(St. Augustine, Florida) Science & Technology International®, STI, is pleased to announce it will today begin a three week mission along the north-eastern coastline of Florida to locate and study the behaviors of whales, under a U.S. Navy contract. STI will be using its 200-foot long airship (blimp) outfitted with STI’s world renowned hyperspectral imaging camera system, LASH, also known as Littoral Airborne Sensor Hyperspectral to conduct the whale searches. STI’s LASH system detects submerged objects in real-time. STI’s camera systems also locate submarines and mines for the U.S. Navy. This Florida mission is focused on protecting the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale as well as identifying the migration patterns of other whales.

"We are honored to take part in this historic and important mission," said Charlie Hawkins, STI’s LASH Airship Deputy Program Manager. "To our knowledge, hyperspectral imaging has never been used before to detect whales in Florida. STI and the U.S. Navy will be providing Florida ocean resource managers valuable information as to the location and numbers of whales. This data will assist in protecting Florida’s whale population particularly the endangered North Atlantic

Right Whale."

"The Navy is very interested in the safety and welfare of marine mammals such as the North Atlantic Right Whale," said Don Statter, Jr., Senior Imagery Scientist for the U.S. Navy Airship Program. "We see this as a great opportunity to test passive cameras from a benign platform to see whales. Our goal is to locate whales, capture their behavior, plot their location and transmit the information via digital data link to a ground site."

Statter said the objective will be to merge all of the information collected from the missions into a website for broad dissemination to ocean resource managers, government agencies, and various learning institutions. Dr. Jim Hain, a right whale biologist who has studied this endangered species for decades, is also taking part in the mission.

"STI’s technology is promising," said Dr. Jim Hain, Right Whale Biologist and Associated Scientist at Woods Hole, a non-profit organization. "Research has shown right whales can only be detected about 30% of the time at the surface using standard aircraft and shoreline counts. As soon as right whales are even five-feet deep in the water, they cannot be seen. The goal is to avoid ship-strikes against whales. New technologies, like STI’s LASH system combined with an airship, are part of the solution to protect this endangered species.

Dr. Hain said the North Atlantic Right Whale has a total population size of about 325, and gives birth to about 11 calves a year. Calving and nursing occur in Florida coastal waters from December through March. Adult whales are 45 feet in length, and calves are about 18 feet in length.

STI annually takes part in the State of Hawaii and Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Whale Count. "We are honored to help in anyway we can to assist with protecting our environment and marine life," said Greg Plumb, STI’s LASH Deputy Program Manager. Our camera systems are passive. It’s just like taking a photograph except our camera systems see objects below the ocean’s surface that the human eye can not see."

While the airship is cruising at an altitude of 800 to 2000 feet, STI’s camera system will scan the ocean up to 20-miles off-shore of Florida’s north-eastern coastline. The LASH sensor (camera) is positioned in the floor of the airship’s gondola, and there is a lap-top inside of the airship displaying what is being seen below the ocean’s surface. The data will be collected in real-time and transmitted to a ground site.

"The airship is a stable and quiet platform giving us the ability to truly track a whale’s behavior and migration patterns," explained Randy Carter, STI’s Flight Operations Manager. "The noise of an airplane usually modifies the whale’s behavior."

In addition to STI’s sensor installed on the airship, a WESCAM long-distance camera will also be positioned on the side of the airship spotting surface mammals. STI and WESCAM also worked together during the Washington D.C. area search for snipers. The airship was retrofitted and airborne traveling to D.C. to be used by law enforcement officials when the snipers were arrested.

STI was awarded its LASH Airship contract in August 2001 by the Office of Naval Research. STI is the only company in the nation with a U.S. Department of Defense contract to provide sensor integration on airships. For this particular mission, STI is leasing its airship from Skycruiser Corp. Some of the exercises STI has performed using its airship include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) exercises. STI has performed various simulated exercises including monitoring activities over ports and harbors using hyperspectral sensors.

STI is a 22-year-old phontonics, hyperspectral and information processing company based in Honolulu, Hawaii. Aviation Week & Space Technology (1/15/01) characterized STI’s anti-submarine warfare technology as "perhaps being the farthest advanced hyperspectral imaging system worldwide."