Where Do Narwhals Live? Arctic Waters of Canada and Greenland

Narwhal range: the Atlantic side of the Arctic

The narwhal is one of the most northerly whales on Earth. It lives mostly between about 60° and 80° north, and has been seen as far north as about 85°, beyond Franz Josef Land. Unlike the beluga, which lives right around the Arctic, the narwhal is found mainly on the Atlantic side of the Arctic Ocean.

The heart of its range lies in Canada and Greenland: the channels and sounds of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in Nunavut, Baffin Bay, Davis Strait, northern Hudson Bay and the coasts of West and East Greenland. Farther east, smaller numbers live around Svalbard, Franz Josef Land and parts of the Russian Arctic. Narwhals are only rare visitors to Alaska and the Pacific side of the Arctic, and they never occur in the Southern Hemisphere.

Main narwhal populations

Scientists divide narwhals into several populations, or stocks, based mainly on where they spend the summer. The figures below come from surveys mostly made in the 2010s and are approximate.

Within the Baffin Bay region, the biggest summer gatherings have been counted around Somerset Island, in Admiralty Inlet and in Eclipse Sound, all in Nunavut, with smaller groups in northwest Greenland. Some East Greenland stocks have declined and are a particular conservation concern.

Summer: shallow bays and fjords

When the sea ice breaks up in late spring, narwhals move toward the coast. They follow cracks and leads in the ice and often gather along the floe edge, the boundary between land-fast ice and open water, before moving into deep fjords, sounds and inlets for the ice-free months of July to September.

Narwhals are creatures of habit. Satellite tracking shows that the same groups return to the same summer areas year after year and pass certain headlands at almost the same time each season. In summer they spend much of their time in the upper 50 m (165 ft) of the water, often resting quietly at the surface, and they seem to eat relatively little.

Winter: deep water under the pack ice

In autumn, before the bays freeze over, narwhals leave the coast. Between late September and November they travel south and offshore to their wintering grounds, mainly in central Baffin Bay and Davis Strait. Narwhals from northern Hudson Bay winter farther south, mostly in eastern Hudson Strait.

Winter habitat is extreme. The narwhals stay in dense pack ice where open water may cover only a few percent of the surface, surfacing to breathe in narrow cracks. From there they dive to the seafloor, often 800–1,500 m (2,600–4,900 ft) down and many times a day, to hunt Greenland halibut and squid. Most of their yearly feeding happens here. This deep, ice-covered habitat makes the narwhal one of the deepest-diving whales (see How deep can whales dive?).

Migration routes

Narwhal migrations are regular but not especially long by whale standards. Many travel from 1,000 km (620 mi) to about 1,700 km (1,100 mi) between summer and winter areas, much less than gray or humpback whales.

Narwhals from the Canadian Arctic move east through Lancaster Sound and down the coast of Baffin Island, while those from northwest Greenland move south along the Greenland side of Baffin Bay. In spring the journey runs the other way, and the whales follow the opening leads north again.

How do narwhals compare with belugas?

The beluga whale, the narwhal’s only close relative, has a much wider range. Belugas live all around the Arctic and subarctic, including Alaska, Hudson Bay, the White Sea and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and they sometimes swim up large rivers (see Where do beluga whales live?). Narwhals have a smaller range, stay in deeper, icier water and never enter fresh water. The two species do share some areas, such as Baffin Bay and northern Hudson Bay.

How sea-ice loss and shipping affect narwhals

Because narwhals depend on predictable ice and return to the same places every year, scientists consider them one of the Arctic marine mammals most sensitive to climate change. Shrinking sea ice can change where their prey lives and alter the timing of their migrations. Sudden freeze-ups can also trap groups in small openings far from open water.

Less ice brings other pressures. Orcas now spend longer in Arctic waters each summer and hunt narwhals in places they once could not reach. Shipping, mining traffic and seismic surveys for oil and gas are increasing in the narwhal’s range, and studies in East Greenland have found that narwhals change their diving and cut back on foraging sounds when exposed to ship and seismic noise, even from many kilometers away. For these reasons, quiet, ice-covered Arctic waters remain essential to the narwhal’s future.