The main anthropogenic threats to whale welfare including entanglement in fishing gear, ship strikes, and underwater noise pollution.
Whale welfare from anthropogenic threats involves significant suffering at multiple stages. Entanglement in fishing gear causes acute injury and chronic debilitation as ropes constrict around flippers or mouths. Entangled whales may survive for months, dragging gear, before dying from starvation, infection, or drowning. Ship strikes cause traumatic injury and death. Chronic noise pollution masks communication and navigation signals, causing chronic stress measurable in stress hormones. These are population-level welfare crises affecting the world's largest and most cognitively complex animals.