Narwhals are among the most ice-adapted marine mammals, making them acutely vulnerable to Arctic warming that is transforming their habitat and disrupting their winter sea ice refugia.
Narwhal welfare is intimately tied to the stability of Arctic sea ice. These animals have evolved extreme specialization for life under ice — the very habitat that is disappearing fastest under climate change. Narwhals entrapped by unexpected ice formation or disturbed by vessel noise in their winter refugia show dramatic stress responses, with entrapment events causing death by suffocation or exhaustion. The welfare implications of Arctic climate change are most acute for specialists like narwhals who cannot adapt their habitat use rapidly enough to track changing conditions.