Dolphin Feature - The Narwhal

What if there was a creature that possessed this spiral horn? Would he be held in awe just as the legend of the unicorn?

Allow me to introduce to you a creature whose spiral "horn" is as mystic as anyone could ever imagine...the Narwhal.

Belonging to the order "Cetacea," (or whale and dolphin), and the superfamily "Delphinoidea," (oceanic dolphins), the Narwhal is found exclusively in the Arctic region in northernmost Canada and Greenland to the northernmost regions of Europe and Asia.

Narwhal roughly translates to "corpse whale" in Old Norse. It is thought that this name is more of a description of the Narwhal. Adult Narwhals appear bluish-gray in color with various white "blotches" on their skin. Young Narwhals are brown in color with the absence of any white areas. Both young and adult Narwhals have a "cylindrical" body, the absence of any type of dorsal fin, and a well-rounded head. Their bodies contain a thick layer of blubber to aid in retaining body heat in the cold Arctic waters. Narwhals body length can reach up to 16 feet and the adult males have tipped the scales at one ton. This is not too unexpected, however, as the Narwhals weigh 175 pounds at birth and are five feet long.

The Narwhal's appearance is defined by its protruding "tusk" whose use and purpose is as baffling today as the day of its discovery. The Narwhal has two teeth in its upper jaw. Around the age of one year, the male Narwhal's left tooth will push through the upper lip. This tooth will grow, and begin to spiral, over the remainder of the Narwhal's life. In addition, approximately one of every 500 males will develop a "double tusk" when both teeth will protrude through the lip. Unfortunately, the area in which the tooth, (or teeth), puncture the Narwhal's upper lip never completely heals and may become home to "several pounds of ectoparasites."

The Narwhal's tusk can grow to a length of nine and a half feet with a circumference of 12 to 14 inches at the base, and weigh upward to 22 pounds. However, for most of the tusk length, it is hollow. In approximately 33% of the Narwhal population, the tusk is broken, as it is quite brittle.

Addressing the question of the purpose of the Narwhal's "tusk" is not as easily done as giving a description of it. Originally, the tusk was thought to be used to break surface ice in the Narwhal's wintry wonderland. However, the brittleness of the tusk has aided to disprove this theory. In addition, substantial observation of the Narwhal has shown that the rounded head is used to break away the surface ice of the Arctic.

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