Marine mammal rehabilitation centres care for injured, orphaned, and stranded animals with the goal of release, raising specific welfare challenges around captivity, habituation, and medical care.
Marine mammal rehabilitation involves inherent welfare trade-offs. Necessary medical intervention requires handling that stresses prey-species animals. Extended captivity risks habituation to humans, reducing post-release survival chances. Social species like dolphins suffer from isolation during individual rehabilitation. Best practice minimises human contact time, uses species-appropriate enrichment, and maintains groups for social species where possible. Clear criteria for release versus long-term care decisions are essential to avoid unnecessarily prolonged captivity for animals unlikely to survive release.