The Greek government, the Athens-based environmental think tank The Green Tank, and OceanCare signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the implementation of the "SAvE Whales" system in the Strait of Kythira. This technology is designed as a complementary tool to protect endangered sperm whales from collisions with ships in areas where rerouting vessel traffic is not possible.
"Today is a landmark day for the protection of sperm whales and the country's biodiversity protection policy," said Ioli Christopoulou, Co-founder and Policy Director of The Green Tank. "Despite the challenges, we managed to design a system based on smart technology responding to the greatest threat for the sperm whale population in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea," added Sigrid Lueber, President and Founder of OceanCare.
As explained, the collaboration aims to scale up the "SAvE Whales" (System for the Avoidance of Ship-strikes with Endangered Whales) technology. This innovative system locates the exact position of sperm whales up to 7 kilometres and transmits the information in real-time to inform mariners to slow down or adjust their route to avoid collisions.
