While increases in maritime shipping traffic continue on an exponential trend, marine mammals, especially the critically endangered right whale, is experiencing ever increasing injuries and deaths due…

While increases in maritime shipping traffic continue on an exponential trend, marine mammals, especially the critically endangered right whale, is experiencing ever increasing injuries and deaths due to ship strikes and fishing gear entanglements. This sbir seeks to combine two fielded prototype technologies- a parafoil built for the US navy (TALONS), and a whale detection sensor system that would give ship captains a greater chance of reacting well before a ship crosses paths with a whale. This technology combination also shows great promise for a) vessel-strike mitigation, B) noise mitigation during windfarm construction and piledriving as well as NOAA scientific applications for marine mammal tracking and detection. In long-run one could imagine autonomous vehicles equipped with such systems to track individual whales of highly endangered species (e.g. north atlantic right whale) and create mobile high-awareness zones to protect those animals.