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Narwhals can use their tusks to help catch fish: drone footage shows them tracking and striking prey, apparently stunning it, then drawing it into the mouth by suction. The footage reveals a real feeding use, but it does not replace the leading explanation for why the tusk evolved: male social and sexual signaling.
What the rare footage shows
Fisheries and Oceans Canada describes male narwhals approaching Arctic cod, tracking the fish with a tusk, tapping it with a quick, hard strike, and then sucking the prey into the mouth. The fish appeared momentarily stunned. This is direct observation of a feeding behavior, not evidence that every narwhal hunts this way.
A 2025 study in Frontiers in Marine Science analyzed two drone encounters recorded in summer 2022 in Creswell Bay, Nunavut. Three young adult males pursued Arctic char. In one sequence, a whale struck a fish five times rapidly with the tusk tip and shaft; the fish was knocked over and appeared momentarily stunned. Another whale hit a fish several times and appeared to consume it.
The researchers also documented tusks being used to investigate, track, and manipulate objects, as well as forcefully hit them. Rapid sideways movements could stun and potentially kill fish. The observations included likely exploratory play with objects and interactions with glaucous gulls, which sometimes competed for fish.
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What narwhals use their tusks for
| Proposed use | What the evidence shows | How established is it? |
|---|---|---|
| Social and sexual signaling | NOAA Fisheries describes the tusk as a male secondary sex characteristic. Relative tusk size may help males assess hierarchical status without fighting and may factor into female mate choice. | Leading explanation for the tusk’s primary function, though the balance of social signaling and mate choice remains uncertain. |
| Feeding | Drone footage shows tusks tracking, tapping, and repeatedly striking fish before apparent suction feeding. | Directly observed in a small number of encounters; its frequency across narwhals is not established. |
| Exploration and play | The 2025 drone study recorded investigation and manipulation of objects, interpreted as likely exploratory play. | Observed in limited encounters; the broader role is not established. |
| Sensory function | The tusk is porous and highly innervated, making a sensory role plausible. | Possible, but the sources do not establish how important sensing is to survival or wild foraging. |
| Ice-related use | Ice-related explanations are mentioned as possibilities, but the footage and sources described here do not establish a specific role. | Unresolved. |
Is the tusk for fighting or mating?
The best-supported overall answer is social and sexual signaling, rather than fighting in the ordinary sense. NOAA Fisheries describes narwhal “tusking”—males crossing raised tusks—as a nonviolent way to assess relative status. It may also display qualities to potential mates. The footage of fish strikes adds a documented feeding use, but it does not show that tusks are primarily weapons or that male social behavior is unimportant.
What a narwhal tusk is
A narwhal’s tusk is an elongated upper tooth, usually the left tooth in males. NOAA Fisheries’ current species account says it can reach up to 9.8 feet long and weigh over 20 pounds. The tusk’s conspicuous size does not make every proposed function equally well established: feeding strikes are now documented on video, while the importance of sensory or ice-related functions remains uncertain.
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What the footage cannot tell us
- How common tusk-assisted feeding is: The observations capture a small number of surface or near-surface encounters, not a representative sample of narwhals or hunts.
- Whether a strike always stuns prey: The observed fish appeared briefly stunned, but that does not establish the outcome of every tusk strike.
- Which function drove tusk evolution: Feeding behavior is documented, while the relative evolutionary contributions of sexual selection, social signaling, and other uses remain an open question.
- How much the tusk senses: Its anatomy makes sensory capability plausible, but the practical importance of that capability in the wild is not established by the sources cited here.
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