The welfare of marine mammals in zoos and aquaria is being progressively reformed through updated standards, sea sanctuary development and species-appropriate facility design.
Marine mammal zoo welfare reform reflects the application of improved species knowledge to institutional practice. The space, social complexity and cognitive requirements of marine mammals are increasingly well understood, creating pressure on facilities that cannot meet these needs. Sea sanctuaries represent an innovative approach that provides large natural sea pen environments for animals that cannot be released but can no longer be held in tanks. The welfare improvement for animals transitioning from tanks to sea sanctuaries is potentially enormous but the financial and logistical challenges of sanctuary development are significant.