Humpback whales have made a remarkable recovery from commercial whaling. Despite this success, they continue to face significant welfare threats from human activity.
Despite population recovery, individual humpback whales experience significant welfare harms from human activity. Entanglement in lobster and crab pot ropes causes horrific suffering -- whales may drag gear for months, suffering from the drag resistance, rope wounds, and starvation before dying or being freed by disentanglement teams. Vessel strikes cause acute traumatic injury including propeller lacerations and blunt trauma. Chronic noise exposure disrupts the complex song-based communication system, potentially impairing mating success and social cohesion. Ropeless fishing gear technology, vessel speed restrictions, and shipping lane adjustments directly reduce individual humpback welfare harms.