© Doc White / naturepl.com / WWF
Narwhal
Habitat and migration
Discover more about narwhal habitats and migration patterns.
Where do narwhals live?
There are 12 different populations of narwhal living on the Atlantic side of the Arctic Ocean in Canada, Greenland, Norway and Russia. There have only been a few records of narwhal being seen on the Pacific side.
During the last Ice Age, narwhals were restricted to the North Atlantic. However, when the ice retreated, narwhal populated the Eastern Canadian High Arctic Archipelago, northern Hudson Bay, Davis Strait, Baffin Bay, the Greenland Sea, and the Arctic Ocean between Svalbard and Franz Josef Land.
But as climate change and human activity increases in the Arctic, narwhals’ habitat is under threat. Human activity has brought the threat of habitat destruction, disturbance and pollution. That’s why it is important to protect the narwhal’s Arctic habitat – and the Arctic blue corridors that help bowheads reach these different habitats.
© naturepl.com / Doug Allan / WWF
Do narwhals migrate?
Narwhal tend to form small pods of five to 10 individuals. These groups are divided by sex, with males forming groups together and females, calves and immature males forming other groups. Sometimes narwhal travel alone, typically a lone male. Other times, small pods come together to form larger groups of hundreds of individual narwhals.
During their autumn migration, narwhals travel from bays and fjords as the ocean begins to freeze. They travel quickly along coastal and offshore corridors towards their wintering grounds in groups. Along the way, some narwhals stop in fjords and productive deep water canyons, likely to feed.
They then spend the coldest months in their wintering grounds. Some areas that scientists have identified as important narwhal habitats in winter and moving into spring are: the North Water Polynya; the Davis Strait and Baffin Bay; the South-East Greenland coastal region; Denmark Strait off Blosseville Coast; and the Greenland Sea.
Narwhal wintering grounds tend to be in deeper waters. During winter, narwhal are estimated to dive between 5 and 25 times per day and up to depths of 800 meters or more. Scientists believe this behaviour is because narwhals are searching for food as they feed most intensely during the winter. These deep dives last approximately 22 minutes and rarely exceeds 30 minutes.
As sea ice begins to thaw in the spring, narwhals move back towards their shallow, warm bays and fjords. Along the spring migration, narwhals mate and socialize with each other. Similar to beluga and bowhead whales, narwhal must wait for cracks in the ice before they can venture too far from open water. Otherwise, they risk being trapped under the ice and being unable to breathe. For that reason, spring migration can be much slower than narwhals’ autumn migration.
During the summer months, narwhals tend to live in coastal habitats and dive shallower – around 500 meters or more. During summer, displays of narwhals crossing tusks has been observed. Scientists believe that this activity determines which narwhal dominates the hierarchy. However, scientists have not observed narwhal using their tusks for fighting or other aggressive behaviors.
To learn even more about narwhal migration patterns – and the Arctic blue corridors they rely on – visit our interactive Arctic blue corridors report.
