What is a Narwhale?

Question

What is a Narwhale?

Answer 1

The Narwhal is a unique species of toothed whales.  The male grows one tooth as a tusk.   They are an important food source for the Inuit.  They also have been hunted for the tusk.  They are now protected, except for native subsistence hunting.



http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/Narwha...

http://library.thinkquest.org/3500/Narwh...

Answer 2

I would hope you'd know as you chose it as your ID.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narwhal

Answer 3

A type of whale with a long unicorn like "horn" at its front. Recently, a scuba diving dentist studied the Narwale and discovered that the horn is actually more of a tooth and can be used for sensing things. Narwhales tend to live in cold arctic waters.

Answer 4

A narwhale or narwhal (Monodon monoceros) is a cetacean, like a dolphin, but in a different family (Monodontidae).  They are best known for a unicorn-like horn that is actually a tooth that has grown through the upper lip.  They are closely related to beluga whales, and both are only found in the far north, above 70º North latitude.  All males and some females grow these incredible teeth, and about 1 male in 500 has a  set of 2 tusks.

You're probably wondering what the tusks are for, and so are the experts.  The truth is that we don't have a clue what they're for.  We do know thet they are packed full of nerve endings that are much closer to the surface of the teeth than ours, so it is probably a sensing mechanism of some sort, but instead of having a long root, like our teeth, the tusk is divided into a series of compartments.  If the tusk is ever broken, as frequently happens, there is no exposed root to hurt, and an infection can't get past the damaged section.  Sometimes narwals are seen rubbing their tusks together, and still pictures of this can make it look like they're sword fighting, but it is a very gentle rubbing, and probably has more to do with brushing their teeth than sword fighting.

Answer 5

An Arctic whale that has a very long unicorn spiral horn on it used for hunting  and fighting .

Answer 6

There is no such thing as a 'narwhale'. I assume you mean the narwhal (Monodon monoceros) - this is a type of whale which lives in arctic waters. The male has a long tusk which is actually an incisor tooth - very rarely, he will develop two tusks, or a female will develop one. Years ago, these tusks were thought to be unicorn horns, and at one time were actually worth more than gold.

Narwhal image:

http://www.doobybrain.com/wp-content/upl...