New iPhone App: Mariners Can Get Whale Alerts Now

The latest Whale Alert app is designed to reduce the probability of ships colliding with the endangered right whales which can kill them.

The app is available for new iPad and iPhone users. Mariners along the US east coast will have a new iPad and iPhone app which cautions them while entering areas where the risk of collision with endangered right whales is high.

The main feature of the app is a display which links real-time acoustic buoys which listen for the right whale calls and an iPad on a ship's bridge showing the whale's presence to mariners travelling the shipping lanes. The whales are tracked using buoys across 55 miles.

North Atlantic right whales, which live along North America's east coast from Nova Scotia to Florida are one of the scarcest and world's largest animals on the verge of extinction.

The free app connects to the listening network which is the key feature. The technologies used in the app are global positioning system, automatic identification system, internet and digital nautical chart which will alert mariners to NOAA's right whale conservation measures.

The Whale Alert app is available for free to download here.