Entanglement in fishing lines and nets is the leading cause of injury and death for large whales globally, with an estimated 300,000 cetaceans dying from entanglement each year.
Entangled whales experience prolonged suffering that can last months. Lines cutting into blubber and muscle cause infection and necrotic wounds. Dragging heavy gear exhausts animals causing them to struggle to surface to breathe. Young whales entangled before reaching reproductive age represent both welfare tragedies and conservation threats. Disentanglement teams can save some animals but respond to only a fraction of entanglements. Transitioning to ropeless fishing technology eliminates the welfare harm at source rather than treating individual animals after injury.