- Contacts with decision makers
- UI/UX experts
- Data scientists
- Data
- Money
- Compute
- ...
References
- Ship collision risk threatens whales across the world’s oceans
- Whisperers of whales wander: A directional statistical investigation of whales’ migration influenced by geomagnetic, ocean current, and celestial cues
- Mapping Whales from Space
- Krill from space
- Whale Safe Tool
- Whale Seeker
Discussion
See the Whale Agent discussion space.