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I thought it was going to be about speakers that send out some kind of noise to keep the whales away. It's not: it's about microphones on buoys that listen for
by BrentOzar 7y ago
I thought it was going to be about speakers that send out some kind of noise to keep the whales away. It's not: it's about microphones on buoys that listen for whales, send alerts to scientists, who then alert ship captains in the area to voluntarily slow down.
However, the article also notes that ship captains are already ignoring warnings to slow down, and there are no penalties for going fast and hitting whales, so...
- whenchamenia 7y agoMost captians want to keep their vessel in good shape and will avoid whales when possible purely out of selfish reasons. Simply providing the safer option seems quite effective when the power of law is absent.
- PavlovsCat 7y agoIt's not about what captains want, but what the companies they work for want. > Louttit said that as long as slowing down is voluntary, some companies will take the bad press that comes from arriving to port with a whale stuck to a ship’s bow.
- i_am_proteus 7y agoThere are no legal penalties, but striking a whale is non-trivial and can damage the ship. Separately, naval vessels are ordered to maintain 1/4-1/2 mile standoff from whales unless safety of ship overrides.