Humpback whales have made remarkable population recoveries but continue to face serious welfare threats from fishing gear entanglement and vessel strikes that cause prolonged suffering and death.
Humpback whale welfare from entanglement represents one of the most severe forms of individual animal suffering in marine environments. Whales caught in lobster pot lines or trawl gear may drag hundreds of kilograms of rope and buoys for weeks or months, causing severe exhaustion, starvation from inability to feed normally, and physical injury as ropes cut through skin and blubber. The suffering in these cases is prolonged and extreme, and the animals are often in remote locations where rescue intervention is impossible. At a population level, the global entanglement mortality of cetaceans represents a massive welfare burden. The most effective intervention is fishing gear modification, including the development of on-demand ropeless gear that eliminates the vertical lines that entangle whales.