Underwater noise from shipping, sonar, and seismic surveys causes significant welfare harm to cetaceans — disrupting communication, causing stress, and in extreme cases leading to strandings and deaths from acoustic trauma.
Marine noise pollution welfare operates across spatial and temporal scales that make individual animal impact difficult to quantify but population-level effects clearly significant. Chronic noise exposure causes physiological stress responses, communication disruption, and altered habitat use in ways that affect feeding efficiency and reproductive success. Policy interventions — speed limits in critical whale habitat, seismic survey quiet periods, and naval exercise restrictions near whale aggregation areas — translate directly to welfare improvements.