Biology Bucket List #1

See a Narwhal in the wild

Narwhals have always caught my interest they look as made up creatures I used to draw back in elementary school. The marine version of an unicorn is something I want to watch up close. There aren't many studies about this specie since sightings are few due to their ecology and habitat (deep-water Arctic waters). I would be fascinated to learn more about them up close one day, hopefully sooner than later.


          The Narwhal or Narwhale

Monodon monoceros ("one tooth, one horn").

The narwhal's long horn, is actually an ivory tusk tooth that grows right out of the narwhal's upper lip. Males have the long swordlike spiral tusk that can grow up to 2.7 m, while females usually have no tusk or might sometimes grow a small one. To see these mystical creatures I have to travel to Canada or Greenland since they prefer the Artic Ocean. Luckily they have a fixed migration schedule, every summer pods of narwhals arrive in northwest Greenland coast and scientist go out and camp in the cold patiently waiting for them. While inuits patiently wait for their dinner, a Narwhal can grow up to 6 meters and weight 3,500 lb this can feed a whole family for months. Narwhals are an important source of meat for inuit hunters which are allowed to eat them as long as they can hunt them with their own traditional methods and nothing goes to waste. (Watch BBC Human Planet: The Artic to watch their impressive hunting skills).


But I've always thought why do these strange whales carry this unicorn type of horn around?

Well there are more than one hypotheses.
 A) They use their tusk to dig or to spear their prey.
B) To make holes in the ice or test how thick the ice cap is.
C) For mating rituals: to impress the girls and fight other suitors.  
(The Biology and Ecology of Narwhals Dr. Kristin Laidre, Polar Science Center Applied Physics Lab, University of Washington).


It's hard to determine whether they use their tusks to hunt since no one has ever seen a narwhal feeding. They stay far away from the coast and live in waters covered by sea ice and feed in deep waters in complete darkness. This whales have the record for marine mammals deepest dives they can dive down to 1,500 meters, thats 30 olympic pools stacked downward!!!  How could I not want to meet this impressive creatures???

Tours that offer you the chance to watch one:
http://whales.net
While I hope the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) will recruit me to join them on their narwhal expedition studies:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06arctic/background/biology/biology.html