Humpback whales have made a remarkable recovery from commercial whaling, but face continuing welfare threats from entanglement, vessel strikes, and climate-driven changes to prey availability.
Despite population recovery, individual humpback whales continue to experience severe welfare harms from human activities. Entanglement in fishing gear is particularly traumatic — whales may drag gear for weeks or months, with lines cutting into flesh, restricting movement, and causing exhaustion. Many entangled whales die slowly from infection, starvation, or drowning. Vessel strikes cause blunt trauma and propeller injuries that can be immediately lethal or cause prolonged suffering from internal injuries. The welfare of individual animals matters alongside population-level metrics, and continued threats mean that whale conservation remains an active welfare concern even for recovered species.