StationKeeper Spotlighted on Lighthouse Cruise

Lighthouses are not simply historic beacons whose mission is confined to serving as aids to navigation for mariners. These venerable sentinels – with their irresistible beauty and allure, are storytellers, mainstays of heritage, conveyers of a sense of place, and above all else, timeless guardians of the sea.

During the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company’s Mid-Coast & Monhegan Island 19 Lighthouse Cruise on September 5, 2026, nearly 200 people had the opportunity to admire lighthouses up close and learn about their rich history, but like the lights themselves, there was so much more diversity to discover as to their importance.

Bob Trapani, Jr., Executive Director for the American Lighthouse Foundation and a co-narrator on the cruise, shared with tour patrons how a number of lighthouses like Owls Head, are serving as host sites for cutting-edge technology called StationKeeper.

StationKeeper, which was created by MotionInfo of Orleans, Massachusetts, is an Automatic Identification System (AIS)-based technology designed to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale from often fatal vessel strikes.

MotionInfo’s shore-based transceiver system uses marine radio technology to broadcast real-time safety and navigation alerts directly to nearby vessels. The system transmits text-based or electronic navigation warnings (speed reduction advisories or recent whale sighting notifications) to vessels 65-feet and longer.

Cruise co-narrator Richard “Zack” Klyver, a well-respected marine mammal scientist, ocean conservationist and naturalist, shared his thoughts on the North Atlantic right whale, saying, “They are magnificent. They’re over a hundred thousand pounds, and 50 to 60 feet long, with an enormous black tail that’s very symmetrical and beautiful when they bring it up out of the water. They are just amazing animals to see.”

Klyver went on to explain why the North Atlantic right whale is critically endangered, noting that vessel strikes, fishing gear entanglement and the changing climate are exacting a heavy toll on the right whale population. He informed tour patrons that there are around 384 right whales remaining – and of this number, only approximately 70 females capable of birthing new calves.

Here in the 21st century, lighthouses from Maine to Florida – over three dozen and counting, are finding new ways to protect and “shine.” The American Lighthouse Foundation is proud to join hands with marine conservationists in a team effort to help project these majestic mammals.