Whale Alert: the app to help to protect whales

(June 3, 2025) Dense maritime traffic causes frequent collisions with whales, but citizens can help protect them with a simple click on the Whale Alert mobile app, now available in Europe.  

More than two million marine vessels move through European waters every year. Shipping lanes coincide with migratory routes as well as feeding and breeding grounds of many whale species, putting them at risk of collisions that can lead to serious injury and painful deaths. 

Developed by IFAW and Conserve IO, Whale Alert enables users to report, notify and track whale sightings to authorities and shipping vessels - helping to reduce the risk of collisions. To support whale conservation efforts on a global scale, the free mobile app is being introduced into European waters with the support of a new partner, GREENOV. 

"Every year, countless whales are killed in collisions with ships, and experts warn that reported cases might only be the tip of the iceberg. For every documented ship strike, it’s estimated a further 20 whales go unreported. Human activity is taking a devastating toll on whales in their natural habitat, threatening their survival. Whale Alert provides that crucial missing link, empowering everyone at sea – whether they are recreational boaters or commercial ship captains, to help protect whales - before it’s too late”, says Aurore Morin, IFAW’s senior campaigner. 

Initially launched in North America in 2012, Whale Alert is now available to people in Europe as its latest version 4.0 includes new features. As well as incorporating European marine protected areas and marine mammal measures, an integrated indicator estimates the risk of collision during navigation, based on the size, speed and location of the vessel. Users also can obtain a "trusted observer" status if they make several relevant observations and obtain the certification. 

"Whale Alert allows ocean lovers and maritime professionals to be involved in protecting whales while remaining informed of the regulations in place before and during navigation, with instructions on how to behave and areas to slow down or avoid if a cetacean has recently been spotted," says Damien Demoor, Founder and CEO at GREENOV. 

With its user-friendly interface, both the public and maritime professionals can easily report and receive alerts about cetacean sightings, while also identifying the species observed. The recorded sightings are sent automatically to a central database, which cetacean biologists use to better understand whale presence, feeding, and migration patterns.  

"Alerts work using the built-in GPS technology in smartphones and tablets. The application notifies users when they are near a whale and allows them to adapt their route and speed to help avoid a collision, while making it easier to navigate in a network of overlapping and evolving conservation areas and shipping lanes," explains Virgil Zetterlind, co-founder of Conserve.IO. 

Whale Alert application is available free of charge on Apple App Store and Google Play.  

Multimedia materials can be accessed here.

Contacts IFAW France 

Camille Vicet, IFAW France - [email protected] - +33 6 26 38 38 78, 
Margaux Paineau, PR agency, [email protected] 

About the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)  

The International Fund for Animal Welfare is a global non-profit helping animal and people thrive together. We are experts and everyday people, working across seas, oceans and in more than 40 countries around the world. We rescue, rehabilitate and release animals, and we restore and protect their natural habitats. The problems we’re up against are urgent and complicated. To solve them, we match fresh thinking with bold action. We partner with local communities, governments, non-governmental organizations and businesses. Together, we pioneer new and innovative ways to help all species flourish. See how at ifaw.org  

About Conserve.IO 

Conserve.IO works to close the loop on Citizen Science through mobile applications that facilitate easy collection of human observations while providing everyday users value added information for their activities. We provide a mix of mobile, cloud, and crowdsourcing technology to simplify and scale the collection of conservation data while making that data more actionable - both for opportunistic and effort-based surveys. By doing so, we hope to enable better understanding of changes to our environment, better conservation policy, and lead to a more sustained and prosperous existence for all of us. 

About Greenov 

Greenov is a company with a mission, created in 2021, to innovate and protect marine ecosystems from impacts generated by human activities. Based in Nantes, France, the company works in 3 main areas: the reduction of underwater noise pollution, the reduction of ship strikes with large whales and the reduction of biofouling on ships' hulls and underwater infrastructures using a preventive and non-polluting solution. 

With a team of 20 people, Greenov is very active in Europe and has won 6 European projects since its creation. In particular, the SME is supported by the European Innovation Council (EIC) "Accelerator" program with a grant of 2.39 million euros, which will enable it to accelerate the development and testing of its noise reduction solution on a future offshore wind farm.