by Kaitlin Feit
Grade 11 - Oak Knoll School (Summit, NJ, United States)
Second Place
The Rhincodon typus, or the whale shark, has had its population status moved from Vulnerable to Endangered back to Vulnerable. This animal is the second largest of all shark species, and they occupy most of the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Oceans, though they prefer the tropical waters of the Pacific. These carnivores eat plankton by unhinging their jaws and filtering their tiny prey from the water. Whale sharks can reach lengths of up to 40 feet, which is as long as a school bus.
The number of whale sharks is decreasing primarily due to legal or illegal fishing. Asian merchants hunt these sharks for their fins, livers, and meat. People use the body parts in traditional Asian meals and medicines. Hunting of whale sharks is legal in China and Oman; however, the hunting of this species has been made illegal in other parts of Asia.
Another reason for the whale shark’s population decline is the accidental entrapment in fishing gear. Certain large gill nets catch whale sharks, and the creature is unable to properly remove itself from the gear. Collisions with ships and boats are also causing the population of whale sharks to drop. Because swimming with whale sharks is a popular tourist attraction, human physical interaction with whale sharks is also diminishing the animal’s population.
Concerned about the possible extinction of the whale shark, conservationists are actively working to find solutions to the threats to the animal. Here at ESE (Engineers Serving the Environment), scientists, engineers, and specialists are cohesively implementing ideas to restore the numbers of whale sharks. We have created a solution to prevent whale sharks colliding with ships.
A new ship software program is able to detect whale sharks using biologically information and motion sensor indicators. This program, called SwimPattern, is able to interpret the swimming techniques used by sea creatures. Whale sharks’ swimming behavior is unlike other sharks as they swim by moving side to side. Unlike other sharks, they use their bodies to swim instead of their tails. The program works in tangent with two camera sensors installed in the submerged, front part of the ship.These sensors detect sea creatures from up to one hundred feet away. Then, they interpret the swimming manners of the animals found. If the program detects a whale shark’s swimming behavior, an alarm will sound through the control center of a ship. The program will offer a different route for the ship so that it may avoid collisions with a whale shark. Due to the massive size of whale sharks, smaller fishing ships were commonly damaged by impact with the animal. Installment can now begin in these types of ships that frequently sail through whale shark populated areas. In order for the program to work, the ship must have an operating computer system. Not only will the population of whale sharks be helped, sailors’ ships will no longer have to be restored after collisions.
ESE has hired a series of environmental engineers that have previously worked on solutions to the giant panda’s decreasing population. These engineers are consulting specialists and behaviorists of whale sharks to gain a better understanding of the creature. ESE engineers have required the help of a group of motion sensor technicians and computer software creators to design the program with the desired components. To manufacture the product, ESE has partnered with a series of container and cargo ship building companies, including: NYK, Evergreen Marine Corporation, CMA-CGM, Maersk, MSC, Hapag-Llyod, APL, and COSCO. These companies have agreed to include the SwimPattern program and sensors in their ships. The ships will then be sold to local and international buyers, and a paper including the information about whale sharks and the use of SwimPattern will be given along with the purchase of a vessel.
This is a completely new idea; no previous adaptation or design of this manner has ever been tested. However, an addition can be made to SwimPattern to decrease the defectiveness. Satellite technology is used to locate areas with large populations plankton, the whale shark’s prey. This technology can be incorporated into SwimPattern programming to alert sailors when entering plankton condensed areas that would upstart the SwimPattern motion sensors to be alert for whale sharks. This would decrease the irritation of the program constantly being on and the loss of energy to run the program, and would only turn it on when necessary.
Another solution that has been tested, and is currently in use, is Global Fishing Watch. This website was created by David Mathos, Bjorn Bergman, and the rest of their team at SkyTruth. They used mapping technology and satellite technology to locate boats transporting illegal fishing goods. Global Fishing Watch broadcasts ships’ GPS location using Automatic Identification System or AIS. If a ship rakes back and forth across the water, website users can infer that the boat is trawling for fish. However, the website has its flaws. Ways have been discovered to cheat the tracking system. People hack the AIS tracking software, change their locations, and avoid registering.
Minor flaws were brought to our attention about SwimPattern. The motion sensors may not read images due to water distortion, or similar animal’s swimming patterns. Alterations to the motion sensors are being made in order to reduce inaccuracy; we are working on a software system that would help the sensors to be able to recognize images created by ocean waves and not mistake them for animals. Another concern was that the sensors would not be able to read the whale shark’s movements from far away. High resolution zoom functions are being installed in some sensors to test if they can zoom in on their own and successfully identify a nearby whale shark. To prevent corrosion from saltwater, corrosion-resistant materials are being used to make the sensors, along with a certain type of plexi glass camera lense to prevent possible cracking.
The engineers at ESE created this project because we discovered this species while watching a new, popular aquatic themed movie. With the intention to learn more about this creature, we discovered its decreasing population numbers, and how that this is mainly due to the humans. We work to help humans and animals live cohesively together on the earth, and finding that humans were the cause for this animal’s vulnerability, we had to take action. This earth is not our’s for the keeping; we must learn to adapt just like these animals do. We must take action to conquer the entirely possible challenge of living in correspondence with all the animals on earth. This whale shark population is only vulnerable due to humans’ actions. Only we have the power to end the intentional or unintentional killing of these animals.
References
Deemer, E. (2013, August 30). Celebrate International Whale Shark Day with 7 Fun Facts about Whale Sharks. Retrieved January 12, 2017, from Good Nature Travel website: http://goodnature.nathab.com/celebrate-international-whale-shark-day-with-7-fun-facts-about-whale-sharks/
Howard, B. C. (2015, June 15). Tiny Team Uses Satellites to Bust Illegal Fishing Worldwide. Retrieved January 12, 2017, from National Geographic website: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/06/150615-skytruth-pirate-fishing-illegal-big-data-ocean-conservation/
Howard, B. C. (2016, August 11). Hope Emerges for Whale Sharks, Despite New Endangered Status. Retrieved January 12, 2017, from National Georgraphis website: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/08/whale-sharks-endangered-species-conservation/
No Author Available. (n.d.). Whale Shark. Retrieved January 12, 2017, from World Wildlife Foundation website: http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/whale-shark
No Author Available. (n.d.). Whale Sharks. Retrieved January 12, 2017, from National Geographic website: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/whale-shark/