A whale of time from space! 

We all know that climate change is real, and we all have to work towards it. And one of the ways to help save the environment is to save the animals. An aquarium and an engineering firm in Massachusetts are working on a project to better protect whales. And they would do this by monitoring them from space! The New England Aquarium, based in Boston, and Draper, a firm based in Cambridge, say new and higher-tech solutions are needed in order to protect whales from extinction. So they are using data from sources such as satellites, sonar and radar to keep a closer eye on how many whales are in the ocean. A project is simply called Counting Whales From Space. The work will involve gathering data from sources ranging from European space agencies to amateur radio operators, in order to create a probability map of where in the ocean the whales might be. Conservation groups will then be able to monitor whales and their movements. The aquarium and Draper have committed a combined $1m to the project, which is expected to develop over several years. Aerial surveys are the most frequently used method to count whales, partners on the project said. However, that approach is expensive, subject to bad weather conditions and can be dangerous. Fun fact The blue whale is the largest animal that ever lived and can grow to 90 or more feet and weigh as much as 24 elephants! That’s more than 150,000 kg.