Narwhal
The Unicorn of the Sea
IS THE NARWHAL RELATED TO THE UNICORN?
The tale of the Unicorn's existence was reinforced by the Vikings who used the legendary unicorn's "horn" to detect and destroy poison an enemy might place in their food. In order to protect the source of the "horn", the Vikings guarded the existence of the Narwhal from the Europeans.
The Narwhal is a whale very
similar to the Beluga whale. The
Narwhals live in the Arctic, swimming from Canada toward Russia through Norwegian waters.
They have an unusual spiraling tusk that emerges from their head, and
have been linked to tales of the Unicorn. They
are considered “the unicorn of the sea.”
For over 300 years the Vikings used the tusks of the Narwhal and sold
them as unicorn horn!
The Narwhals travel in small pods from 2-12 whales, sometimes merging with other pods. They may segregate themselves into pods according to age and sex while migrating. Their social system is really unknown, but it is thought that the males use their tusks for sparring with one another during mating. They can often be seen at the surface of the ocean.
The word “Narwhal” means corpse. These whales were named this because of the black and white mottling of their bellies. The females can grow up to 14 ft. long, and the males up to 15 ft. The Narwhals have only 2 teeth located in the upper jaw. The left tooth continues to grow on the male, becoming a tusk up to 10ft. long. The full length of the whale can easily become about 26 ft.! These tusks can weigh around 22 lbs. Some females have been known to grow thin tusks as well.
The Narwhals travel in small pods from 2-12 whales, sometimes merging with other pods. They may segregate themselves into pods according to age and sex while migrating. Their social system is really unknown, but it is thought that the males use their tusks for sparring with one another during mating. They can often be seen at the surface of the ocean.
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