Marine heatwaves are becoming more frequent and severe, causing mass mortality events in marine animals. Welfare impacts extend from bleaching coral reef fish to stranded marine mammals.
Marine heatwave welfare represents climate change welfare impact at ecosystem scale. The suffering of individual animals from food stress, habitat loss, and thermal shock is multiplied across entire marine communities simultaneously. Individual welfare interventions are overwhelmed by the scale of climate-driven harm, making climate action the primary welfare intervention for marine species.