Whale Detection System Tested Aboard Arctic Expedition Ship

Researchers from Heriot-Watt University are trialling a camera setup called a smart visual detection system (SVDS) on the expedition ship MS Fram, operated by HX Expeditions. The aim is to find whales in real time in icy polar waters. The system started running as the ship sailed from Dover towards Svalbard. It will keep gathering data around the Svalbard archipelago for the whole Arctic summer. It belongs to the Whales and Arctic Vessels (WAVE) project, run with Seiche, a UK company specialising in underwater noise and marine mammal monitoring. Seiche supplied the equipment.

The system is meant to give bridge crews advance warning of whales and to add to long-term ecological monitoring. The trial will assess continuous data collection on ships. It will also assess how images and detection records might later feed AI-assisted identification and real-time alerts. Aboard to run the camera are Dr Lauren McWhinnie and Alanna Frayne, a postgraduate researcher.

McWhinnie said, according to a press release, that thermal cameras and artificial intelligence already help reduce shipping impacts in some very busy sea areas, and that the team wants to test them in polar settings. The researchers are concerned about rising vessel traffic and its effect on narwhal, beluga and bowhead whales. She said WAVE survey data will train the software on these species and eventually support an automated alert system. The team hopes it will pick out their blows, the warm plumes of air released when a whale surfaces.

Nicola Harris, business development director at Seiche, described the unit as compact and marinised, fixed on the deck above the bridge. It combines thermal imaging with high-definition video while scanning the sea ahead. The detection module works on the thermal images. It picks out temperature differences, such as a blow against the cold background. Each detection is stored with its time and position.

Dr Verena Meraldi, chief scientist at HX Expeditions, said this is the third consecutive Arctic season with Heriot-Watt researchers as guest scientists on the company's ships. She said the trial brings operational value for bridge teams and educational value for passengers.