Title: Narwhal
Headings: Narwhal
Narwhal
Physical Description
Surface Characteristics
Color
Fins and Fluke
Length and Weight
Feeding
Mating and Breeding
Range Map
Natural History
Status
Bibliography
Acknowledgements

Content: This evidence, combined with data indicating a rapid growth of the tusk at sexual maturity in males, suggests a possible breeding function. Natural History
The narwhal is a deep-water cetacean, and has been known to dive to 1,200 feet. It has up to 4" of blubber under its skin, which is needed for protection in the cold arctic waters. Becoming trapped in forming ice is not uncommon; in Greenland such an entrapment is called a "savssat". The most sever savssat occurred in the winter of 1914-1915, when over 1,000 narwhals died in an entrapment. Other sources of danger include attacks by orcas (killer whales) and, rarely, walruses, and polar bears. Status
Humans have valued the narwhal's tusk for many years. It is probably the origin of the myth of the unicorn, but the tusk and the narwhal were first associated in 1648 when Tulpius examined a stranded specimen in the British Isles. Through the Middle Ages the tusk was sold to cure epilepsy, strengthen the heart, induce perspiration, and buffer poison.