Pilot whales are highly social cetaceans whose strong family bonds, while a strength, make them uniquely vulnerable to mass strandings - one of the most dramatic and distressing animal welfare events in the natural world.
Mass stranding events involve immense suffering - beached whales experience physical trauma from their own weight, hyperthermia, dehydration, and distress from separation from pod members. Refloated animals often re-strand due to the pull of social bonds. Military sonar exercises have been linked to mass strandings of various cetacean species including pilot whales, causing acoustic trauma and disorientation. Long-term capture for aquarium display involves chronic stress from social disruption and confinement, though this is now largely banned in many countries.