narwhal

(also called ‘moon whale’, ‘polar whale’, ‘white whale’)

a kind of animal – mammal – related to the ‘toothed whale’ (dolphin, orca) – tube-like body with bluish-grey with pale brown speckles (spots), black on head, side fins and tail (fluke), round head and blunt snout (= mouth and nose part), small mouth with two teeth, of which one tooth growing very long, no fins on the back; size: 12-20 feet long (the tooth 8-10 feet, not included), and weight: 1-1½ tons; feeds on (eats) fish, squid, shrimp, and occasionally baby seals; lives for about 50 years; found in the seas and rivers in the Arctic region

male ~~ bull

female ~~ cow

baby ~~ calf

group ~~ pod

voice (call) ~~ click; squeal; whistle

Special Features:

The most striking feature of a narwhal is its spiral ivory tusk!  The tusk of a narwhal is one of the two teeth on the upper jaw, which grows to a length of 8-10 feet, growing out straight through the upper lip!  {Even scientists are unable to say what exactly do narwhals do with those long tusks!}

Some animal experts think that the narwhal is the legendary “unicorn”, a horse with a long pointed tusk on the forehead; if not, at least, an inspiration for such an imaginary (legendary) unicorn.  In fact, the narwhal is called “the unicorn of the sea”!

The narwhal fascinated the medieval empires so much that the Japanese had two narwhal teeth at the entrance of the famous Korininkaku Palace; and in Europe, several narwhal teeth comprise the Danish throne, and the royal sceptre in England is made from the narwhal ivory tusk!

The inuit (Eskimos) hunted narwhal for their vitamin C rich skin which they ate; for their meat which they used to feed their dogs; for the oil they got from their blubber (fat) which they burned for light; and for their ivory tusks which they used as a tool and made into decorative items, and also sold to the Americans or Europeans – a narwhal tusk is worth $ 4000-5000 in the ivory trade!!

{Note: The word ‘inuit’ which is the name of a tribe of people of Arctic region, used instead of Eskimost, is the plural of ‘inuk’, i.e. “inuit” refers to more than one person (plural) and ‘inuk’ refers to one person (singular)!}

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