hales are safer in their ocean home thanks to Matson and its high-tech collaborations. The Hawai'i-based provider of ocean transportation and logistics services is using AI-driven technology on containerships to detect and avoid marine mammals. The company is leveraging its historic collaboration with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts, the world’s leading independent nonprofit dedicated to ocean science, technology, education, and communication.

In 2023, Matson awarded WHOI a $1 million research grant and provided access to company vessels and crews to facilitate the development of a system designed to make oceans safer for both whales and maritime personnel. By 2024, this collaboration advanced from the research phase to commercial application, resulting in the launch of WhaleSpotter, a company co-founded by WHOI scientist Daniel Zitterbart and Sebastian Richter, co-developer of the AI detection algorithm. Richter is chief technology officer while industry veteran Shawn Henry, a former executive at equipment tracking tag manufacturer Humatics, serves as WhaleSpotter’s CEO.

Last year, WhaleSpotter deployed its first fifty commercial production units. The company manufactures camera units domestically under an exclusive technology license from WHOI and intends to expand deployments globally across a variety of commercial and research vessels.

Matson is currently testing WhaleSpotter’s technology on three ships, according to Matson CEO Matthew Cox. One of them, Matson Kodiak, serves Alaska exclusively. The company has three containerships dedicated to its Alaska service, carrying cargo from Tacoma, Washington, to Anchorage and to Kodiak twice a week and once a week to Dutch Harbor. The other two ships equipped with WhaleSpotter camera systems are deployed in its Hawai’i service. Matson also has four more camera systems on order for installation this year, including on its other two Alaska ships.

Matson has contributed extensively to the research and development of WhaleSpotter’s system. “This has been a very collaborative project with WHOI,” Cox says. “It’s the first time they have tried this new technology on large containerships, so our vessels have served as test beds, and our crews have been involved in the process, from providing input on fabrication to where to install the cameras, integration of data systems, and refining the user interface.”

Matson’s shipping operations extend across the US West Coast, Hawai’i, Alaska, Guam, China, Japan, and South Pacific islands. The company has a longstanding record of adjusting ship speeds and routes to ensure maximum whale safety for its fleet of ships across the Pacific, particularly along its Alaska routes.

“Environmental stewardship is one of Matson’s long-standing core values, and we’ve invested many years to reduce our impact on the environment,” Cox says. “We were first in our industry to adopt a zero-solid-waste discharge policy in the early 1990s, for example. Unfortunately, whale strikes are not uncommon in our industry, so it was important to us to try to find a practical way to avoid collisions with whales. Our hope is that one day all ships will have this technology.”

Globally, tens of thousands of whales are injured or killed each year after being struck by ships, particularly the large container vessels that ferry 80 percent of the world’s traded goods across the oceans, according to global conservation organization Ocean Wise. The risk of strikes is higher in busy shipping lanes and migration routes, with major hot spots in the North Atlantic, Pacific Coast, and Mediterranean Sea. However, slowing ships from speeds greater than 10 to 14 knots down to 10 knots or less greatly reduces the chances and severity of ship strikes on marine mammals, with some studies reporting an 80 to 90 percent decrease in death risk, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. At slower speeds, whales have more time to detect and evade oncoming vessels, while ship captains have better maneuverability and reaction time.

WhaleSpotter is uniquely positioned to help protect vulnerable marine mammals. The company’s innovative detection system integrates a thermal imaging camera, proprietary AI algorithms, and human intelligence to identify whales in real time. These advanced heat-sensing cameras operate continuously, scanning the ocean’s surface day and night. The cameras can discern heat signatures from whale spouts or body warmth, which stand out against the cooler temperature of the surrounding ocean.

Once a potential whale is identified, a vital human verification process takes place. The system’s neural network analyzes the data, comparing against millions of samples for accuracy, and remote experts review the possible whale detections within seconds, double-checking the AI findings to further ensure accuracy and reliability.

With a WhaleSpotter unit installed, vessel strike risk is significantly reduced. “Over 90 percent of the time, whales are detected soon enough to allow the captains to take evasive action,” Henry says. “No other whale detection technology can provide that level of protection, and WhaleSpotter’s unique long-range detection technology empowers this.”

The creation of WhaleSpotter’s system was driven by operational necessity. According to Zitterbart, it arose out of the need to provide effective whale detection technologies during maritime activities, such as geophysical research, that create underwater noise. “During the last decade, the need for scalable technology that allows for vessel strike mitigation increased, spurring the development of the current version of WhaleSpotter,” he says.

In shaping the design and usability of the technology, Matson played a critical role as an early adopter and partner for WhaleSpotter, according to Henry, such as by hosting WhaleSpotter personnel aboard its ships during the technology testing phase. “Understanding how the bridge crew uses their suite of marine electronics in conjunction with the WhaleSpotter led to many nuanced product changes,” Henry observes, “such as being able to dim the screen further at night to avoid ruining night-vision of the crew, placement of the WhaleSpotter tablet on the bridge, and choosing an audible alert that is recognizable but not annoying.”

Matson was an active participant with WHOI in the research and development process. “We first provided input on fabrication and materials for iterations of the camera housing to protect these highly sensitive cameras against the harsh marine environment,” Cox recalls. “Then our engineering department developed mounting brackets and a cabling plan that could be used on each ship. Meanwhile, our IT and fleet professionals worked with the WHOI team to integrate the systems that enable communication of data. And our crews provided additional input on the user interface display.”

The first installation involved extensive research and development and took four months to become operational. “We learned a lot and improved the process with each installation, such that our last camera took four days to become operational: two days to install and two additional days to commission, which entails synchronizing systems and testing,” Cox says.

Cox says crewmembers at Matson have been “impressed” that the WhaleSpotter system not only detects whale spouts at night but can also distinguish whale spouts from white caps. “We are very happy with the system so far, and our crews like having this new tool that can help them protect whales,” he says.

For the future, Henry envisions a world where every ship navigating waters frequented by whales is equipped with a WhaleSpotter unit. Once enough vessels have a unit installed, it will create a network effect. An interconnected fleet would enable near real-time tracking of whale distributions in highly trafficked regions. “This information can be shared in real-time with vessels that do not have a WhaleSpotter on board or do not provide sufficient elevation for long detection ranges (below 15-foot mast height),” Henry explains.

Through this collaborative approach, the network would extend the benefits of advanced whale detection to a wider range of ships, helping safeguard marine mammals throughout the region.