News in Brief Animals

Narwhals are really, really good at echolocation

narwhal in Arctic

Audio recordings from the Arctic suggest that narwhals take directional sonar to the extreme. 

Kristin Laidre

By Helen Thompson

- More than 2 years ago

Narwhals use highly targeted beams of sound to scan their environment for threats and food. In fact, the so-called unicorns of the sea (for their iconic head tusks) may produce the most refined sonar of any living animal.