This content was published on October 14, 2022 – 10:35 am October 14, 2022 – 10:35 am
Barcelona, 14. October (EFE).- The Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) has participated in the installation and commissioning of the first smart buoy in the Gulf of Corcovado, in the southern region of Chile, whose purpose is to monitor in real time the oceans and marine biodiversity and protect the whales
They participated in the program together with the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), the Chilean Ministry of Environment and the Chilean MERI Foundation, which develops scientific research and environmental education, the UPC reported.
The data obtained aims to conserve and protect cetaceans and to monitor the oceans by examining and assessing marine ecosystem services, particularly those associated with cetaceans’ role in capturing CO2 necessary to mitigate climate change the foundation has stated.
On that note, the UPC has pointed out that each blue whale sequesters an average of 33 tons of carbon over its lifetime in what it calls a “marine ecosystem,” reducing the presence of one of the main gases in the atmosphere associated with climate change.
However, these species are “key to addressing the climate crisis, as they are an umbrella species and are under constant threat from human activity, particularly maritime transport,” the university warned.
Another function of the buoy is to warn ships of the presence of whales and avoid collisions, added the UPC, which has developed cutting-edge technology from the Bioacoustic Applications Laboratory (LAB) to apply to the project.
The buoy was installed as part of The Blue Boat Initiative project, in which the three institutions have been working for more than two years to advance concrete solutions to protect the oceans.
“The Blue Boat Initiative” is a complex system that will give ships early warning of the presence of whales and will include a network of intelligent buoys, a passive acoustic and oceanographic monitoring system and will be added to pre-established protocols that protect whales on maritime routes. EFE.
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