"It brought tears to my eyes." Drone footage shows elusive animal with a tooth as long as a car swimming in the Arctic

"It brought tears to my eyes." Drone footage shows elusive animal with a tooth as long as a car swimming in the Arctic

These animals are usually scared away by any movement in the water – but in 2024, cinematographer Martin Gregus captured them on film.

Martin Gregus


Most people can only dream of seeing a rare and elusive narwhal but cinematographer Martin Gregus had a magical encounter with these mysterious animals thanks to his drone.

“Seeing them from the air for the first time brought tears to my eyes,” said Gregus, who shared his video on Instagram in 2024.

Gregus described a narwhal sighting like “seeing a unicorn, it's magical”. The timid animals are typically scared off by any disturbance in the water, making it “almost impossible” to get shots of the from the water, he explained. 

Narwhals are elusive and timid creatures, so catching them on film is rare. Credit: Martin Gregus

“They appear out of the blue so gently and quietly that you could miss them, and then they disappear beneath the waves in the same way making you wonder about what it is that you just saw,” he said.  

The narwhal tusk, most commonly seen on males, is an enlarged tooth that can grow up to 10 feet (more than three metres) long.

Narwhals are known for being very shy. “For years they have been and remain hunted so they try their best to keep a low profile which makes it very difficult to catch up with them.” 

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Image and video credit: Martin Gregus @mywildlive and www.matkopictures.com 

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