StationKeeper: Help for Right Whales

The last few months have brought NLPS the opportunity to partner with a unique company named MotionInfo in its effort to prevent vessel collisions with the North Atlantic Right Whale. The StationKeeper is a budding program — the brainchild of Orleans resident Moses Calouro. It’s a marine safety and conservation network powered by an AIS (automatic identification system) transceiver which relays messages to vessels 65 feet or greater transiting areas where Right Whales are known to be. During the NOAA Stellwagen pilot, 85% of vessels receiving a slowdown message acknowledged, thus reducing their speeds to the requisite 10 knots. Calouro developed the digital private aid to navigation (PATON) tracking system for the U.S. Coast Guard and began developing the StationKeeper in 2023.

The device itself comes self-contained in a durable fiberglass box which along with a short antenna, can be mounted to a wall or beacon pedestal. It runs on general house power or in the absence of electric service, a 12 volt battery charged by the sun. The unit is able to receive/transmit on the AIS network via WiFi or SIM card. The StationKeeper has been approved by the U.S. Coast Guard and FCC. Twenty-nine units have been permitted and installed from Cutler, Maine to St. Augustine, Florida, many at active light stations and more installations are forthcoming. In the spring, the NLPS Board of Directors was asked to host such a unit and had the chance to inspect one up close. The board unanimously approved the request and we are currently awaiting final approval from the Park Service before installation.

Learn more about this technology. motioninfo.com

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