Home › Mammalia › Monodontidae › Narwhal (Monodon monoceros)
SPECIES PROFILE
Narwhal (Monodon monoceros)
Monodon
IUCN STATUS
Least Concern
CONSERVATION STATUS
Least Concern
CLASS
Mammalia
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE
High Arctic: Canada's Baffin Island, Hudson Bay, and the waters between Canada and Greenland
DIET
Carnivore
HABITAT
Pack ice and open water of the High Arctic; spends winter under dense pack ice; an ice-dependent species
🔬 Classification
PHYLUM
Chordata
CLASS
Mammalia
ORDER
Cetacea
FAMILY
Monodontidae
GENUS
Monodon
📋 Description
SIZE
4–5.5 m (excluding tusk); 800–1,600 kg; tusk up to 3 m
COLORATION
Mottled grey-brown above with a white belly; heavily spotted with age; males bear a single spiral left tusk which is an elongated upper canine
ADAPTATIONS
Tusk is a sensory organ detecting temperature, pressure, and salinity; dives to 1,500 m for fish in deep Arctic trenches
🌿 Ecology
HABITAT
Pack ice and open water of the High Arctic; spends winter under dense pack ice; an ice-dependent species
DIET
Carnivore
GEOGRAPHIC RANGE
High Arctic: Canada's Baffin Island, Hudson Bay, and the waters between Canada and Greenland
REPRODUCTION
Single calf born in summer after 15-month gestation; calves are blue-grey at birth; females reproduce every 3 years
DIET DETAILS
Arctic cod, Greenland halibut, and squid caught at great depths in winter under the ice
⚠️ Threats & Conservation
PRIMARY THREATS
Sea ice loss reducing traditional migration corridors; vessel noise in previously quiet areas; Indigenous subsistence harvest (sustainably managed)
💡 Interesting Facts
1
The Narwhal's tusk is not a horn — it is a single hyper-developed tooth (left upper canine) containing up to 10 million nerve endings that sense ocean conditions.
2
Narwhals were the origin of the unicorn legend in medieval Europe; their tusks were traded as alicorn worth more than gold, reputed to neutralise poison.
🔭 Sighting Guide
📍 BEST PLACES TO SIGHT
Admiralty Inlet near Arctic Bay, NU, is a key summer aggregation area for Narwhals near the floe edge
Eclipse Sound near Pond Inlet, NU, has Narwhals visible from the community during summer open water
Tremblay Sound, NU, is a remote but important Narwhal summer feeding area in the High Arctic
🗓️ BEST TIME TO SIGHT
Summer. Open-water polynya areas of the High Arctic; Admiralty Inlet and Eclipse Sound off Baffin Island accessible by expedition.
🎯 SIGHTING TIPS
July and August at Admiralty Inlet (Baffin Island) and Tremblay Sound; experienced Arctic expedition operators run summer tours.
