Long-distance sea transport of livestock causes suffering that exceeds land transport welfare concerns.
Live animal sea transport subjects livestock to some of the most extreme welfare conditions documented in farm animal transport. Extended voyages in crowded conditions, crossing equatorial heat zones, create acute heat stress and respiratory disease that kills large numbers of animals. The Emanuel scandal — in which thousands of sheep died in extreme heat while Australian agriculture officials failed to intervene — galvanized Australian public opinion and led to regulatory reform. The fundamental welfare improvement is replacing live export with meat export — shipping carcasses rather than living animals.