Subject: narwhales, general info
n.patenaude@auckland.ac.nz
Thu, 13 Mar 1997 9:49:21 GMT+1200
Hello my name is Renee and I am 10 years old. From a seeker I got
your e-mail address. as I understand this is the ask a scientist
service about marine mammals. well I am doing a project on narwhales
because Iam going to be a marine biolgest and because our theacher
has asked us to do an expert project on any subject.So if you could
send me anything about narwhales this would be great. thank you,
you can e-mail me at tulp32a@prodigy.com
Dear Renee,
Narwhals (and their close cousins belugas) are part of the 'odontocete' (meaning
toothed-whale) family. Their scientific name is Monodon monoceros, from the Greek words
'monos' for one, 'odon' for tooth and 'keros' for horn. If you see a photgraph of a narwhal
that name makes a lot of sense. Narwhals don't have any visible teeth, but the males do
have one tooth (usually the left one) which comes out of the gum directly forward, in a
great spiral. This is their famous tusk which makes them so distinctive and once thought
the be the horn of the unicorn. Scientists think that males use their tusk to display their
strengh and fight with others males for females, a bit like knights in shining armour.
Narwhales are not very large whales, usually no more than 15 ft long. They live up in the
High Arctic, not far from the ice packs and eat squid, fish and shrimp. They tend to hang
out in groups and sometimes groups of up to thousands of individuals can be seen travelling
together. They don't have many ennemies apart from the occasional killer whale, and man.
They have been hunted for centuries, especially for their valuable tusk. There is no longer
any commercial hunting but narwhales are still hunted by Canadian and Greenlandic Inuits for
their thick blubber.
You can find out more about Narwhales by going to your local library. Good luck with oyur
project!
Nathalie Patenaude