Articles

It was by chance, while watching a report on the French television programme Thalassa eight years ago, that Julie Zarade, Quality, Safety, and Environment Coordinator at Orange Marine in La Seyne sur Mer (Var), learned about the initiative of the “Souffleurs d’écume,” (a reference to whales spraying out water when they surface). This local association takes actions to protect the whales (and cetaceans in general), of which the REPCET tracking device. By installing this device, ships can, in just a few clicks, locate the presence of whales in the Pelagos Sanctuary cetacean reproduction zone, which lies between Corsica, Italy and Monaco. This environmentally sensitive area must be protected both in terms of its importance for the reproduction of cetaceans and the balance of its fragile marine ecosystem. The area is also the home of “meadow of Posidonia,” an aquatic plant essential in terms of providing food and an environment for reproduction to the fish, as well as its role in oxygenating the water. These were compelling arguments for Orange Marine to invest in REPCET.