Direct observations of narwhals are scarce but needed for understanding this ecologically and culturally important species. Here, we describe the first boat-based observations of narwhals in their key summering ground in Greenland (Inglefield Bredning), collected during an Inuit hunt and enhanced by drone air support. During 3-8 August 2024, 506 narwhal observations were made from a semi-stationary boat at the head of the fjord, of which 58 were filmed with a drone. Boat observations near the north side of the fjord indicated that narwhals preferentially traveled outward to the west, with a clear link to currents. The presence of narwhals was more likely in the second half of a day but was highly intermittent, with waiting times for observers reaching as much as 15-28 h between sightings, highlighting the patience needed to observe and catch a narwhal. We also recorded a motionless sleep-like behavior at the surface, known as pugginnartoq (Greenlandic) for narwhals. Aerial drone support was useful for revealing unseen-from-sea-surface features and behaviors, which we describe as potentially interesting for future investigation. For example, drone imagery revealed that 71+/-7% of narwhals had tusks, with a mean tusk-to-body-length ratio of 0.23+/-0.01. Overall, this report shows that hunting expeditions integrated with scientific methods provide important insights and inspire further work.
Ogawa et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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