Strandings — when whales and dolphins beach themselves alive — represent one of wildlife rescue's most challenging welfare emergencies. Understanding causes and appropriate response saves lives and reduces suffering.
Live-stranded cetaceans suffer acutely. Their bodies, evolved for buoyancy, are compressed by their own weight on land, causing muscle damage and pain. Dehydration from sun and wind exposure, thermal regulation failure, and stress from proximity to humans and rescue equipment all cause distress. Large whales stranded for hours or days experience internal organ damage from compression and deteriorating physiological condition. Refloating efforts, while life-saving when successful, involve significant handling stress for animals that have no experience of being touched. End-of-life decisions for irretrievably stranded animals present difficult welfare dilemmas — euthanasia of a large stranded whale is logistically complex. The welfare calculus requires balancing the distress of rescue attempts against the alternative.