An iconic whale species will soon be aiding climate change research. Narwhals are spending more time near melting sea ice and researchers hope to exploit this new behaviour by tagging the mammals with temperature sensors to help us accurately monitor underwater sea ice melt for the first time.

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When run-off from ice melt hits the sea and glaciers calve off icebergs, it stirs up the ocean ecological system and brings nutrients to the surface, increasing the food supply. The melt also influences how much warm water enters the Arctic. Laidre’s work tracking the unicorn-like narwhal has found that the mammal spends so much time in and around melting ice that it seems to be the species’ new preferred habitat.

Laidre hopes that tracking narwhals as they swim under the edge of the ice sheet will enable her to measure its temperature with sensors and use this to explain the changing melt. Until now, this has been difficult to accurately study. Collected data will be transmitted to polar-orbiting National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites as part of NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) project.

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