Bakers Island Lighthouse in Salem, MA, is now a host site for MotionInfo’s AIS-based StationKeeper technology, which is designed to help protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
(Kneeling L to R) Bob Trapani, Jr. and Ann-Marie Trapani…(Standing L to R) Moses Calouro, Gary Childs, Ryan Conary, Sam Lawrence, Wendy Pomerantz, David Pomerantz, Jared Fulcher, and Tami Fulcher.
(Photo by Renee Atherton)
The American Lighthouse Foundation lent a helping hand with the installation of a StationKeeper unit at Bakers Island Light Station. The following press release by the Essex National Heritage Commission highlights the project carried out at the historic lighthouse…
SALEM, Mass. — August 4, 2026 — Essex National Heritage Commission (Essex Heritage) today announced the installation of an AIS “StationKeeper” unit at Bakers Island Light Station, adding the historic Salem light to a growing network of coastal stations that automatically alert passing vessels to slow down in protected whale habitat.
The installation brought together MotionInfo and American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF) installation crews from Massachusetts and Maine. Groundwork began in advance of the install: a team of volunteers on the island built a platform for the unit’s solar array and completed the other preparations needed before the equipment could go in. At the same time, Moses Calouro, CEO of MotionInfo, and Gary Childs, an ALF board member and chairperson of ALF’s Cape Cod Chapter at Race Point Light, worked on the mainland testing and staging the equipment. That advance work meant the installation itself went smoothly.
Calouro led the installation at Bakers Island, working alongside Essex Heritage and ALF’s installation team: Gary Childs, Ryan Conary, Jared Fulcher, Sam Lawrence, David Pomerantz, Ann-Marie Trapani, and Bob Trapani, Jr.
(L to R) Gary Childs, Moses Calouro and Ryan Conary working on the solar panel for StationKeeper at Bakers Island Ligthouse.
(Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani)
Bakers Island brings the number of StationKeeper sites in Massachusetts to eleven, eight of them hosted inside lighthouses: Bakers Island, Cape Ann, Gay Head, Highland, Nauset Beach, Race Point, Sandy Neck, and Sankaty Head.
StationKeeper uses Automatic Identification System (AIS) technology to send vessels a speed-reduction message when they enter a Seasonal Management Area established by NOAA to protect the North Atlantic right whale. The network now stretches from Maine to Florida.
The North Atlantic right whale is one of the most endangered large whale species on Earth. According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), the most recent population estimate puts the species at roughly 380 individuals, with only about a quarter of those being reproductive females.
Nearly hunted to extinction by the early 1900s, the species has never recovered its numbers despite a commercial whaling ban enacted in 1935, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature reclassified it from endangered to critically endangered in 2020 as its population continued to decline.
IFAW has pointed to AIS technology, of the kind StationKeeper deploys, as a key tool for delivering targeted safety messages and navigation data to mariners transiting whale habitat.
“Bakers Island has always stood watch over the waters of Salem Sound, and it’s fitting that this light is now doing that work for whales as well as mariners,” said Annie Harris, CEO of Essex National Heritage Commission. “This is exactly the kind of partnership we want for our historic sites — putting them to work on a problem that matters right now, not just preserving them for their own sake.”
“Lighthouses were built to save lives at sea,” said Bob Trapani of the American Lighthouse Foundation. “For two centuries that meant guiding ships away from the rocks. Now it means giving mariners the information they need to avoid a whale in their path. The mission hasn’t changed, just who’s being protected.”
Bakers Island has joined the growing network of lighthouses along the Atlantic seaboard that are serving as host sites for MotionInfo’s AIS-based StationKeeper technology, which is designed to help protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
(MotionInfo graphic)
“There’s something fitting about a lighthouse taking on this role,” said Gary Childs of the American Lighthouse Foundation. “These towers used to help guide the ships that hunted whales for their oil. Now they’re helping keep the last of them alive.”
“Every new station means more vessels getting the message to slow down, and more right whales with a better chance of surviving migration season,” said Moses Calouro, CEO of MotionInfo. “Bakers Island gives us another set of eyes on Salem Sound, right in the middle of the coastline these whales travel every year.”
