Underwater noise from shipping, sonar, and industrial activity disrupts cetacean communication, navigation, and foraging, causing significant welfare impacts across populations.
Ocean noise pollution creates a welfare crisis that is largely invisible above the water surface. Cetaceans that communicate, navigate, and find food using acoustic signals experience noise as environmental disruption equivalent to trying to have a conversation in a constant industrial din. Chronic acoustic stress depresses immune function, disrupts reproduction, and prevents effective foraging. For individuals, acute acoustic trauma from sonar causes disorientation and injuries leading to stranding and death. Regulatory frameworks for ocean noise management are developing but remain inadequate for cetacean welfare needs.