Narwhal

Narwhals are arctic animals which are related to the whale and are called cetaceans. They are rarely found south of the Arctic.

Narwhals are a species of white whale. There is only one other white whale which is the beluga whale.

The narwhal is also known as the Moon Whale.

The most unique part of the male narwhal is their single extremely long tusk that comes out of the left side of their jaws and forms a spiral.

Narwhal

It can be up to ten feet long on a larger animal which has a body length of just 24 feet approximately.

About one in every 500 male narwhal has two tusks and once in a while, although it is not common a female has a tusk as well.

The purpose of the tusk is not really known and has been debated for a long time.

More recently, scientists believed the tusk is primarily for show and for dominance males with larger tusks are more likely to attract a mate.

Recently the research team that was led by a man named Martin Nweeia suggested that the tusk might be a sensory organ.

Millions of small tubes extend from the tusk to the narwhals nervous system, apparently directly connecting one to the other. The researchers surmised that it might be to detect temperature changes.

Narwhal

Unlike many other animals’ tusks, they will not grow back if they are broken
Male narwhals weigh up to 3500 lb the female around 2200 lb.

Most of the body is very pale colored but there are brown or black speckles. Older narwhal are more brightly colored for one reason or another.

Animals are usually more brightly colored than younger animals.

Narwhals feed mainly on species of cod that live under ice-enclosed seas.

Narwhals are deep divers.

During a typical deep dive the animal will drop at about 2 yard per second for eight or ten minutes and can achieve depths of as much as 5000 feet before spending just a moment or two and returning to the top.

Find out more about the Narwhal over at Wikipedia »