Nearly one century after the Absecon Lighthouse last beamed warnings to sailors across the water, the historic landmark in Atlantic City is back on duty.
The iconic lighthouse at the Jersey Shore was decommissioned but is now being upgraded with cutting-edge technology designed to protect critically endangered marine animals.
“We were created to be a safety beacon for sailors,” Absecon Lighthouse worker Milton Glenn said. “This is something that’s just along those lines.”
A StationKeeper device inside the lighthouse’s lantern room now transmits VHF radio signals to mariners if they’re moving too fast when entering the migratory path of North Atlantic Right Whales.
Through real-time on-screen alerts, large ships are warned to slow down to at least 10 knots to help protect the massive, endangered mammals from potentially lethal vessel strikes.
So far, MotionInfo has 50 of its StationKeeper units operating from Maine to Florida. Many are hosted by lighthouses with more in the works.
“Ships 65 feet and above are required by law to slow down when they’re within a seasonal management area,” Portia Calouro, of MotionInfo, said. “The lighthouses were built close to the shore with the right height. They’re perfect.”
Rising 171 feet, Absecon Lighthouse is the tallest and first lighthouse in New Jersey equipped with the system.
A 20 mile range is expected from structures taller than 50 feet, but from Absecon Lighthouse a 28 mile range has been recorded.
“It is on all the time, and it is automatically generating the information. So there’s no work on our end,” Arianne Sellers, of Absecon Lighthouse, explained.
An estimated 384 North Atlantic Right Whales remain in the wild.
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