Immediately I would like to answer the question of our readers about who the narwhal is - an animal or a fish. This is a cetacean mammal. This is the only type of narwhal.
The animal narwhal, or aquatic unicorn, lives in the Arctic Ocean, is a close relative of beluga whales and belongs to the family of cetaceans.
Appearance
This is a very large animal - narwhal. Its weight (male) reaches 1.5 tons. The length of the adult is 4.5 meters, up to one and a half meters is the length of the cub. More than half the weight of an adult narwhal is fat. Females are somewhat more elegant, their weight is only 900 kilograms.
Outwardly, narwhals are very similar to belugas. But they are distinguished by a huge horn. More often it is called a tusk. This is a large and durable formation 2-3 meters long and weighing 10 kg. Tusks are able to bend in different directions, while not breaking.
What for narwhal horn
The functions of the tusk are still not fully understood. True, today scientists say with confidence that it is not intended to pierce the ice crust or attack the victim.
At first, the version was voiced that the animal narwhal uses its horn in mating games - to attract females. It was based on observations. The fact is that during the mating season, these giant animals really constantly touch their tusks.
In 2005, a scientific expedition that observed the life of the narwhals came to the conclusion that this formation is extremely sensitive. When studying it, a huge number of nerve endings were found on its surface.
Scientists have once again seen how unique the narwhal (animal) is. Measuring the temperature and frequency of electromagnetic waves, a tusk is the next version of its purpose.
Hypersensitive tusk
The narwhal horn is revered and valued dearly in different cultures - it can be an adornment of royal thrones and palaces. In England, the narwhal tusk became the royal scepter. Queen Elizabeth for one tusk of this northern giant paid in the 16th century a fantastic sum for those times - 10 thousand pounds. With this money you could build a castle. Why is the process so remarkable?
Narwhals belong to a small suborder of so-called toothed whales. Despite this, in fact they are toothless creatures. There are no teeth on the lower jaw, and on the upper there are only two primordia. Cubs may have six pairs of upper and a pair of lower teeth, but they fall out very quickly, and a tusk begins to develop in the place of the left tooth in males, which reaches 2-3 m in length, 7-10 cm in thickness and more at the time of maturity of the animal 10 kg of weight. Long tusks adorn only males. In the female, the horn is straight and shorter. Very rarely, but it happens that both teeth in females degenerate into tusks; and in males, the left canine does not become a horn, but these are quite rare exceptions.
The narwhal tusk on its surface has a spiral trickle (cutting), which significantly increases its strength. This cut appears over time: with the translational movement of the animal, the tusk, overcoming the powerful resistance of water, slowly rotates around its own axis. As a result, spiral grooves are cut on the walls of the wells on its forming surface.
Very rarely males are found with two tusks, which formed immediately from two teeth. According to statistics, such animals are found in one in 500 adult individuals.
Surprisingly, even today, the animal narwhal, and in particular its horn, remains a mystery to scientists around the world. It has been little studied.
Today, researchers believe that the tusk allows the narwhal to feel the change in temperature, pressure, and concentration of suspended particles in the water.
Lifestyle
Narwhal is an animal (we posted a photo in this article), which in winter plunges to a depth of 1.5 km. This is necessary to protect yourself from icy Arctic waters. After some time, he rises to the surface behind the air and again goes to a depth. During the day he makes about 15 such dives. In addition, subcutaneous fat is a reliable protection against cold in narwhals. Its layer sometimes exceeds 10 cm. In summer, these animals are usually at a depth of 30 to 300 m.
Food
The animal of the Arctic - narwhal - feeds mainly on cephalopods and various species of bottom fish. The main enemies of these powerful animals are killer whales and polar bears. Sharks sometimes attack cubs.
A family
An animal narwhal can live alone or in a small group, which includes up to 10 adult males or females with offspring.
Previously, these giants created large herds, numbering several hundred, and sometimes thousands of heads. Today it is rarely possible to meet a group of more than a hundred goals. Sometimes belugas join them.
Like other herd cetaceans, these animals communicate with each other using vocalizations. Most often these are sharp sounds like whistling, moaning, clicking, mooing, gurgling, creaking.
Breeding
Mating takes place in spring. Pregnancy lasts 14 months, the full cycle of reproduction is 2-3 years. Usually one is born, much less often two cubs. Puberty comes to 7 years. No cases of breeding of these animals in captivity have been recorded.
The female feeds the cub with very fat milk for 20 months.
Life in captivity
Water unicorn belongs to a small group of animals that can not stand captivity at all. This is evidenced by the incontrovertible fact that not a single animal has survived for more than six months in captivity, while in natural conditions they live up to 55 years. The exact number of narwhals has not been established, but they are a small, rare species that is already listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.
With full confidence, they can be called one of the wonders of the Arctic, the only and unique of its kind.
Habitat
We have already mentioned that these powerful animals live in the harsh northern regions. Most common in the seas of the Arctic, in the Arctic Ocean. Narwhals can be found off the coast of Greenland, as well as in the northern parts of the Canadian Arctic archipelago.
Small groups are registered in the northeast of Franz Josef Land, very rarely between Kolyma and Cape Barrow. This is due to the lack of feed - there are few cephalopods. The North Pole stations registered groups of narwhals north of Wrangel Island. They live in cold waters along the edges of the Arctic ice, make seasonal migrations: in the summer - to the north, and in the winter - to the south.
The meat of aquatic unicorns is consumed by the peoples of the north. They use the fat of these animals as a means for a lamp (wick). Intestines are used for making ropes, twines. But the mysterious horn, or tusk, is especially valuable. Northern craftsmen make various crafts from it.
