Latest Narwhal Stories

Smithsonian scientists have recently described a new species of toothed whale that once lived in warm climates during the Pliocene era 3-4 million years ago. These whales may have possibly been a close relative to the modern day Beluga and Narwhal. Those happy looking whales, the Beluga and Narwhal, live exclusively in colder climates like the Arctic and sub-arctic. The challenge now for the scientists is to uncover the mystery of why the whales moved farther north when once they were...

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are the top marine predator, wherever they are found, and seem to eat everything from schools of small fish to large baleen whales, over twice their own size. The increase in hunting territories available to killer whales in the Arctic due to climate change and melting sea ice could seriously affect the marine ecosystem balance. New research published in BioMed Central's re-launched open access journal Aquatic Biosystems has combined scientific observations with...

Proof-of-Concept Study Published in Journal of Geophysical Research-OceansIn a research paper published online Saturday in the Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans, a publication of the American Geological Union (AGU), scientists reported the southern Baffin Bay off West Greenland has continued warming since wintertime ocean temperatures were last effectively measured there in the early 2000s.Temperatures in the study were collected by narwhals, medium-sized toothed Arctic whales, during...

Habitat information important to track as ocean waters warmNew research is shedding light on the preferred habitat of the northern squid, Gonatus fabricii - a key but often overlooked species in Arctic marine food webs.Squid, along with octopus and bobtail squid (Rossia spp.), play an important role as prey in Arctic waters for species such as narwhal, beluga, seals, cod and Greenland halibut. But, says Kathleen Gardiner, a PhD candidate in the Biological Sciences Department of the University...

New aerial survey techniques lead to increased narwhal estimatesImprovements in aerial survey methods have led to increased estimates of narwhal populations in the eastern Arctic, according to a paper published Arctic, the journal of the University of Calgary's Arctic Institute of North America.Previous estimates of narwhals were based on surface counts and covered part of their eastern Arctic summering range. They placed populations between 20,000 and 30,000. New estimates increase that...

Chemicals produced by humans have been found in deep-sea squid and other creatures, further evidence that contaminants make their way deep into the marine food web, scientists said Monday. Researchers found a variety of chemical contaminants in nine species of cephalopods, which include octopods, squids, cuttlefishes and nautiluses. These species are food for dolphins, narwhals, killer whales and other toothed whales. The researchers collected nine species of cephalopods up to a...

The polar bear has become an icon of global warming vulnerability, but a new study found an Arctic mammal that may be even more at risk to climate change: the narwhal.The narwhal, a whale with a long spiral tusk that inspired the myth of the unicorn, edged out the polar bear for the ranking of most potentially vulnerable in a climate change risk analysis of Arctic marine mammals.The study was published this week in the peer-reviewed journal Ecological Applications. Polar bears are considered...

AMMASSALIK ISLAND, Greenland -- Dines Mikaelsen steadies a .22 rifle against the bow of his gently bobbing boat, loads the chamber and whispers to his companions to keep quiet.The Inuit hunter has already missed twice.After a deep breath, he squeezes the trigger. The loud crack echoes off the icebergs, and a football field away, a silver-coated seal collapses, blood turning the clear blue ice red.Mikaelsen's four companions - visitors from faraway lands - are stunned. This is what they came...

Once the subject of mythical accounts of magical power, the helix-shaped tusk of the narwhal, or "unicorn" whale has proved to be an extraordinary sensory organ, according to a team of researchers from Harvard University, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Paffenbarger Research Center of the American Dental Association Foundation (ADAF) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The team's results were presented Dec. 13 at a technical conference in San...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The narwhal's mysterious spiral tusk works as a giant sensor to help it test water qualities and to smooch other narwhals, a U.S. researcher said on Tuesday. The whale's eight-foot (2.4-meter) long tusk has long mystified naturalists and hunters, and the explanation may be equally intriguing, Harvard School of Dental Medicine researcher Dr. Martin Nweeia said. The tusk, it seems, has hydrodynamic-sensing capabilities, Nweeia said in a statement released ahead of...