75% of fatal boating accident victims drowned, and 90% of those were not wearing PFDs.

Locating a mariner in distress is the most critical – and often most difficult – part of a search and rescue effort, even under ideal conditions. Add confusion, wave action, sun glare, darkness, fog, and possible injuries, and your situation has just taken on a whole new dimension.

Thermal imaging devices work by detecting an object's emitted heat, whereas standard infrared cameras detect reflected infrared light.

In the marine environment, thermal imaging detects temperature differences within the cooler surrounding waters, showing hotter areas as brighter colors and cooler areas as darker colors. This makes thermal mapping technology superior for locating people and boats in cooler water, because everything emits heat that is easily detectable against the surrounding cooler water temperatures.

Advances in handheld infrared scanning devices have now made this technology affordable to the average mariner.

Beginning in 2026, the SPG will begin on-water testing of these devices and will seek Surface Operation crews to experiment with them under day, twilight, and night conditions.