Narwhals

Migration

Narwhals exhibit seasonal migration, with a high fidelity of return to preferred ice-free summering grounds, usually in shallow waters. In summer months, they move closer to the coast, often in pods of 10–100 individuals. In the winter, they move to deeper waters offshore, under thick pack ice, surfacing in narrow fissures or in wider fractures known as leads. As spring comes, these leads open up into channels and the narwhals return to the coastal bays. Narwhals in Baffin Bay typically travel to northern Canada and Greenland between June and September. After this period, they travel about 1,700 kilometres (1,100 mi) south to the Davis Strait, and stay there until April. During winter, narwhals from Canada and West Greenland regularly visit the pack ice of the Davis Strait and Baffin Bay along the continental slope which contains less than 5% open water and hosts a high density of Greenland halibut.