Thememesums it up : Narwhals , swimming in the ocean and causing a to-do , really are awe-inspiring . The “ unicorn of the sea ” have fascinated mariners and royalty for centuries , yet scientists still do n’t sympathize some keys details about the Arctic whales ’ life wheel , riding habit , and unique tusk . Here ’s what we do know .
1. Narwhals are well adapted to the cold.
Like their cousins , beluga whales , narwhals expend their whole lives incold Arctic sea . Most arefoundin the Davis Strait and Baffin Bay expanse between Canada and Greenland , as well as in the Greenland Sea between Greenland and Svalbard . Thesemedium - size whaleshave stubby thoracic flippers and lack a dorsal 5 , which allow them to drown underneath crank ice floe and reach the open for air ; adults narwhals ’ white coloring with hoary and black mottling camouflage them among the sea ice .
2. A narwhal’s tusk is actually a tooth.
The narwhal ’s scientific name , Monodon monoceros , refers to their curious characteristic and means “ one tooth , one horn . ” The narwhal ’s tusk appear to be situated in the center of its headland , but it is really an enlarged remaining front tooth that jut from the whale ’s upper jaw . The right front tooth remains belittled and inside the mouth . Though narwhals are classified as odontocetes ( toothed whales ) , they literally have only thesetwo tooth in their mouths . Most males athletics tusks , but only about 15 percent of females do .
narwhale feed on rather largefish , such as cod , halibut , squid , and shrimp , but they do n’t grab at the quarry with their teeth . Instead , they make a vacuum with their mouths and suck in the Pisces the Fishes — though this process , often taking place thousands of feet below the ocean ’s surface in full darkness , hasnever been directly observedor shoot . Scientistshavewitnessed narwhals using their tusk to stun seedcase before capturing and eat them .
3. The tusks are flexible.
Narwhal tusks ( or dentition ) are unequalled in the beast kingdom : they are the only uncoiled tusk and the only teeth cognize to grow in a whorl . Stranger still , while most teeth ( let in human teeth ) have a difficult outside and a soft , raw interior , narwhal teeth are the opposite . “ To find a tooth that is flaccid on the outside and has its most thick part around the pulp magazine was completely odd , ” narwhal expert Martin Nweeia , a dental surgeon and lector at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine , tell NPR after earn thisdiscoveryin 2005 .
Its tough core and mild stunned level resultant in atuskthat is both strong andflexible . It can flex significantly without breakage , which is significant for one as long as the narwhal ’s .
4. Narwhal tusks can grow up to 10 feet long.
Male narwhalsaverage 15 feetin length and weigh 3500 pounds , not including their tusks , which start start from their mouths at old age 3 and retain develop throughout the whales ’ lives . Tusks measure 9 or 10 feet are not uncommon . distaff narwhals are little than males , average 13 foot longsighted and 2000 pound .
5. Scientists have proposed several theories about the tusks’ purpose.
One theory is that the tusk can be used as a weapon ( and not just on codfish ) , though this title lacks sufficient evidence . Another is that it ’s an accessory for finding mates and asserting dominance , much like Inachis io feather or deer antlers . Nweeia and his team have propose that it act as a detector for pick up environmental cue .
Nweeia’sresearchhas found that the ivory is porous and full of cheek . It may smell external stimuli like water pressure , temperature , and brininess , and send those signal to the brain . To prove this possibility , Nweeia correspond narwhals with a “ ivory jacket ” that insulate the tusk from environmental factors . Then , researchers pump the jacket full of weewee sample of vary salinity levels to mime variations in saltwater . They regain that dissimilar levels of salinity caused the narwhals ’ heart rate to fluctuate , indicating they could feel the alteration and had a forcible reaction to it . That suggests narwhal tusks aresensory organsthat can measure salt absorption , and perhaps many more condition in its environment .
However , if the narwhal tusk is a mechanism for sensing the surroundings , why would n’t more female have acquire to have them as well ? The lack of ivory among female narwhals seems to support the theory that the ivory is principally an accoutrement for garnering attending and establishing authorization among males . Scientists are still looking for the answer .
6. Their name might mean “corpse whale.”
Narwhalis likelyderivedfrom the Old Norsenahvalr , combining the wordsna(“corpse ” ) andhvalr(“whale ” ) . It may be a reference to the giant ’s dotted grizzly and lily-white hide and its resemblance to numb bodies that had been float in the ocean for a while . Or , nahvalrmay derive from West Norse and mean “ whale distinguished by a long minute sound projection . ”
7. Narwhal skin is packed with vitamin C.
One ounce of narwhal peel containsas much vitamin Cas one ounce of an orange — about 15 milligrams . According to a 1930ssurvey , narwhal skin and eyes were of import source of the vitamin among Inuit in East Greenland , whose traditional diet was in the main meat . The researchers conclude that this foodstuff , along with algae , preventedscurvyamong the universe .
8. There are no narwhals in captivity.
Unlikebeluga heavyweight , narwhals do not boom in captivity . In the 1960s , the Vancouver Aquarium set in motion aprogramto capture or obtain narwhals from the Arctic and display them in the world ’s first ( and only ) permanent exhibit . Eventually , the museum catch or buy six wild narwhals , which arrived in Vancouver with much fanfare and pastime from the public . Unfortunately , all six died calendar month after their arrival . ( A unseasoned narwhal sent to the New York Aquarium alsodiedwithin a month ) . Likegreat white sharks , narwhals apparently are n’t meant to be tamed .
9. Narwhals were the source of myths and folklore.
In the Middle Ages , the narwhal ’s farsighted , straight , pearly - white tusk was thought to be aunicornhorn with the power to distill water system and do other kind of magic . legion tusk were given toroyalty . In the sixteenth century , Queen Elizabeth Ireceived oneworth £ 10,000 ; she also sipped water supply from a chalice made from a serving of a ivory . English monarchs were known tochip off a bite of the tuskand suck up it as a therapeutic deglutition or in a potion believe to prevent intoxication . The Hapsburg rulers had a tusk made into a wand and beautify with cherished precious stone , but Denmark really went all out : the Danish monarchs’anointing thronewas built in 1660 and incorporated several “ unicorn horns ” in its excogitation , which were easily sourced from the Danish territories of Iceland and the Faroe Islands .
A version of this story was published in 2014 ; it has been updated for 2024 .
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