From commodification to empathy, media representations provide insights into changes in attitude to free living animals. This article explores the interplay between animals’ welfare in the public debate and public policy. Using discourse analysis, it qualifies media representations of marine beings and attitudes towards them, while focusing on coverage in French daily newspapers (Le Figaro, Le Monde and Libération) , from January 2016 to December 2019. It then goes on to analyze the extent to which these representations capture, inform and alter public debate and public policy, namely while considering the effect of human activities on the wellbeing of marine animals.