From 1950 to July 2020, a total of 299 articles featured both marine mammal taxa (one or more) and the word welfare in the title, abstract or keywords. This represents just 0.96% of the total peer-reviewed published papers on marine mammal taxa (n = 31,221) during the same period. When examining articles published within “Welfare and Ethics” (n = 6133) and “Aquatic-focused” (n = 139,352) journals, just 1.2% (n = 71) and 0.04% (n =
Dear Colleagues, My co-authors Karen Stockin, Rebecca Boys and I are very pleased to be able to share our new paper in the journal *Animals* on the application of welfare science to marine mammal conservation. We found that publications on marine mammal welfare are infrequent but on the rise, and that there is a need for a common language between welfare science and marine mammal research to improve the translation and reception of this cross-disciplinary field. The paper is open access at https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/6/1596/html, and you can find the abstract and citation below. Please don't hesitate to email if you have any questions or trouble accessing it. Best wishes, Isabella Dr. Isabella Clegg Founder, Animal Welfare Expertise www.animalwelfareexpertise.com Twitter: @izziclegg; IG: @thedolphindoctor AUS: +61 423 973 914 UK: +44 7971 101 244 TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/sb_eEPDzgAg BBC report: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-44273624 Clegg, I.L.K.; Boys, R.M.; Stockin, K.A. Increasing the Awareness of Animal Welfare Science in Marine Mammal Conservation: Addressing Language, Translation and Reception Issues. *Animals* 2021, *11*, 1596. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11061596 *Abstract* Integrating welfare principles into conservation strategy is an emerging synthesis that encourages consideration of individual animals’ quality of life in research, policies and law. However, these principles have gained limited traction in marine compared to terrestrial animal conservation. This manuscript investigates several factors that may be contributing to this disparity. In order to gauge current understanding of animal welfare science principles by marine mammal researchers and other stakeholders, a “Welfare in the Wild” workshop was convened at the 32nd European Cetacean Society conference (La Spezia, Italy, April 2018). The workshop was attended by 30 participants who completed pre- and post-workshop surveys on animal welfare principles. The survey results highlight a range of different views about exactly what animal welfare science is and how it can be applied to marine mammals. Specifically, participants’ definitions appeared to vary depending on the type of employment or research they engaged in, indicating a need for an interdisciplinary common language. Secondly, we analysed the peer-reviewed literature in order to ascertain where marine mammal publications exploring welfare were being published. 57) of articles, respectively, featured the word welfare when examining marine mammals. With the aim of exploring how explicitly including welfare evaluations in marine mammal research and management can benefit conservation outcomes, we framed our workshop and quantitative literature review findings to provide practical solutions to the language, translation and reception issues of this burgeoning cross-disciplinary collaboration. *Keywords: *animal welfare science <https://www.mdpi.com/search?q=animal%20welfare%20science>; conservation biology <https://www.mdpi.com/search?q=conservation%20biology>; marine mammals <https://www.mdpi.com/search?q=marine%20mammals>; wild animal welfare <https://www.mdpi.com/search?q=wild%20animal%20welfare>