Narwhals are iconic Arctic cetaceans with a mysterious tusk. Climate change and increasing Arctic shipping are their primary emerging threats.
Narwhal welfare is significantly affected by climate change through both direct habitat loss and indirect effects from increasing human activity in previously remote Arctic waters. Ship noise interferes with echolocation used for navigation and prey detection, causing behavioral displacement and increased energy expenditure. Entrapment under sea ice (savssat events) — when narwhals become trapped in rapidly freezing leads — causes mass mortality events with significant individual suffering. Climate change is increasing the unpredictability of sea ice dynamics, potentially increasing savssat frequency. International research coordination on narwhal behavioral responses to vessel noise and ice change is advancing understanding needed for conservation planning. Indigenous ecological knowledge is an important complement to scientific monitoring given the remote and challenging nature of narwhal habitat.