“Ahoy, Captain Ahab, seen any whales?” “Let me check my Whale Alert app…”

Can you imagine that brutally updated exchange in Herman Melville’s classic work?  Nowadays, it’s the truth.

The critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (estimated remaining population between 350-550) has a protector in the Whale Alert app that is available for both iPad and iPhone.  It’s free and includes a single source of information about right whale management measures as well as the latest data about their detections overlaid on NOAA digital charts.  To reduce whale strikes, federal regulations require that vessels 65 feet or greater (cruise ships, for instance) to operate at 10 knots or less in certain locations along the East Coast of the United States in an effort to stave off whale strikes.

The app links near real-time acoustic buoys that listen for the whale’s calls and transmit them to an iDevice on a ship’s bridge.

More information about the app is available on the developer’s website.  I wanted to share some video of the app at work, but you’ll just have to settle for video of right whales instead.