Humpback whales are a conservation success story, recovering strongly from commercial whaling. Their welfare continues to be threatened by entanglement and vessel strikes as populations grow.
Humpback whale welfare success is inseparable from conservation success - population recovery means more individuals alive, experiencing more days of natural behavior. The welfare challenges that remain are significant: entanglement in fishing gear can result in weeks of dragging gear with wounds that deepen over time before the animal drowns or starves. Documented entanglement responses include escape attempts, behavior changes, and what researchers describe as distress vocalizations. Disentanglement programs save individual welfare and have reduced mortality, but the root cause - fishing gear in whale migratory routes - requires gear modification and fishing practice reform.