Narwhals, also known as the unicorns of the sea, look out of this world because they have a large tooth coming out of their heads. These bizarre creatures can weigh up to 4,200 pounds and grow about 17 feet in length, so they’re massive.
But why do they have a spear on their head? What’s their diet? How long do they live? Do people still hunt them for their tusks to this day? Let’s find out!
1. Only Male Narwhals Have a Tusk
Narwhals aren’t actually toothed whales because they don’t have teeth in their mouth. Instead, males have a single long straight tooth, known as a tusk that pokes about 2-3 meters out of their upper left jaw.
The tooth can grow up to 10 feet in length in a counterclockwise spiral and sometimes, narwhals develop a right one as well, giving them two tusks.
Interestingly enough, the tusk grows continuously but stagnates with age and only about 5% of females have it.
Although experts still don’t know why narwhals have tusks, they believe it actually helps males insert dominance within their groups. They also suggest that tusks assist them in navigating using echolocation underwater.
That said, narwhals aren’t one of the scariest deep sea creatures ever discovered, but they’re definitely one of the weirdest-looking.
2. Their Name Means “Corpse Whale”
Narwhals have a black-and-white skin pattern, with white underneath.
Their name comes from Old Norse: “Nar” means “corpse,” and “hval” means “whale,” referring to their skin color resembling a drowned sailor.
Their scientific name, Monodon monoceros, means “one tooth, one horn,” describing their distinctive single tusk.
3. Mystery is their Middle Name
We don’t know much about narwhals because they live in remote, icy places far from people and endure long periods of darkness each year. However, what we do know is that they’re exceptional divers.
Narwhals dive really deep, up to 1,500 meters (4,500 feet), and can stay underwater for about 25 minutes. They spend over three hours each day below 800 meters.
When they swim, narwhals move slowly, at about four miles per hour, so they’re not one of the fastest marine animals out there.
We also know that their diet includes Greenland halibut, polar and Arctic cod, shrimp, and Gonatus squid, eaten at different times of the year. Each day, a narwhal consumes over 60 pounds of food, which is normal since they’re so big. However, they’re not one of the biggest whales in the world.
Unlike other Arctic whales that migrate south in winter and feed in summer, narwhals feed heavily in winter and eat less during ice-free summers. This way, they don’t have to compete with whales in warmer waters or cope with the Arctic’s limited food supply.
4. They’re Not Endangered, Yet!
Narwhals aren’t endangered yet, but they face serious threats. Climate change is melting Arctic ice, which makes life harder for narwhals; they can’t find food that easily and hide from predators under sea ice.
Out of the 80,000 narwhals worldwide, most spend their summers in the Canadian Arctic. In Canada, they’re considered a “special concern” because they could become threatened or endangered due to their biology and the dangers they face.
Human activities like shipping and noise pollution also disturb narwhals. They depend on sound to communicate and navigate, so noise from ships can disrupt their lives, making it harder to find food, mates, and protect their young.
Oil and gas development in sensitive Arctic areas increases risks with more ships, noise, pollution, and chances of oil spills, further threatening narwhal survival.
Let’s hope that the narwhal population increases like that of the blue whale.
5. They’re Hunted for Their Tusks
The natural predators of narwhals include killer whales, Greenland sharks, polar bears, and orcas. But people pose the biggest threat to these stunning creatures.
Humans have hunted narwhals for years illegally because they believe their tusks have magical healing and aphrodisiac powers. And we say illegally because only the Inuit can legally hunt them.
Narwhals consist of 40% blubber and Inuit use their blubber as a vital source of vitamin C, a tradition for centuries.
They also sell their carved or uncarved tusks after hunts in Hudson Bay, making $530,000 annually. This includes $370,000 from meat and $150,000 from tusks, bones, and male teeth, plus $10,000 from female teeth and bones.
Luckily, the European Union and the United States don’t allow tusk imports, trying to help conservation.
6. Narwhals Can Live a Century
Narwhals can live up to 100 years, but their average lifespan is about 50-60 years, and they can’t survive in captivity.
In the wild, they sometimes suffocate when Arctic water freezes in late autumn. If they can’t find open water and the ice is too thick, they drown because they can’t breathe.
7. Narwhals are Very Social
Narwhals usually gather in small groups, often with five to ten members, sometimes up to 20 outside of summer, and move between the Arctic waters of Canada, Greenland, Norway, and Russia.
These groups can be nurseries with females and young or include only juveniles or adult males (bulls). Mixed groups can form at any time of year. In summer, several groups come together to form larger gatherings with 500 to over 1000 whales.
Sometimes, bull narwhals rub tusks with each other, a behavior known as “tusking.” This helps them establish social dominance hierarchies.
Tusking also suggests that tusks serve as sensory and communication organs, which share information about water chemistry sensed in tusk microchannels.
Closing Thoughts
Narwhals have been around for over 1.5 million years, as shown by fossil records, living and thriving in Arctic waters, so they’re considered ancient animals.
They also have the same brain size as humans and can recognize themselves in the mirror, making them one of the most intelligent marine animals.
In Inuit stories, the narwhal’s long tusk came from a woman who was pulled into the sea by a harpooned narwhal. She turned into a narwhal herself, and her twisted hair became the tusk.
In medieval Europe, people thought narwhal tusks were unicorn horns with magic powers. They believed these horns could cure poison and sadness. Vikings and traders in the north sold them for lots of money, more valuable than gold.
People also made cups from the tusks, thinking they could make any drink safe from poison.
