TashtegoPro: Advanced Infrared-Based Whale Detection for Marine Mammal Mitigation

Poster
In session Postersession No. 2 , Sept. 3, 2025, 18:15 – 19:00
Exact timing: 18:15 – 19:00

Grover, Harsh^{1, 2} , Liess-Duquesne, L.³ , Boebel, O.³ , Weigel, T.^{1, 2}

Monitoring marine mammals is critical during noisy activities such as seismic surveys and naval operations, where the use of loud airguns and sonars can harm whales and seals. Traditional visual monitoring by marine mammal observers is limited by factors such as low light, rough seas, fog, and human fatigue. Drawing on over 10 years of at-sea and ashore research, thousands of whale cues, primarily blows and bodily displays were captured using infrared cameras. Studies demonstrated that infrared imaging reliably detects whale blows worldwide across all climate zones and operates continuously over extended periods (with fog being the primary limitation) [1].

To enable continuous, 24/7 monitoring of whales, we developed a deep learning framework that utilizes infrared video captured by a commercial, cooled 360° thermal imaging sensor for automatic whale blow detection. We evaluated multiple machine learning models, including 2D CNN, 3D CNN, and classical algorithms such as Random Forest and SVM, with infrared video data as input. Each video contains a set of 30 frames, which the system analyzes to determine whether a whale is present in any of them.

Our experiments demonstrated strong detection performance. The results highlighted the robustness of our model, demonstrating its adaptability across different environmental conditions. TashtegoPro represents a significant step forward in the operational mitigation of marine mammal impacts during industrial activities. By providing an automated, reliable, and scalable solution for near-real-time monitoring, it ensures enhanced marine mammal protection while enabling safe offshore operations.

Reference:

AWI Ocean Acoustics Group. (n.d.). AWI Ocean Acoustics Group: Infrared-Based Whale Detection . Alfred Wegener Institute. Retrieved March 14, 2025, from https://www.awi.de/en/science/climate-sciences/physical-oceanography/main-research-focus/ocean-acoustics-group/awi-ocean-acoustics-group-infrared-based-whale-detection.html