Bakers Island Light Station, deeded to Essex Heritage by the U.S. Coast Guard in 2014, dates to 1791 as a navigational marker, with the current tower built in 1821 and the Lantern House added in 1857. The station is open to the public through Essex Heritage’s boat tours, overnight stays, and volunteer programs.
For more information on StationKeeper, visit: motioninfo.com/stationkeeper.
Essex National Heritage Commission is a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and interpreting the heritage of Massachusetts’ North Shore, including Bakers Island Light Station.
Representatives from the Essex National Heritage Commission, MotionInfo and the American Lighthouse Foundation prepare to journey out to Bakers Island Light Station to install StationKeeper inside the historic lighthouse.
(Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.)
(L to R) Ryan Conary and Bob Trapani, Jr. load the StationKeeper’s solar panel onto the Essex Heritage boat as Sam Lawrence holds the unit’s battery box. The install team departed from Salem Harbor.
(Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani)
Ryan Conary, Program and Event Manager for Essex Heritage – owners of Baker’s Island Light Station, captained the “Naumkeag” out to Baker’s Island. En route, the install team passed by Hospital Point Lighthouse.
(Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.)
The Essex Heritage boat pulled up to the rock beach below Baker’s Island Light Station where team members unloaded equipment and tools for the StationKeeper installation.
(Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani)
(L to R) Ryan Conary, Gary Childs, Moses Calouro and David Pomerantz load up the island cart with StationKeeper equipment and tools.
(Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.)
Wendy Pomerantz, a volunteer “Keeper” at Baker’s Island Light Station, transports the equipment up to the lighthouse.
(Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.)
Sam Lawrence is shown securing the solar panel to the wood platform, which was constructed by Essex Heritage.
(Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani)
(L to R) Gary Childs and Sam Lawrence work on securing the solar panel to its wood platform.
(Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani)
The lantern room crew…(L to R) Jared Fulcher, Bob Trapani, Jr. and David Pomerantz tackled the task of installing StationKeeper’s antenna at the top of Baker’s Island Lighthouse.
(Photo by Sam Lawrence)
Jared Fulcher is shown preparing a section of the lantern parapet to support StationKeeper’s antenna.
(Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.)
(L to R) Jared Fulcher and Bob Trapani, Jr. install StationKeeper’s antenna in the lantern of Baker’s Island Lighthouse.
(Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani)
(L to R) Ryan Conary, Program and Event Manager for Essex Heritage with David Pomerantz, a volunteer “Keeper” at Baker Island Light Station. David is also an American Lighthouse Foundation Board of Director.
(Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.)
(L to R) Tami Fulcher, Wendy Pomerantz and Renee Atherton at Baker’s Island Light Station.
(Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani)
(L to R) Ann-Marie Trapani and Renee Atherton at Baker’s Island Light Station.
(Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.)
Gary Childs is shown preparing Bakers Island Light’s StationKeeper box to receive its cable connections.
(Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.)
Moses Calouro, MotionInfo CEO, ensures the StationKeeper unit at Baker’s Island Lighthouse is communicating with the network.
(Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani)
Gary Childs (top) prepares the battery box, while Moses Calouro attaches the charge controller to the battery box door.
(Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani)
Bob Trapani, Jr. (top) and Jared Fulcher install the antenna cable inside Baker’s Island Lighthouse.
(Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani)
(L to R) Jared Fulcher and Bob Trapani, Jr. install the antenna cable inside the base of Baker’s Island Lighthouse.
(Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani)
Moses Calouro places the final touches on the StationKeeper unit and its battery box following its installation.
(Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.)
A view of StationKeeper’s solar panel at Baker’s Island Light Station.
(Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.)
Mission Accomplished! Ryan Conary, Program and Event Manager for Essex Heritage, stands next to the operational StationKeeper unit in the base of Baker’s Island Lighthouse.
(Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.)
Lighthouse volunteers extraordinaire…David Pomerantz and Wendy Pomerantz.
David and Wendy volunteer each summer for Essex Heritage as “Keepers,” while they do the same for the American Lighthouse Foundation’s Cape Cod Chapter at Race Point Light Station. David is also an ALF Board of Director and serves on ALF’s Storm & Mitigation Response Team.
(Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.)
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