Whales are magnificent, intelligent mammals whose life span can be as long as a human’s. However, their lives can be cut short. As many as 80 whales are estimated to die each year off the West Coast of the US as a result of ship strikes, and about a third of all Right Whale deaths in the Atlantic are attributed to ship strikes. Sperm Whales in the Mediterranean are also listed as an endangered species, and ship strike is their leading cause of death. Whale avoidance is clearly top of mind for mariners. It is time to explore how currently available technology can help in this endeavor.

Protecting the fragile underwater ecosystems and achieving business goals don’t always go hand in hand, but it can. Preventing groundings and collisions means minimizing ship downtime, avoiding injury to passengers, crew and wildlife, and reduction in accident-associated environmental penalties.

All Argos FLS systems use FarSounder’s SonaSoft™ software for processing and displaying data. Its main function is to view real-time data in the path of the vessel. In addition to detecting the seafloor and hazards ahead in real-time, it also has a unique application called Local History Mapping™. The application stores this data for use as additional information to supplement older chart data.