With the AI function, buoys with microphones prevent ships from hitting whales

CTOnews.com, September 29 (Xinhua)-- artificial intelligence software can reduce whale deaths by identifying whale species and the location of whales by monitoring sounds inside the buoy.

The Whale Safety Project was launched by Benioff Marine Science Laboratory and partners, and the first whale safety systems have been deployed in Los Angeles and the Santa Barbara Strait near long Beach Port. Each buoy carries an airborne computer that uses an underwater microphone to record the sound of whales. Artificial intelligence algorithms then detect the sounds of specific species of whales and then transmit data via satellite every two hours, and scientists will review the results identified by the AI software to see if the whales' voices are correctly identified. Then, by analyzing the water regime (through a separate machine learning model) and local whale observation records, the location of the animal is calculated. If a ship is in a calculated animal path, a notice can be issued to warn the crew.

More than 50% of American container ships are transported through ports on the west coast. Scientists estimate that each year more than 80 endangered whales from various native species, such as blue whales, fin whales, humpback whales and gray whales, are killed by ships in the area as they migrate to foraging grounds. "Whale ship collisions are still the leading cause of death of endangered whales, but with the advent of these new monitoring technologies and warning systems, the number of deaths has begun to decline," said Marc Benioff, chairman and co-chief executive of Salesforce.

Benioff and his wife Lynn helped create Benioff Marine Science Lab, a charity led by the University of California, Santa Barbara. The group is led by Douglas McCauley, a professor of marine science at UCSB. "different whale populations have different dialects," Macaulay said. "in order for this artificial intelligence to work in California, we need to use the calls of these California whales to train artificial intelligence."

CTOnews.com learned that the team hopes to deploy more artificial intelligence buoys in other coastal areas of the United States, such as Seattle, Vancouver and San Diego, and does not rule out the possibility that whale safety programs can one day expand to more international regions around the world.