Anthropogenic noise from shipping, sonar, and industrial activity disrupts whale and dolphin communication, navigation, and social behavior in ways that represent significant welfare harm at population scale.
Anthropogenic ocean noise welfare harm operates through disruption of sensory ecology that animals depend on for navigation, communication, and prey location. Baleen whales that communicate over hundreds of kilometers are acoustically masked by shipping lanes, reducing communication range and effectiveness. Acute noise events including military sonar cause physical trauma manifested in beaked whale strandings. The welfare harm of chronic noise exposure -- equivalent to living in persistent urban noise pollution -- affects feeding, reproduction, and social bond maintenance. Noise pollution mitigation through speed reduction in shipping, alternative sonar technologies, and protected quiet zones reduces this welfare burden.