Making the Seas Safer for Whales
Through science, innovation and partnership, we’re working to make the sea safer for whales and support a thriving blue economy.
Whales are iconic ocean giants essential to a healthy and productive ocean. As ecosystem engineers, they help maintain a balanced food web and distribute critical nutrients across vast areas of ocean. Whales also play a surprising role in climate regulation, storing significant amounts of carbon in their bodies. When they die and sink to the bottom of the ocean, they can sequester more carbon than mature trees.
Commercial whaling drove many whale populations to the brink of extinction, but today the greatest threats to whales are different. Entanglement in fishing gear and ship strikes are the leading causes of whale mortality worldwide. As ocean conditions shift in a changing climate, whale and human activities are overlapping more often, increasing risks to whales.
Today, 85% of whale species are endangered, threatened or of unknown status. But there are real, practical measures we can take to protect them.
This dynamic conservation challenge requires innovative solutions. Reducing risk depends on having timely, actionable information about when and where whales overlap with human activities and management systems capable of responding as conditions change. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is focused on delivering practical, science-based solutions that make the ocean safer for whales while sustaining a thriving blue economy.
As our team works to address the major threats facing whales, I’m inspired to see the investment from many partners—from tech innovators to local fishermen to government agencies—that turns innovative ideas into real results and safer seas.
Better Monitoring means Safer Seas
Real, practical solutions are possible to reduce entanglement and prevent ship strikes—and they start with knowing where whales are. Traditional survey methods like aerial monitoring are time and resource intensive, so TNC used remote sensing to help fill critical data gaps in tracking whale migration. We partnered with the leading researchers in the field to develop machine learning algorithms that can detect humpback and gray whales in high-resolution satellite images.
In other words, we can use AI to locate whales from space. We’re using this innovative tool to enhance scientific understanding of whale migration patterns globally and support dynamic risk management.
WhalesAI at Work
We’re working with partners on the ground to pilot this platform to inform the administration of the Vessel Speed Reduction program in the Santa Barbara Channel. Lowering speeds of ships and boats in areas with many whales can reduce whale mortality risk by up to 90%. That’s why this statewide program asks commercial vessels to slow down in certain areas along California’s coast when whales are present. By providing managers with timely, accurate data on whale presence through WhalesAI, we hope to inform program administration and drastically increase implementation and effectiveness.
We’re also working to expand the application of WhalesAI for other management needs, such as filling data gaps that can help inform and adapt fishery management practices along the West Coast and reduce the risk of entanglements.
Achieving More with Adaptive Management
At TNC, we have found that the people best positioned and motivated to restore ocean health are the ones that depend on it most: fishing communities. We focus on one of the most powerful yet underused tools for ocean conservation: effective, science-based, community-supported fisheries management.
We collaborate directly with fishermen and community leaders to develop scalable, science-driven, practical tools and management approaches that reduce impacts to wildlife, protect critical habitats and support thriving fisheries. And we’ve seen real successes. Our approach has consistently moved from on-the-water pilots into lasting changes in fisheries management and policy at the state, federal and international levels.
A Working Group for Whales
In response to urgent concerns around increasing entanglements of humpbacks, blue whales and gray whales off California, specifically in Dungeness crab fishing gear, TNC joined with fishermen, state and federal fishery managers, scientists and other conservation organizations to form the Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group to understand and address whale entanglements in California.
The Working Group developed a first-of-its-kind adaptive management program called the Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program (RAMP), which is now administered by the state. RAMP integrates data streams to identify when whales are at an increased risk and then imposes actions like season delays, zone closures, gear reductions or depth constraints that can help reduce risk.
Fishing for Lost Gear
Fishing gear can become lost during storms, in strong currents or when snagged by passing vessels. This lost fishing gear can then contribute to entanglement risk for whales and other marine species.
To address this challenge, The Nature Conservancy worked with the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and other partners to launch the Commercial Fishermen's Gear Recovery Network, a collaborative effort that helps fishermen locate, track and recover lost fishing gear across California.
The Network combines local knowledge with innovative technology through a growing suite of tools, including the Gear Logbook, which helps document and manage lost gear recovery, and Gear Spotting, which allows fishermen and the public to report sightings of lost gear on the water. Together, these tools improve information sharing, help direct recovery efforts and strengthen understanding of where gear is being lost and recovered.
At the heart of the program is a flexible, port-based model that builds local capacity for gear recovery. Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach, the Network supports recovery coordinators, fishermen and partner organizations in developing solutions tailored to the unique needs of their fishing communities. By investing in local leadership and recovery infrastructure, the program helps create lasting systems that can respond to lost gear challenges year after year.
Since 2015, port-based programs have recovered thousands of traps. Today, the Network continues to expand recovery capacity, improve reporting tools and connect fishing communities working to reduce the impacts of lost gear and support healthier ocean ecosystems.
An Innovative Response to Entanglements
Even with these risk-reduction efforts in place, accidental whale entanglements continue. In 2025, there were 36 confirmed cases on the West Coast and at least 10 in California. That’s why we’re also using our experience with conservation technology to support entanglement response teams in freeing entangled whales.
When a whale is reported as entangled, teams of trained responders try to locate that whale and cut it free of the gear. But if they can’t free the whale on the first try, they need to attach a tracking device to the entangled lines so that they can return to the whale at a later time. However, the tracking device currently used is heavy, expensive and can exacerbate injuries to whales. That’s why TNC worked with NOAA and the innovative design firm Level 2 Industries to redesign the tracking device, creating Scout.
Scout provides response teams with improved access to location data, helping them locate entangled whales more quickly. Scout’s streamlined, low-drag design reduces the risk of further injury to whales and improves safety for responders during deployment. NOAA recently granted full national approval, and Scout units are being deployed with response teams along the U.S. West and East Coasts, as well as Canada and Mexico. We are confident that this next-generation tracking tag will be an essential part of efforts to protect whales across the globe.
These gentle giants are an essential and incomparable part of our world. Protecting them ensures that future generations can benefit from healthier oceans and experience the rare awe that whales inspire.
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