No, narwhals are not considered dangerous to people. No well-documented case of a narwhal attacking a person turned up in the research and wildlife-agency sources checked. Narwhals swallow their prey whole by suction rather than biting, and the long tusk is mainly a sensory and social structure, not a weapon. People are a far bigger danger to narwhals than the reverse.
Narwhal quick facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Monodon monoceros |
| Length | About 13 to 18 feet (4 to 5.5 m) |
| Weight | About 1,760 to 3,530 pounds (800 to 1,600 kg) |
| Tusk | Up to 9.8 feet (3 m) long and over 20 pounds |
| Diet | Arctic cod, polar cod, turbot, squid, and shrimp |
| Dive depth | Down to about 3,900 feet (1,200 m) for up to 25 minutes |
| Lifespan | At least 25 years, up to 50 |
| Population | About 85,000 to 100,000 (NAMMCO estimate) |
| IUCN status | Least Concern (2017 assessment) |
Do narwhals attack humans?
There is no well-documented attack on a person. Narwhals live in remote, ice-filled Arctic waters, and they are wary of people. The animals that attack narwhals are killer whales and polar bears, according to NAMMCO. People in Canada and Greenland hunt them, and some narwhals die when sea ice traps them.
Some websites claim narwhals charge or jab at boats and divers when cornered, but no source checked supports that. Tales of historical deaths from narwhal tusks also could not be verified, so they are left out here.
What is the tusk really for?
The tusk is a modified canine tooth, usually the upper left one. It spirals counterclockwise and grows through the lip when a male is about 2 or 3 years old. Most females keep both upper teeth inside the jaw, but females with tusks, and males with none or two, have been documented, according to NOAA Fisheries.
NOAA lists several likely roles:
- A secondary sex characteristic, a trait linked to mating rather than survival.
- A nonviolent way for males to compare rank by relative tusk size.
- A possible factor in female mate choice.
- A sensory tool for detecting changes in the environment.
- A tool for capturing prey.
On the sensory idea, a 2014 study led by Martin Nweeia found nerves and sensory tissue in the tusk. When water of high or low salinity flowed over the tusk of live narwhals, their heart rates changed differently. It was described as the first tooth shown by live testing to have a sensory function, according to the Harvard Gazette. Other proposed functions, such as helping males find females, have not been tested.
The prey idea got a boost in 2017. Drone footage filmed in Tremblay Sound, Nunavut, showed a narwhal striking Arctic cod with its tusk in quick movements that stunned the fish. National Geographic noted that the footage supports one theory, and that the tusk may serve several purposes. None of these roles involves attacking humans. For more detail, see narwhal tusk.
Could a tusk hurt a person?
A rigid tooth of up to 9.8 feet on an animal that can weigh well over a ton could injure someone in a collision, which is a good reason to keep your distance. However, nothing in the sources suggests narwhals aim the tusk at people. Some popular claims about the tusk are not supported, including exact "pounds of thrust" figures and the idea that tusk wounds are especially infectious. Any deep puncture wound from an animal still needs prompt medical care.
Do narwhals bite?
Not in any useful sense. Narwhals have no other protruding teeth, and they use suction to swallow prey whole, according to National Geographic and NOAA. A person has no reason to fear being bitten.
Can you swim with narwhals?
No. Narwhals are protected under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act, and in Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada treats swimming with or interacting with a marine mammal as disturbance. The general minimum distance is 100 meters. Beyond the law, the Arctic water is cold and the places narwhals live are remote. Narwhals are best watched from a boat or the ice edge, at a distance.
How fast do narwhals swim?
Not very fast. A 2021 tagging study of 13 narwhals in East Greenland recorded typical swimming speeds of about 2 meters per second (4.5 mph, 7 km/h) during dives, with the highest values in the data around 4 meters per second (about 9 mph, 14 km/h). The authors describe narwhals as animals built for slow speed and endurance. The tagged whales dove deeper than 800 meters. Narwhals are endurance swimmers, not sprinters.
How do narwhals react to people?
Narwhals are shy, and noise and capture stress them. Two studies show how:
- Capture and release. In East Greenland, scientists tagged narwhals that had been caught in hunters' nets and then released them. The whales made hard escape dives while their heart rates dropped to 3 or 4 beats per minute, compared with about 60 at the surface and 10 to 20 in normal dives. These were released captives, not whales that merely saw a boat, but the lead author warned that shipping, seismic surveys, and sonar could trigger similar responses.
- Ship and airgun noise. In a 2021 experiment, narwhals stopped making the clicks they use to feed, stopped diving deep, and swam close to shore when a ship and airguns were many kilometers away. Behavior returned to normal after about a week, and no long-term damage was seen, ScienceDaily reported.
Who is really at risk?
Narwhals are. NAMMCO lists climate change and sea-ice loss, hunting, ice entrapment, predation, and disturbance from shipping, tourism, and industry as main threats. It has recommended zero catches in all three East Greenland management areas. Narwhals are classified as Least Concern worldwide, but Greenland's national red list rates the East Greenland population as Endangered.
For related questions, see Are Beluga Whales Dangerous?, which covers the narwhal's closest relative, and Are Walruses Dangerous? for another tusked Arctic animal.