Striped dolphins are abundant Mediterranean and ocean cetaceans whose welfare is threatened by bycatch in driftnets and longlines, marine pollution, and the acoustic impacts of shipping and military sonar.
Striped dolphins entangled in fishing gear experience drowning, which for a conscious, air-breathing cetacean involves awareness of impending suffocation over minutes. Entanglement injuries including rope cuts and fin damage cause pain and impaired mobility in animals that survive capture and escape. Morbillivirus outbreaks cause a disease comparable to measles with respiratory, neurological, and immune effects that cause suffering across large populations simultaneously. The acoustic environment of modern oceans, degraded by shipping, sonar, and industrial noise, impairs the complex echolocation and communication of these vocal, social animals. Organochlorine pollution transferred through the food chain accumulates in dolphin tissue, suppressing immune function and increasing mortality from otherwise manageable disease challenges. The combination of these stressors creates a cumulative welfare burden on populations that are, in isolation from human impacts, highly resilient and socially sophisticated.