Harbor seal populations face welfare challenges from entanglement, disease, disturbance at haul-out sites and the cumulative impacts of pollution and prey depletion in coastal ecosystems.
Harbor seal welfare depends on the health of coastal marine ecosystems that provide prey, the absence of pathogens that cause epidemic disease, and freedom from the entanglement and disturbance that compromise individual welfare directly. Disease outbreaks like phocine distemper cause significant suffering and mass mortality with limited capacity for human intervention at epidemic scale. Individual welfare incidents including entanglement and pup disturbance are more amenable to targeted response through rehabilitation organizations and public education. The long-term welfare of harbor seal populations depends on reducing cumulative anthropogenic pressures including plastic pollution, prey depletion and disturbance through systemic environmental management.