Strand feeding in dolphins involves intentionally beaching to capture fish - a dramatic learned behavior that raises welfare questions for both the hunters and bystanders.
Strand feeding raises genuinely interesting welfare questions. When successful, it represents an efficient foraging strategy that allows dolphins to access prey otherwise unavailable. However, when dolphins become truly stranded during hunting - through miscalculation, injury, or human disturbance disrupting the escape reflex - welfare consequences are severe. A stranded dolphin may become hyperthermically distressed, develop pressure injuries from its own body weight within hours, and die if not assisted. Human watercraft activity near feeding sites represents a genuine threat that can cause accidents leading to welfare emergencies for individual animals.