A company out of Victoria, B.C., has created technology that can detect marine mammals and is piloting it on a new electric passenger ferry.
Glenn Jones is the founder of Reach Technologies Inc.. It started 32 years ago in aerospace technology and recently started diving into marine detection.
“We’re starting trials with the Department of National Defence this month,” Jones said.
The company has built a novel multispectral camera that constantly rotates 360 degrees and can instantly identify objects, debris, people and animals.
“As soon as a marine mammal breaks the surface, we can detect it,” Jones said.
The devices are costly at up to $600,000.
“I don’t know of anybody in the world doing this technology,” Jones said.
Last fall, two humpback whales were struck and killed in B.C., and a third humpback whale was hit and injured off Vancouver by a ferry. Another humpback whale washed up dead near Lasqueti Island in the Strait of Georgia.
“These humpbacks come back specifically to the area around Bowen Island and to Gibsons,” said Jackie Hildering with the Marine Education and Research Society.
CIRQL Ferries is looking to operate two electric ferries by 2028, travelling from Vancouver to Bowen Island and the Sunshine Coast, and is piloting the detection technology. The ferries will travel through the same area where a humpback was fatally struck by a whale watching vessel in October 2025.
Marine Mammal Zoologist Anna Hall said Howe Sound has recently rebounded with wildlife.
“Humpback whales [population] are still increasing, and they are a species that is very susceptible to vessel strikes, it can be fatal,” Hall said.
More vessels will bring an increased risk to humpbacks being struck, according to researchers and marine mammal experts.
“Any time that we have whales and vessels in the same area at the same time, we have a risk of vessel strikes,” said Hall.
“It is our responsibility, as is the people on the water, to do everything we can to bring that risk as low as it possibly can be.”
Slow can still be dangerous
Canadian Wildlife Federation senior conservation biologist Sean Brillant said even smaller vessels can cause deadly strikes.
“Even when they’re going at seemingly slow speeds like 10 knots, it could still be a very dangerous situation for that whale,” said Brillant.
“This would certainly be the case with new ferries, and we’ve got lots of ferries everywhere in Canada that are posing threats to whales.”
Reducing speed can help, but it doesn’t solve the problem.
“The best solution is to not have vessels in places where there are whales,” Brillant said.
Having restricted areas and detection technology also helps.
“If we can detect the whales early, there is a belief we can reduce vessel strikes,” Brillant said.
Less underwater pollution, more vessels
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada said there are two whale detection systems in areas where they are believed to be at higher risk of vessel collisions.
In an email, Transport Canada said all commercial vessel operators, including crew members, must be trained and certified by Transport Canada in marine safety.
CIRQL co-founder Darren Pereira is a second-generation mariner and said the ferries will travel up to 23 knots.
“We need to be stewards of our oceans. We need to protect it as much as we can,” Pereira said.
Along with the technology, staff will be enrolled in courses, following proper protocol, including reducing speed, taking an alternate course, giving a wide berth and alert any whale sightings.
“The benefit of an electric ferry is that it reduces the underwater noise considerably,” Pereira said.
While the vessels will be quieter, Hildering said there is an increased risk of strikes.
“If this is not displacing traffic from other ferries, it is increasing collision risk,” Hildering said. “Less noise generally is good if not too quiet … but this isn’t a displacement away from something else, it’s in addition.”
Humpbacks travel in unpredictable patterns, Hildering said.
“We should learn that humpbacks feed in these waters, that they bulk up here,” Hildering said.
Grey whales, such as Little Patch, are even staying longer in B.C. waters.
“They’re a relatively slow-moving creature and can have a very low profile at the surface,” Hall said.
Hall agrees that this is a step in the right direction in reducing ocean noise.
“We don’t want to minimize one risk factor for the animas while perhaps increasing another risk factor,” Hall said.
Operators can create a marine mammal mitigation plan with help from experts.
“Do everything that is possible to make this a success for everybody,” Hall said.
