Head and body length, exclusive of the tusk, is 3.6-6.2 meters, pectoral fin length is 30-40 cm, and expanse of the tail flukes is 100-120 cm. About one-third of the weight is blubber. Coloration becomes paler with age. Adults have brownish or dark grayish upperparts and whitish underparts, with a mottled pattern of spots throughout.

 

The head is relatively small, the snout blunt, and the flipper is short and rounded. There is no dorsal fin, but there is an irregular ridge about five cm high and 60-90 cm long on the posterior half of the back. Narwhals are regularly found eastwards from the Canadian Arctic to central Russia but occur in rarely in the eastern Canadian Arctic.

 

Monodon Monoceros occupies one of the most northerly habitats of any cetacean species between 70*n and 80*n. Narwhals are rarely found far from loose packs of ice and they prefer deep water. There are large concentrations in the Davis Strait, around the Baffin Bay, and the Green land Sea.

 

The advance of the ice initiates migration. Longest known lifespan in wild 30 to 55 yrs; avg.42.50 years. Longest known lifespan in captivity 1 to 4 months; avg. 2.50 months. Monodon Monoceros may live up to 50+ years in the wild, yet attempts at captive breeding have been unsuccessful. Narwhals have a varied diet, feeding upon squid, fish, and crustaceans.

 

With few functional teeth, this animal is thought to use suction and the emission of water to dislodge prey such as bottom-living fish and mollusks. Their highly flexible necks aid in scanning a broad area and the capture of more mobile prey. Foods eaten include polar cod, Greenland halibut, flounder, salmon, herring, and cephalopods.

  

The narwhal also eats mollusks, aquatic crustaceans. Known predators of the narwhal are, Killer whales, Greenland sharks, polar bears, and humans. Some have suggested that the tusk is used for anti-predatory functions, this is unsupported by evidence. Nonetheless, the tusk that can grow to 3 m, would be a formidable weapon. The thing that stood out was that the class is Mammalia and that stragglers have been recorded around Newfoundland, Europe, and the eastern Mediterranean.

 

Author: Dalia V

Published: 02/2007

 

Photo Credit:

http://www.cafebeat.org/princessj/extras/marine/narwhal2.jpg