Animal narwhal: description and photo

Immediately I would like to answer the question of our readers about who such a narwhal is - an animal or a fish. It is a mammal that belongs to cetaceans. This is the only kind of narwhal.

The animal narwhal, or water unicorn, dwells in the Arctic Ocean, is a close relative of the beluga and belongs to the family of cetacean mammals.

Appearance

This is a very large animal - narwhal. Its weight (male) reaches 1.5 tons. The length of the adult specimen is 4.5 meters, up to one and a half meters the length of the calf. In the weight of an adult narwhal, more than half is fat. The females are somewhat more elegant, their weight is only 900 kilograms.

Outwardly narwhals are very similar to beluga whales. But they are distinguished by a huge horn. More often it is called a tusk. This is a large and strong formation of 2-3 meters in length and weighing 10 kg. Tusks are able to bend in different directions, without breaking.

Why Narwhale horn

The functions of the tusk have not yet been fully studied. However, today scientists with confidence declare that it is not intended to pierce the ice crust or attack the victim.

Initially, the version was announced that the animal narwhal uses its horn in mating games - to attract a female. It was based on observations. The fact is that in 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 education is extremely sensitive. When he studied, a huge number of nerve endings were found on his surface.

Scientists once again saw how unique the narwhal (animal) is. Measuring temperature and frequency of electromagnetic waves the tusk is the next version of its purpose.

Hypersensitive tusk

The narwhal horn is revered and dearly valued in different cultures - it can be an adornment of royal thrones and palaces. In England, the narwhal tusk became a royal scepter. Queen Elizabeth for one tusk of this northern giant paid in the XVI century a fantastic for those times the amount - 10 thousand pounds. With this money it was possible to build a castle. What is so remarkable about the process?

Narwhals belong to the small suborder of the so-called toothed whales. Despite this, in fact they are creatures without teeth. There are no teeth on the lower jaw , and only two rudiments on the upper jaw . The young can have six pairs of upper and a pair of lower teeth, but they fall very quickly, and in the place of the left tooth, the males develop a tusk, which by the time of maturity of the animal reaches 2-3 m in length, 7-10 cm in thickness and more 10 kg of weight. Long tusks adorn only males. The female horn is straight and shorter. Very rarely, but it happens that both teeth in females are degenerated into tusks; And in males the left canine does not become a horn, but these are quite rare exceptions.

The tusk of narwhal on its surface has spiral striation (cutting), which greatly increases its strength. This cutting appears for a long time: with the forward movement of the animal, the tusk, overcoming the powerful resistance of water, slowly turns around its own axis. As a result, the walls of the socket are cut by spiral grooves on its emerging surface.

Very rarely there are males with two tusks, which were formed immediately from two teeth. According to statistics, such animals meet one in 500 adult individuals.

Surprisingly, even today the narwhal, and in particular its horn, remains a mystery to scientists around the world. He is little studied.

To date, researchers believe that the tusk allows the narwhal to feel the change in temperature, pressure, concentration in the water of suspended particles.

Lifestyle

Narwhal is an animal (photo we have placed in this article), which in winter time is submerged to a depth of 1.5 km. This is necessary to protect against the icy Arctic waters. After a while it rises to the surface beyond the air and again goes to the 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 found at a depth of 30 to 300 m.

Food

The animal of the Arctic - the narwhal - eats mainly cephalopod mollusks and various species of bottom fish. The main enemies of these powerful animals are killer whales and polar bears. The young are sometimes attacked by sharks.

A family

An animal narwhal can live in solitude 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 rare to find a group of more than a hundred heads. Sometimes they are joined by beluga whales.

Like other herd cetaceans, these animals communicate with each other through vocalizations. Most often these are sharp sounds, like whistles, groans, clicks, mooing, gurgling, creaking.

Reproduction

Mating occurs in the spring. Pregnancy lasts 14 months, the full cycle of reproduction is 2-3 years. Usually one is born, much less two cubs. Sexual maturity comes to 7 years. Cases of reproduction of these animals in captivity are not recorded.

The female feeds the cub with very fatty milk for 20 months.

Life in captivity

The water unicorn belongs to a small group of animals that do not tolerate bondage at all. This is evidenced by the incontrovertible fact that more than six months in the confinement has not yet survived any animal, while in natural conditions they live up to 55 years. The exact number of narwhals is not 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, unique and unique in its kind.

Habitat

We have already mentioned that these powerful animals live in the harsh northern regions. The most common in the Arctic seas, in the Arctic Ocean. Narvale can be found off the coast of Greenland, as well as in the northern parts of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

Small groups are recorded in the north-east 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 Arctic ice, make seasonal migrations: in summer - to the north, and in winter - to the south.

Meat of water unicorns are consumed by the peoples of the north. They also use the fat of these animals as a means for the lamp (wick). Guts are used to make ropes, twine. But especially valuable is the mysterious horn, or tusk. From it northern craftsmen make various crafts.

Population

An animal narwhal is a small species that is on the verge of extinction. In the Middle Ages, because of its horn, which, according to the shamans, has magical powers, these mammals were destroyed in huge quantities.

Even today, an unusual tusk can cause the killing of an animal. They are hunted by the Eskimos. If manual harpoons were used for hunting in the olden days, today motor boats and automatic devices for killing narwhales are used.

Anyone who rises his hand to this rare animal, it is necessary to know that these are living indicators of the ecosystem, they feel the slightest changes in the climate, they are sensitive to the pollution of the environment.