Arctic narwhal ‘scared to death’ of killer whales

“The increased presence of killer whales in Arctic waters is intimidating narwhal into drastically changing their behaviour . . . Extensive year-round sea ice once limited the number of killer whales in those waters. The decline of that ice due to global warming means killer whales arrive earlier, leave later, and are greater in number... When killer whales weren’t around, the narwhal went after abundant shoals of prey sh between four and 10 kilometres from shore. But when the orcas were anywhere in the inlet, narwhal cowered within 500 metres of shore . . . Hugging the shore also exposes them to Inuit hunters for whom narwhal is a valued food . . . It’s an example of how a small change in the food web can have impacts far beyond the number of narwhal killed."