Narwhal recently found in Ireland suggests they're moving into new areas, some experts say

Niamh Gavin and her four kids usually walk their dogs on Sweet Nellie's Beach in Greencastle in the Irish county of Donegal.

Most of the time it’s an uneventful outing, but last month they came across something unusual. Gavin's son thought at first it was a seal.

“Even from a distance, I thought, ‘that’s a large seal,’” Gavin said.

It turned out to be a female narwhal.

Ireland’s National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) recovered the animal a day later, and, along with scientists from the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG), conducted a post-mortem examination of the animal.

Simon Berrow of the IWDG, an advocacy group, says it appears the animal may have died after it became stranded on shore.

“She wasn’t in very good condition, but she wasn’t emaciated. So maybe she was diseased and that ultimately led to her live stranding, and then the live stranding killed her,” Berrow said.

Regardless of what caused the narwhal’s death, Gavin was shocked to see it on an Irish beach.

“It’s just mad to know how it ended up there, and why,” she said.

Narwhals typically inhabit Arctic waters, though some have reportedly been seen elsewhere in Europe, including in Belgium in 2016 when a dead male narwhal washed up on the shore of a river.

Berrow believes the animal found last month in Ireland could indicate that narwhals may be moving into new areas. That's something the IWDG has seen with other species it tracks.

Berrow says that another Arctic marine mammal — a bowhead whale — was also seen northeast of Ireland in 2016.

“I think that is really scary because when we look at whales and dolphins, they are triggers of wider changes in our marine environment," he said.

“It’s important to monitor them because they will probably give us insights into things that are happening.”