Seals, otters, and cetaceans that strand or are injured require specialist rehabilitation. Standards for aquatic mammal rehabilitation balance individual welfare with realistic release prospects.
Aquatic mammal rehabilitation involves careful welfare balance. Orphaned seal pups require intensive care to achieve the body weight and skills for independent survival, but the welfare costs of prolonged captivity — stress from human contact, risk of habituation, infectious disease — must be weighed against the benefit of survival. The welfare-positive rehabilitation facility minimises human contact to preserve natural behaviours, maintains strict disease protocols, and makes honest assessments of release suitability rather than rehabilitating animals with poor survival prospects simply to avoid euthanasia. Prompt euthanasia of animals with severe injuries or disease is sometimes the most welfare-positive outcome.