Advanced Technology for Marine Mammal Research and Conservation

Robots4Whales' autonomous buoys, gliders and floats are at the forefront of marine research technology, providing near real-time information on the presence of whales and sharing this information with stakeholders to improve conservation efforts.

Buoys currently deployed

Slocum gliders currently deployed

Species detected in last 3 days

Welcome to Robots4Whales, the website for the autonomous platform operations of marine ecologist Mark Baumgartner at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and his phenomenal collaborators. We monitor the presence of marine mammals from ocean-going robots by listening for the sounds the animals make. The robots automatically detect those sounds, identify the species based on characteristics of the sounds, and report which species have been heard to researchers on shore via satellite in near real time. Human analysts verify this information, after which it is automatically shared with scientists, industry, and state and federal managers to inform and enable research and conservation measures, such as NOAA’s Slow Zones for Right Whales, Transport Canada’s vessel strike mitigation program, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s fishing gear entanglement mitigation program and the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory's Whale Safe program. Visit any of the projects below to find out where the robots are and what they've been hearing lately.

Latest Whale Detections

Platform	Species detected in last 3 days	Operator(s)*
Santa Barbara Channel buoy	No detections in the last 3 days	Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Laurentian Channel (Zone B) Slocum glider	Blue, Fin whales	Dalhousie University and University of New Brunswick
Laurentian Channel (Zone A) Slocum glider	Blue, Fin whales	Dalhousie University and University of New Brunswick
Laurentian Channel (Zone C/E) Slocum glider	Blue, Fin whales	Dalhousie University and University of New Brunswick
Northern Gulf of Maine Slocum glider	Fin, Sei, Right whales	University of Maine and NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center
New York Bight NW buoy	Fin whales	Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
New York Bight SE buoy	Fin whales	Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Atlantic City buoy	Fin whales	Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Cape Charles buoy	Fin whales	Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and NAVFAC Atlantic
Norfolk buoy	Fin whales	Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and University of South Carolina

^*Includes organizations serving as platform operators and near real-time acoustic analysts. Other collaborators and sponsors are listed on each platform webpage.

Platform Locations

Track the location of our robots as they listen for the sounds of marine mammals. Click on any platform to learn more about it and to find out what it has been hearing recently.

Missions

Explore our active missions that feature robots listening for marine mammals right now, as well as our archived missions dating back to 2012.

Active Missions

Slocum Glider G2, Northern Gulf of Maine (October 2024)
Moored Buoy, Atlantic City, New Jersey (August 2024)
Moored Buoy, New York Bight SE (August 2024)
Moored Buoy, New York Bight NW (August 2024)
Moored Buoy, Cape Charles, Virginia (July 2024)
Moored Buoy, Norfolk, Virginia (July 2024)
Slocum glider G3, Laurentian Channel (Zone B), Canada (June 2024)
Slocum glider G3, Laurentian Channel (Zone A), Canada (June 2024)
Moored Buoy, Santa Barbara Channel (April 2024)
Slocum glider G3, Laurentian Channel (Zone C/E), Canada (April 2024)

Archived Missions