OLYMPIA, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – The U.S. Coast Guard has launched a pilot program to alert ships of whale sightings in the Salish Sea.

The goal of the agency’s cetacean desk is to keep whales safe from boat strikes and reduce noise in the highly transited inland seawaters.

The program, which began official operations in December, comes at a time when visits by humpback whales and orcas increase as their populations rebound.

Nearly 300,000 vessels crisscrossed the area in 2023, from commercial container ships to cruise ships to ferries, according to the Coast Guard. The new whale desk reduces the risk of collisions by combining sightings on whale-watching apps and data from underwater listening devices into an integrated system.

From there, alerts are sent out to commercial vessels and regional ferries through a mobile app. Participation in the program is voluntary for ships.