Six Sensor-Wearing Narwhals Dove Where Ships Couldn’t and Revealed Warm Water Reaching Greenland’s Glaciers
Learn how six sensor-wearing narwhals traced warm Atlantic water into Greenland’s fjords, where it may accelerate glacier melt.
In East Greenland, sea researchers faced challenges collecting ocean data in remote areas due to inaccessible fjords. To overcome this hurdle, local hunters aided a research team in capturing six narwhals and attaching sensors to them. Once released, the narwhals carried the sensors on their regular dives through the fjord system.
Upon analyzing the data, researchers discovered that warm, salty Atlantic water had reached as far as 186 miles (300 kilometers) inland. This discovery, published in Science Advances, could improve climate models by providing better insights into the ocean heat reaching Greenland's glaciers.
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