Fun Facts
- Narwhal tusks are thought to be a contributor to the myth of the unicorn
- The english name of narwhal means "corpse whale" (10 Facts About 2013)
- Narwhals are believed to have recently experienced a population bottleneck (Palsboll et al. 1997)
- Narwhal tusks can be 33%-50% of their body length
- Some narwhals are bidental, meaning they have two tusks (Curry 2010)
- Narwhals can live to be up to 50 years old (10 Facts About 2013)
- Narwhals are one of only three marine mammels to live in the arctic year-round. The other two are the Beluga whale and Bowhead whale (Williams et al. 2011)
- Narwhal vocalizations can make humans deaf (10 Facts About 2013)
- Narwhals can hold their breath up to 25 minutes (Williams et al. 2011)
- Narwhals dive to some the the greatest depths of any mammal. The deepest dive recorded was ~1800 meters (>1 mile) (Williams et al. 2011)
- Narwhals are the subject of this fun and informative song. Click here
Photo credit: Arctic Kingdom