AI-Powered Thermal Cameras Detect Gray Whales in San Francisco Bay to Prevent Ship Strikes

A new whale detection system using thermal cameras and artificial intelligence has been deployed in San Francisco Bay to reduce ship strikes on gray whales. The technology, developed over 15 years by researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and commercialized by WhaleSpotter, identifies whales by detecting the slightly warmer water from their blowholes against the chilly ambient water. Two thermal cameras were installed in late May: one on Angel Island and another on the MV Lyra passenger ferry. The system can detect whales up to four miles away, even in fog or darkness, and alerts nearby vessels to reduce speed or alter course. Collaborators include the U.S. Coast Guard’s Vessel Traffic Service, the Marine Mammal Center, and UC Santa Barbara’s Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory. Gray whales migrating from Alaska to Mexico increasingly enter the Bay, likely due to declining amphipod prey in the warming Arctic. A study in Frontiers in Marine Science found that 18% of identifiable whales entering the Bay from 2018 to 2025 did not survive, with 40% of carcasses showing lethal ship strike injuries. The eastern North Pacific gray whale population has dropped to about 13,000 individuals, the lowest since the 1970s, down from 27,000 in 2016. Researchers hope to install additional cameras at the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, or other ferries, aiming to create a network that tracks individual whales like delivery trucks.