Narwhals are among the most climate-vulnerable whale species, with their dependence on sea ice and specialized diet making them acutely sensitive to Arctic warming.
Narwhals face a welfare crisis as rapid Arctic warming compresses their habitat and disrupts prey availability. Increased killer whale predation in newly ice-free waters represents a direct mortality and terror threat. Narwhals entangled in sea ice - a historic cause of mass mortality events called 'sassats' - face drowning from exhaustion. Their acoustic sensitivity makes shipping noise from newly opened Arctic shipping routes a significant stressor affecting feeding and communication.