Narwhal
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| Monodon monoceros | ||||||||||||||
 Narwhal range |
The name "narwhal" is derived from the Old Norse word for 'corpse' to describe the mottled white and grey colouring of the skin of the adult. The species was first described by Carolus Linnaeus in 1758.
This small whale is some 4-5 m long, excluding the tusk, generally pale with speckled upperparts. Male Narwhals have a single, long, straight tusk projecting from the left side of their jaws, with a left to right spiralled ridge. The tusk is up to 2.5 m long. One in 500 males has two tusks.
These are quick, active mammals which feed mainly on species of cod that reside under ice-enclosed seas. In some areas their diet however seems to have adapted to feed on squid.
Narwhals normally congregrate in groups of about 5-10 in number. Sometimes several of these groups might come together, particularly in summer when they congregate on the same coast. Males use their tusks for jousting to establish a social hierarchy.
Narwhals are deep-divers. During a typical deep dive the animal will descend at two metres per second for eight to ten minutes, reaching a depth of upto 1000m, spend perhaps a couple of minutes at depth before returning to the surface. The deepest recorded is 1164m. Typical dive times are twenty minutes, with twenty five minutes recorded in exceptional cases.
The Narwhal is found predominately in the Atlantic and Russian areas of the Arctic. Individuals are commonly recorded in the northern part of Hudson Bay , Hudson strait, Baffin Bay, off the east coast of Greenland and in a strip running east from the northern end of Greenland round to eastern Russia (170° E). Land in this strip includes Svalbard, Franz Joseph Land and Severnaya Zemlya. The northernmost sightings of Narwhal have occurred north of Franz Joseph Land, at about 85° N.
Estimates of population have concentrated on the fjords and inlets of Northern Canada and western Greenland. Aerial surveys suggest a population of around 40,000 individuals. When submerged animals are also taken into account, the true figure may be in excess of 50,000.
Narwhals are a migratory species. In summer months they move closer to coasts. As the winter freeze begins they move away from shore, and reside in densely-packed ice - surviving in leads and small holes in the ice. As spring comes these leads open up into channels and the whale returns to the coastal bays.
In even earlier times, the Narwhal gave rise to the legend of the unicorn in the middle ages. During that time narwhal tusks (usually found washed-up on northern shores) were believed to have come from a horse-like creature that had healing powers; however, according to the legend, the creature was a wild beast that could only be captured by offering a virgin as sacrificial bait.
Through contact with Inuit in the seventeenth century the aquatic nature of the unicorn was discovered, from whence its legend as a sea monster flourished.
Physical description
Behaviour
Population and distribution
Narwhal myths
The Narwhal remained an animal of legend until the 19th century. Their high north habitat was not visited by Europeans until that time - stories of their existence only reached the mainstream scientific community through those trading with Inuit hunters. Predation and conservation
The main predators are polar bears, killer whales and walruses. Some Inuit hunt this species. In Greenland, traditional hunting methods are used, but high-speed boats and rifles are frequently used in northern Canada.