NARWHAL IN DANGER OF BECOMING EXTINCT

Hunting fueling decline

HUNTERS have almost wiped out a key narwhal population putting the endangered sea mammals at greater risk of extinction, experts say.

Narwhals, a type of whale with a tusk that grow up to 10ft long, live in the Arctic waters around Canada, Greenland, Norway and Russia.

The elusive creatures, dubbed “the unicorns of the sea” were added to the “Red List” of endangered species in 2008.

But a scientist who has worked in Greenland said the country’s government was failing to protect them.

He said: “There is a very serious development with the narwhals on the east coast of Greenland. Not only have these creatures been impacted by climate change, populations are being eradicated due to excessive hunting quotas.

“The Greenland government has known since 2017 the catch was too high but has done nothing to save them.” In 2008 marine biologists estimated there were just 1,945 narwhals remaining in the region. But by 2017 the number was down to 246. And, since then,

Greenlandic catchers have further reduced their numbers.

The World Wildlife Fund estimates fewer than 80,000 remain worldwide.

Narwhals have long been prized for their blubber and the ivory from their tusks, one of which was used to fight off the London Bridge terrorist last month.

In 2004, Greenland set its first hunting quotas and banned the export of tusks, halting a thousand-year-old trade.

In a report last month the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission said no narwhals should be hunted off Greenland’s east coast next year.

The government said Greenland was waiting for a formal presentation of the NAMMC report, due in March 2020.

WATERY GRAVE Narwhals are still being slaughtered