Dolphins are highly intelligent, socially complex marine mammals facing numerous anthropogenic threats. Their welfare in the wild is compromised by pollution, bycatch, prey depletion, and acoustic disturbance.
Wild dolphin welfare is compromised by an accumulation of human-generated threats that individually and collectively degrade the quality of their lives. Bycatch mortality is both a welfare and conservation emergency — drowning in fishing gear is a prolonged, terrifying death for air-breathing mammals. Acoustic disturbance disrupts the sophisticated communication systems on which dolphin social life depends, causing separation of mothers and calves and disorientation leading to strandings. Pollution including plastic ingestion and chemical contamination causes chronic illness. Supporting fisheries reform, reducing plastic pollution, and regulating acoustic impacts are the most impactful interventions for wild dolphin welfare.