Whales and dolphins face welfare threats from ocean noise pollution, fishing gear entanglement, and climate change impacts on prey availability, with significant individual suffering consequences.
Wild cetacean welfare involves some of the most prolonged suffering in the animal kingdom. Entangled whales may drag fishing gear for weeks or months, with wounds becoming infected and feeding severely restricted, before dying from exhaustion or drowning. Ocean noise pollution causes chronic stress and navigational disruption in species that depend on sound for communication, navigation, and prey location. These welfare harms affect millions of individuals across highly intelligent, socially complex species. Ropeless fishing gear and shipping speed reductions represent meaningful interventions that reduce these welfare costs.