Excelerate Energy
Helping protect the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale
THE ISSUE
Excelerate Energy came to EOM because they needed to fulfill permitting requirements for a liquefied natural gas offloading facility called Northeast Gateway to notify ships to slow down when endangered North Atlantic Right Whales were present. Ship collisions are one of the most common contributors to marine animal death around the world. The North Atlantic Right Whale is especially threatened by ship collisions as it swims in heavy shipping channels along the Eastern United States coastline.
THE SOLUTION
Excelerate Energy worked with EOM Offshore and purchased an array of EOM mooring systems that would enable whale traffic to be closely monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As soon as a marine animal sound is detected, the signal is sent from the hydrophone, to the transmitter on the buoy and transmitted in real time directly to the whale listening network at Cornell. They then confirm if a whale or other relevant animal is present and inform the Coast Guard to slow down shipping traffic to prevent collisions.
This way, Excelerate Energy could tap into EOM Offshore’s strategic partnership network in order to have every aspect of marine animal detection and alerting covered. Excelerate Energy, L.L.C. has trained all its crew members to watch for marine mammals and sea turtles as the vessel travels to and from the port. The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries supported early work on prototypes and made possible the similar three-buoy array in Cape Cod Bay.
THE TECHNOLOGY
The ultrasensitive hydrophones on each EOM mooring system can listen for even the most discrete marine animal sound underwater, even in a noisy shipping channel. The system is so sensitive that it hears something as silent as a school of fish swim by in turbid, 20’ seas.