Life in the Arctic seas is changing. Climate has warmed an average of over 2 degrees celsius in the Arctic, more than twice the warming of the rest of the planet, and the water of this region has changed as a result. Sea ice has diminished dramatically, melting earlier in the year and building later. This changes the way marine animals live and the way they are hunted. Warmer Atlantic water has moved northward, bringing with it species not normally found in the Arctic, like cod and orca. Capelin, a major food source for many marine animals, whales and birds have declined because they are now hatching after their food source has peaked. The increased population of cod may be affecting capelin populations because they too, eat capelin. Halibut have grown smaller, likely due to overfishing, a consequence of the change in sea ice coverage. Even the smallest creatures have been impacted. Because they thrive in the higher CO2 waters, a result of the ocean’s absorption of anthropogenic CO2 from the atmosphere, smaller phytoplankton are consuming the nutrients needed by their larger cousins. This, in turn, impacts food supplies for whales that survive on plankton. Even the ocean’s natural ability to absorb more CO2 is effected. Everything is connected and humans have pulled on the strings of many aspects of the Arctic ecosystems.

The tooth of the narwhal has long held us in thrall. They appear to be mythical creatures, in part because they are so mysterious. Living in the coldest ocean, on top of the world, secluded and hidden, scientists have only recently begun to study them in earnest. Sometimes called the mountain gorilla of the Arctic, because their numbers are relatively few and their habitat incredibly specific and limited, narwhal are small, unique whales. The male’s tooth, which can grow to 8 feet long, once a mystery, is thought now to be a highly sensitized organ for providing information about the ocean conditions around them. It has been the prized possession of royalty for millennia, inspiring art and stories and collections. In Greenland, the narhwal are prized because their blubber contains very high amounts of vitamin C, a rare thing in the frozen north. Indigenous hunters are given a quota each year based on narwhal populations. This can be a contentious process when the number of narwhal to be hunted is low, as in Eastern Greenland, where many indigenous people depend on their valuable blubber to make a living. Narwhal are incredibly shy animals and have an extreme stress response to dangerous situations. There is concern among scientists that they will suffer in the new Arctic where shipping is increasing rapidly in new, ice-free routes, creating noise that can interfere with the communication and echolocation of narwhal and other whales. Resource extraction poses another threat to narwhal as the fish they eat can pass through waters polluted with mining runoff and pollution from oil and gas extraction. Orca have been seen deep in Arctic waters, a new habitat for them. They hunt narwhal, who are unaccustomed to their ubiquitous presence, and have fewer places to hide with diminishing sea ice. This majestic creature will need care to protect their habitat and way of life.