Wild whales, dolphins, and porpoises face an increasing range of anthropogenic threats that cause significant welfare impacts, from entanglement and ship strikes to noise pollution and climate change.
Cetaceans are long-lived, highly intelligent, and socially complex animals for whom suffering can have lasting individual and social consequences. The scale of anthropogenic threats — many of them invisible or difficult to directly observe — means that cetacean welfare impacts are likely far larger than mortality statistics suggest. Preventing suffering requires addressing industrial-scale threats through international cooperation and binding regulations.