WTOC EXCLUSIVE: How AIS technology is protecting critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whales

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - The North Atlantic Right Whale is one of the most endangered whale species, only about 370 remain, including 70 reproductively active females. One of their biggest threats are vessel strikes.

They come to the Georgia Coast every December to give birth. And conservation groups are working to protect these marine mammals, so we don’t lose them forever.

For every knot above 10 that a boat travels, their risk of hitting and killing one of these whales increases exponentially.

On Tuesday, a team of arborists and conservationists took WTOC to Wassaw Island, to see how AIS (Automatic Identification Systems) are installed, and what they do.

“It’s an uninhabited barrier island. There are no structures on it,” Greg Reilly, with the International Fund for Animal Welfare said.

The island contains the highest point in Chatham County, making it perfect for the day’s mission. The team mounted a VHF-based transceiver in a tree on the island. The VHF transceiver is based on AIS technology, which is carried by all commercial vessels that are 65 feet and above.

That transceiver needs to be up high, but Wassaw has no cell towers or high buildings, so it’s placed on top of one of the tallest trees, with the help of some arborists.

“It’s a radio transceiver that can both receive signal from vessels and then transmit to vessels,” explained Moses Calouro, CEO of Motion Info

These systems set up an automatic geofence. When it is triggered, vessels over 65 feet get a message on their screens.

“If they don’t slow down in a certain period of time, we will send them another message,” Calouro explained.

This effort is all to make sure that boaters know when to slow down, if they’re near the area of the North Atlantic Right Whale.

While they return home to coastal Georgia to give birth every December, many don’t make it out alive.

“A third of the deaths and injuries are due to vessel strikes,” Reilly said.

The faster a vessel is going when it hits a whale, the more likely it is to kill one of these critically endangered species. This technology tells boaters when one of these whales is near, and tells them to slow down, kind of like a school speed zone for drivers.

“We think it’s going to have an effect because if you get these messages and you see it, you’ll know it. You know you got it. It’s unavoidable. And it takes up more of the chart than even the big charts,” Calouro said.

Reilly says they started installing these stations last year, already getting 40 up and running. Their main goal is to get 150 of them along the East Coast. But roadblocks have made that a challenge.

“The big missing piece, of course, is funding. Funding to sustain this project,” Reilly said.

So far, these messages popping up on boater’s screen appears to be working.

“Some of the ships have responded to us. We didn’t expect them to. And large ships, like 1,000-foot ships, would respond to us and say, ‘oops, sorry. I didn’t know’,” Calouro said.

This team hopes to continue this effort, to create better protections and safeguards for Georgia’s official marine mammal.

There are many ways to help this critically endangered species, for boaters, you can check Whale Alert: a free app to share real-time whale sightings. Next is just reducing your speed, as the faster you go, the more likely you are to kill one of these whales if you run into one.