A Cornell scientist is working to try to save the whales. Dr. Christopher Clark has helped develop an app that connects with an acoustic buoy system that can alert vessels if right whales are in shipping lanes.
Collisions with ships are the leading cause of death for the whales.
Speaking from on board a ship in Cape Cod Bay, Clark says the buoys are constantly listening for right whale calls, and send messages via satellite to scientists at Cornell. The information on the location of the whales can then be viewed on an iPad or iPhone.
Clark says they also plan to install the system between Siberia and Alaska to listen for endangered bowhead whales that migrate in there.
Clark says the acoustic buoys and app system could also be used to protect other species such as African elephants by monitoring for illegal poaching.
Click on the audio player above to hear the sounds of right whales recorded by the acoustic buoys along Massachusetts Bay.
