For the last three years, a rogue narwhal has been spotted hanging out in the deep waters of the St. Lawrence River estuary, and it seems he’s made some friends along the way.
Each time the lone narwhal has been seen, he’s been flanked by a roaming pod of beluga whales.
After recording a video of the band of whales interacting with each other, scientists are now puzzling over the social behaviors of the two different species of sea creatures and what caused the Belugas to readily adopt the lost narwhal.
Typically, according to the World Wildlife Fund, narwhals spend their lives in the Arctic seas surrounding Norway, Greenland, Russia, and Canada.
Narwhals generally tend to overwinter in the ice-packed waters of the Baffin Bay-Davis Strait area between Canada and Greenland, never traveling any further south than Ungava Bay, located just off northern Quebec below the southern tip of Baffin Island.
This means that, for us to find our rebel narwhal in the St. Lawrence River estuary, he traveled a total of 1,000 kilometers south of his native icy seas.
The video of the interspecies comingling between the belugas and the narwhal was recorded by GREMM, also known as the Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals.
The group is a non-profit organization based out of Tadoussac, Quebec, and focuses primarily on conservation, educational outreach, and research of whales within the St. Lawrence and surrounding areas.
After watching the video, GREMM’s scientific director and president, Robert Michaud, noted how similar the social behaviors of the narwhal are in comparison to that of the belugas he swims with.
The drone footage depicts a pod of ten belugas, all swimming in a tight formation just below the surface, rolling around and rubbing against each other in what seems like, according to Michaud, a state of play.
“It behaves like it was one of the boys. They are in constant contact with each other. It’s like a big social ball of young juveniles that are playing some social, sexual games.”
Indeed, GREMM speculates that the adventurous narwhal is juvenile in age, as is suggested by his coloring, the pattern of his markings, and his one and a half foot tusk.
As a matter of fact, the narwhal’s unique markings are what allows GREMM researchers to identify and keep track of him.
This is how the group knows that this narwhal, spotted for the third time this year on July 29th, is the same one that was spotted with the St. Lawrence belugas in both 2017 and 2016.
What’s interesting is that the group also tracks and names the belugas they research, and so know that each time the narwhal has been seen in the estuary, it was traveling with the same pod of belugas.
This is significant because it means that the narwhal has been accepted by the belugas, even though they are different species.
GREMM’s researchers noted that, in their observation of the narwhal’s interaction with the belugas, the narwhal took on the characteristics and routines of its companions.
They even noted that the narwhal adopted the habit of blowing bubbles with the belugas, which is a known form of mood-based communication among beluga whales.
In a study performed by Canisius College, researchers found that there are approximately four “bubble types” blown by belugas underwater, and each type is tied to the current mood of the beluga making the bubbles.
So, for the narwhal to blow bubbles with the belugas indicates at least some form of communication between the differing species.
Although according to Michaud, it’s fairly common for a young male whale to wander off and lose his pod, it’s pretty rare for them to find and sync up with a pod of a different species.
Narwhal expert at the University of Washington, Kristin Laidre, thinks the occurrence is strange on several counts.
Not only is the St. Lawrence much further south than a narwhal’s normal range, but the actual interaction of the narwhal with belugas indicates a change in the natural habits of the narwhal.
While there is some shared habitat between the two species of whale, they tend to occupy different niches at different times, making interactions between the two decently unlikely.
For instance, the narwhal thrives under dense ice-packs within the Arctic and can dive over one mile in depth, allowing them to hunt deep sea fish, whereas the belugas tend to prefer shallower depths along coastlines as they search for fish found nearer to the surface, such as salmon.
That being said, Harvard researcher Martin Nweeia, who has over 20 years of experience working with the Inuit tribes in the Canadian Arctic and Greenland, says people shouldn’t be surprised at the occurrence.
Nweeia and his team of researchers have seen belugas swimming with narwhals before in Arctic Bay, Nunavut, and have been told stories by the natives that include a narwhal amongst belugas.
Nweeia seems to think instances like these are probably more common than we think and indicate a higher level of social understanding amongst whales than previously believed.
“I don’t think it should surprise people. I think it shows … the compassion and the openness of other species to welcome another member that may not look or act the same. And maybe that’s a good lesson for everyone.”
Indeed, as you can see in the video, there seems to be a strong social bond between this narwhal and his beluga buddies, and it’s absolutely adorable!
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