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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Unicorns of the Sea

So I am really enjoying this post about topics thing that I've re-instated because now I can write about anything. For the past few months I've been relying on my experiences to determine what to blog about.  And those experiences were severely lacking.  But no more!  And in honor of that today's post is about (Drum roll please)... NARWHALS!!!  With which I have absolutely no experience.

So for any of you out there who have never heard of or seen a narwhal (scandalous) here is a lovely picture for you...


Now that is clearly one of the coolest animals on the earth today.  Narwhals are basically the unicorns of the sea, except they're real!!

Now you may be wondering exactly what is that thing protruding from it's head?  Well, sadly it is not a horn.  It is, however, a tusk.  Otherwise known as a tooth.  That's right, the narwhal's giant horn is actually a tooth that grows through the porpoise's upper lip.  The tooth originates from the left incisor, and it is a rare specimen that will grow a tusk on both the left and right sides.


The tusk can extend up to 8 feet on the male and is spiraled.  Females will also grow a tusk, though it will be smaller and straighter than the male's.  Though scientists have long debated over the exact purpose of this extreme tooth, is it used for breaking ice, spearing fish, piercing ships, transmitting sound, shedding excess body heat, poking the seabed for food, wooing females, defending baby narwhals or establishing dominance in social hierarchies?  Not exactly.  In recent years a team of scientists from Harvard and the National Institute of Standards and Technology discovered that the tusk is actually an sensory organ.  This means that as the narwhal is swimming through the water, the tusk is sending information from the environment, such as subtle changes of temperature, pressure, and particle gradient, to the brain.  And while it's not exactly known why the whale needs to know all of this information, there are a few theories out there.


As previously mentioned, the narwhal is a porpoise rather than a whale.  As such, they are related to bottlenose dolphins, belugas, harbor porpoises, and orcas.  Like some of these other sea mammals, narwhals travel in groups to feed, typically in numbers from 15-20, though sightings have been reported with up to 1000 whales.  Crazy. The narwhal is native to the Arctic, specifically around Canada and Greenland, though they have been spotted as far east as Siberia. 

Some fun historic information about the narwhal?  The narwhal horn, when introduced to society around 1000 A.D. was introduced as a unicorn horn, and quickly became one of the most profitable hoaxes in all history.  Most societies at the time had no experience with such creatures as the narwhal, so what else could this object possibly be but a unicorn horn?  Unicorn horns were prized due to their properties to cure ills and neutralize poisons.  The fast moving lie even reached the church, where pieces were put in holy water in the attempt to give a miracle cure.


The hoax couldn't last forever however, and as explorers began traveling in the 1600s, the lie of the unicorn horn was finally exposed.  As sad as it is that unicorns do not exist in this universe, it is still extremely thrilling to realize that an animal with such a horn does, the majestic narwhal.

I will now leave you with a fun fact. Narwhals can crawl over dry land for distances of up to 50 yards.  Whether or not it is true I cannot say as I could not find a source to verify it.

10 comments:

  1. If a narwhal uses its tusk to spear fish, how does it retrieve the fish from the end? And also, if they travel in pods that leap out of the water like dolphins do you think they ever have "accidents" where the front line narwhals get speared from the ones behind them?

    Stopping by from A to Z (#616) and you grab me right away so I think I'll stick around! Looking forward to you April posts!

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    1. Well Heather, as I said in the post the spearing fish idea was just that, an idea. Narwhals don't actually do that. It is now believed that the tooth is used as an extra sensory organ, like sight or smell, in order to test their surroundings.

      I'm not sure about their swimming motions, but I'm sure they've had an accident or two throughout the years. Thanks for the comment!

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  2. Heather makes some very good points to ponder. I got to see a narwhal tusk at an exhibit on Mythical Creatures at Atlanta's Fernbank Museum. It was on display to tie in with the unicorn lore. Very cool!
    I'm also visiting from the A-Z. Best of luck in the challenge and I'll stop by again soon!
    Jenny @ The Modest Peacock

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    1. I've never actually seen a tusk in person but I hope to someday in my future travels. Thanks for stopping by and I hope I can keep posting some more interesting topics this month!

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  3. I had never heard of the narwhal before until about a week ago and then, bam, here it is again! A fountain of information you are!
    Happy A to Z!

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    1. Was the first instance on the Discovery series Frozen Planet? Because I recall a narwhal clip in the commercial but I never did get a chance to watch it. Anyways I hope I've spiked your curiosity! Thanks for stopping by and I hope I can keep posting some more interesting topics this month!

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  4. I've never heard of the narwhal. Very interesting. I'm also visiting from A to Z. I randomly found your blog on the list and I'm glad I did. I look forward to reading your posts.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! I hope I can keep posting some more interesting topics this month!

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  5. Thanks for sharing this information. I love learning new things especially about ocean life.

    Peace,
    Morgan

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  6. Funny you did this post b/c my boyfriend and I were just talking about narwhals the other day....probably around the same day you did this post too, which of course made me go look up more info about them. I'd love to see one someday.

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