Commentary: Whale of an app

   Among the myriad concerns ocean freight shippers have on a daily basis, it’s likely that the ship on which their goods are riding might hit a whale en route is fairly slim.
   For marine conservationists, however, whale collisions with cargo vessels are a pretty big deal. And so now, even whales have their own app.
   Developed with the aid of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, Spotter Pro allows users (predominantly ship captains) to pinpoint whale locations in real-time. The app is designed to broaden protection for migrating whales along the U.S. West Coast by keeping track of them outside Coast Guard-protected lanes.
   “The whales, of course, will continue to venture where they please, heedless of the human thoroughfares,” the conversation publication BayNature aptly wrote.
   Ultimately, the app is intended to help conservation groups and the sea-going community to identify “dynamic management areas” where whales frequent at any given time. More simply, the app could create a network akin to trending topics on social media, where the community of ship captains keeps a pulse on where these mammoth mammals are as they ply their shipping routes. (Eric Johnson)