Drone footage recorded in 2022 shows narwhals using their tusks to contact and manipulate Arctic char in Creswell Bay, Nunavut. Researchers interpreted one encounter as apparent foraging and another as exploration consistent with likely exploratory-object play—but two observations cannot establish how common these behaviors are or settle what the tusk evolved to do.
What does the drone footage show?
A peer-reviewed study published in 2025 describes two narwhal encounters filmed by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on August 4 and 6, 2022, in Creswell Bay, Somerset Island, in Canada’s High Arctic. The UAV flew at least 20 metres above the water. Researchers observed narwhals pursuing Arctic char and touching fish with the tip or side of a tusk. Florida Atlantic University’s summary says the study documented 17 distinct behaviors, though that count is not a measure of how often those behaviors occur in narwhal populations.
The footage documents contact and movement; whether a particular interaction was hunting, exploration or play is the researchers’ interpretation. The two encounters differed:
| What researchers observed | First encounter | Second encounter |
|---|---|---|
| Apparent purpose | Investigation and contact with a fish; the narwhals did not appear to try to capture or eat it. | Behavior appeared consistent with active foraging. |
| Tusk contact | Exploratory contact and manipulation. | Some fish received repeated hits in quick succession. Researchers said the strikes appeared forceful enough to stun and possibly kill. |
| Apparent outcome | No apparent attempt to consume the fish. | At least one fish was likely consumed. |
| Other animals | No gull interference is reported for this sequence. | Glaucous gulls tried to take fish pursued by the narwhals. |
The authors suggest that differences in fish size, abundance and behavior may help explain why the encounters looked different. With only two events, the footage does not establish a general rule about when narwhals use their tusks in a particular way.
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Why did researchers suggest exploration and play?
Exploring a fish
In the first sequence, narwhals investigated and made contact with a fish without appearing to pursue it for food. The researchers suggest that the behavior could reflect exploration, including investigation of prey that was novel to the whales.
Possible exploratory-object play
The study describes aspects of this first encounter as the first reported evidence of likely play in narwhals, specifically exploratory-object play. That is a cautious interpretation: the footage is consistent with play, but cannot show that such behavior is routine or explain its frequency. The authors also discuss social learning, but these observations alone do not establish how the behavior is learned or spread.
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Foraging and fish strikes
The second sequence looked different: narwhals appeared to be foraging, and at least one fish was likely eaten. The authors report that some rapid tusk strikes appeared powerful enough to stun and possibly kill a fish. Glaucous gulls also attempted to seize fish, and their activity appeared to reduce capture success when fish escaped. The footage therefore shows interactions in a setting where prey movement and competition from other animals mattered.
What is a narwhal tusk for?
A narwhal tusk is an elongated tooth. It occurs predominantly in males, although some females also grow one. Its overall function remains debated. The study notes that sexual selection may have been the primary selective force behind tusk evolution, while the char footage documents additional possible uses, including foraging, exploration and likely play. It does not resolve the tusk’s evolutionary function or show that any one use is primary.
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How does this compare with earlier footage of narwhals and cod?
Fisheries and Oceans Canada describes earlier drone footage of male narwhals near Arctic cod. In that separate observation, narwhals tracked cod with their tusks, tapped a fish that appeared briefly stunned, then sucked in the prey. The cod footage is not part of the 2022 Arctic-char study, so the two observations should not be treated as one event or dataset. The earlier footage offers another example of tusk contact with fish, not a population-wide estimate of how narwhals feed.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the observations can—and cannot—tell us
- They show: narwhals used tusks to contact and manipulate Arctic char in two encounters at one location in summer 2022.
- They suggest: tusk use can occur during apparent foraging, and some behavior may be exploratory or consistent with play.
- They do not establish: how often narwhals hunt char, how common exploratory play is, whether these behaviors occur across populations, or the tusk’s primary function.
The study’s methods also report a threshold of at least 90% agreement for treating coded behaviors as having high detection reliability across trials in timing, duration and frequency. This describes how consistently behaviors were detected and coded; it is not a prevalence estimate for narwhal behavior.
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