During the last years, Canadian scientists are rather concerned because of the threat of extinction of these whales.
A new computer simulator is like a video game and Quebec researchers hope that it can help them save these whales. The province government funded the project this week. So, now scientists will be able to see how ships and beluga whales interact with each other.
According to the data on this project, scientists will be able to model all the facts of risk for animals, knowing the speed and route of the vessel. With the help of this computer simulator, it will be possible to change the direction of the movement of ships in order to protect beluga whales.
It became known about this computer simulator about 10 years ago, but only now active work is being done to study the effect of the sound of the engine on these animals. The Quebec Government has allocated $2.1 million for this project to use it for the next 5 years.
There are suggestions that noise from ships can disrupt the ability of beluga whales to search for food and to have a healthy life. The purpose of the simulator is to help to solve this problem because now scientists can receive information about the influence of ships on the behavior of whales and try to reduce it in order to change their lives for the better.
There is an opinion that the government will need to take extreme measures after starting the use of a new simulator, such as those made when the problem of North Atlantic right whale protection was very actual- the closure of the fishery in Atlantic Canada.