Narwhals are among the most Arctic-specialised of all cetaceans, making them acutely vulnerable to climate change, shipping noise, and subsistence hunting pressure.
Narwhals are uniquely vulnerable because they are Arctic specialists with limited ability to adapt to rapid environmental change. Savssat entrapments — where narwhals become trapped under refreezing ice — cause mass mortality through exhaustion, collision injuries, and drowning, potentially affecting hundreds of animals simultaneously. Shipping noise disrupts their echolocation-based navigation and social communication, causing disorientation and separation from pods. Stress responses in narwhals captured for research show extremely rapid heart rate elevation, indicating high stress sensitivity. Climate change disruptions to sea ice affect prey availability, migration timing, and entrapment risk simultaneously.