Advancing Marine Mammal Welfare Through Ethological Insights: Behavioral Responses to Stressors in Wild, Rehabilitation, and Managed Care Settings

Marine mammals, as critical sentinel species, reflect the health of our marine ecosystems. However, these remarkable creatures are facing escalating threats in both wild and managed environments. Their welfare is increasingly compromised, necessitating deeper understanding of behavioral responses to environmental stressors.

In wild populations, mounting anthropogenic pressures, including climate change, noise, chemical and microplastic pollution, entanglement, hunting and habitat degradation increasingly challenge marine mammal survival and quality of life. Simultaneously, marine mammals in human care face unique challenges related to managed environments, such as restricted space, altered social dynamics, lack of environmental complexity, and limited opportunities for natural behaviors, all of which can impact their psychological and physical health. Understanding behavioral responses to these stressors is critical for effective conservation.

This Research Topic invites interdisciplinary submissions dedicated to enhancing our understanding of marine mammal welfare through its ethological dimensions, drawing insights from wild, rehabilitation, and managed care settings. Contributions are particularly welcome on topics such as:

• Behavioral indicators of positive and negative welfare states.
• The impacts of anthropogenic factors (e.g., noise, pollution, climate change) on wild marine mammal behavior.
• Evaluation of environmental enrichment strategies and habitat design.
• The influence of social dynamics and human-animal interactions.
• Cognitive welfare assessments.
• Methodological advances in behavioral observation and analysis.
• Studies informing rehabilitation, release, or reintroduction programs.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Marine Mammal Welfare, Ethology, Behavioral Responses, Stressors, Dolphins, Whales, Manatees, Managed Care, Wild Populations, Anthropogenic Pressures, Rehabilitation, Environmental Stressors, Noise pollution, Chemical Pollution, Cetacean Welfare

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.