Nasa spy planes to track Whales

23rd June 2008

A spy plane originally designed by Nasa will help track whales in the Mediterranean to try to prevent collisions between the giant mammals and ships.

Around 10 whales every year hit ships in the channels around the Cetaceans Sanctuary of the Mediterranean, a 40,000 square mile reserve that stretches from the coast of Tuscany in Italy to Toulon in the south of France, and includes the whole of Corsica and the northern coast of Sardinia.

Sperm whales, fin whales, pilot and grampus whales and common dolphins all thrive in the reserve. The prevailing east-west current in the area acts as a vortex, sucking up plankton from deeper waters.

However, around 5,000 ships a day now pass through the waters and five whales every year are killed. Under plans drawn up by the universities of Turin, Genoa and Montpellier, an intricate system of sensors will float in the reserve and track the movements of whale pods.

In addition, a £1.2 million solar-powered spy plane, adapted from a Nasa model, will fly at 60,000 feet and feed data to a special centre.

Captains of the ships in the area will then have access to a map showing the whales in real-time. The plan, announced by Maurizio Wurtz, the head of the Biology Department at Genoa University, is still dependent on funding from the European Union.

The whales are also under threat from an enormous liquefied natural gas terminal which is set to built on a huge ship anchored 12 miles off the coast of Livorno. Planning permission for the ship, which will take delivery of gas from 40 to 50 tankers a year, was granted last year.

No comments yet.

Leave a comment for Nasa spy planes to track Whales