'Marine unicorns' aren't loving Arctic noise
Key takeaways
- Researchers suspect a link to noise pollution from increasing ship traffic.
- "You're always taught to be extra, extra quiet and careful […] because they're so sensitive."
- The world's 80,000-plus narwhals mainly live in northeastern Canada and Greenland.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Narwhals are fleeing Canada's far north. Researchers suspect a link to noise pollution from increasing ship traffic.
https://p.dw.com/p/5Bq N9When the winter ice begins to melt, the speckled gray narwhals leave Baffin Bay and head toward the safe waters off Mittimatalik for the summer Image: John E Marriott/All Canada Photos/picture alliance Advertisement For Alex Ootoowak, watching the speckled gray narwhals migrate in the icy waters of the Arctic during hunting season is a cherished childhood memory.
"It felt like a never-ending, looped-over scene of whales just constantly swimming past you all in the same direction, all migrating throughout the day, sometimes more than a day," said Ootoowak, who lives in Mittimatalik, also known as Pond Inlet, in Canada's far north. "You're always taught to be extra, extra quiet and careful […] because they're so sensitive."