Effort to protect whales now includes public alert system in the Pacific Northwest

Whales in Washington state waters could be a little safer thanks to a new boat alert system by the Coast Guard.

The four-year pilot program, aptly named cetacean desk, was created to alleviate the impact of vessel traffic on large whales in the Salish Sea, a tangle of underwater channels and interconnected waterways that run between British Columbia, Canada, and Washington.

Whales, dolphins and porpoises are commonly known as cetaceans, which are any member of "an entirely aquatic group of mammals" as defined by Britannica.

The “cetacean desk” is designed to keep a host of marine mammals safe, including orcas, baleen whales, humpback whales as populations bounce back, making visits in the area increasingly more common, according to reporting by The Associated Press. 

Nearly 300,000 vessels made their way across the region in 2023, making the need to reduce the instances of “ship strikes and whale disturbances in the Puget Sound region,” especially important.

“The U.S. Coast Guard is stepping up for mariners, whales, and other wildlife in Puget Sound, coordinating and efficiently sharing valuable insight” said Grace Ferrara, a marine mammal biologist for NOAA’s Fisheries office in a news release. 

Here’s what we know. 

How can I report a whale sighting?

Mariners and members of the general public are able to report a whale sighting to the Coast Guard’s cetacean desk. 

Lt. Cmdr. Margaret Woodbridge, cetacean desk program manager encouraged the public and mariners to document and all whale sightings through the Whale Report app, Whale Alert app or Orca Network. 

The desk, hosted by Puget Sound Vessel Traffic Services, can also take whale sighting reports from Vessel Traffic Services users by phone at (206) 217-ORCA (x6722) or Puget Sound VTS designated traffic channels (5A, 14), according to the Coast Guard's website.

Mariners in Canadian waters can report sightings to the CCG Marine Mammal Desk at (833)-339-1020 or CCG radio. 

Reporters will be asked to provide vessel name, whale species sighted, number of animals and direction of travel/any behavior observed. 

How has the Coast Guard’s boat alert system kept whales safe? 

The boat alert system, which has been in use since December 2023, utilizes reports of whale sightings from members of the public and mariners alike to provide near real-time data about the whale’s location to sailors out on the water. 

Whale reports have increased by 585% when comparing December 2022 and December 2023, according to AP.

The sightings reported on whale-watching apps are one way the Coast Guard can produce a fairly accurate location. Another is through underwater listening devices, AP reported. 

An integrated system picks up the data collected, sending an alert to commercial vessels and regional ferries through the Whale Report Alert System (WRAS) if a whale has been spotted nearby, according to AP reporting. 

The mission of the cetacean desk aligns closely with that of the Canadian Coast Guard’s Marine Mammal Desk, which also provides a “consistent whale reporting and notification regime for operators of large ships throughout the Salish Sea,” according to the news release. 

““The new cetacean desk aligns with our regional goals to help endangered whales and ships share the waters of the Salish Sea,” said Rachel Aronson, the Quiet Sound program director at Washington Maritime Blue. 

“When mariners call in a sighting to the VTS, that sighting will be used to help other mariners make safer choices.”