The Narwhal research project started in 2019, when PJSC Gazprom Neft, together with IEE RAS, arranged for the first expedition to study these animals. Then the "sea unicorns" were found in the archipelago Franz Josef Land. The second expedition, organized by the company and the A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS, left Arkhangelsk in July 2021 on the research expedition ship Mikhail Somov. Its goals are to detect narwhals, describe the Russian part of the range, and assess the state of the population.
Narwhals are unique in that they prefer areas bordering between water and Arctic ice all year round, not swimming away to warmer areas like most marine mammals. The state of the population of "sea unicorns" can be used to judge the well-being of the Arctic ecosystem, which is why Gazprom Neft PJSC pays great attention to them.
PJSC Gazprom Neft, together with IEE RAS, at the TASS site, prepared an interactive long-read website https://spec.tass.ru/narwhal/, where you can get acquainted with the diaries of the expedition, read the conclusions of scientists, watch videos and photos with narwhals.