A tooth, not a horn
The tusk is a tooth that grows straight out through the upper lip, in a left-handed spiral.
Polar seas
Narwhal
Monodon monoceros
A mottled grey Arctic whale. The male has a single long, spiralled tusk.
- Size
- Body up to 5m, plus a tusk up to 3m
- Look for it
- June to September
- Where
- Arctic seas round Greenland, Canada and Russia
Swims after you, tusk first. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Narwhal
Good to know
Six things about the narwhal
A tusk that can feel
The tusk is full of nerves. It may sense changes in the water, such as how salty it is.
The unicorn of the sea
Long ago, narwhal tusks were sold in Europe as unicorn horns, for more than their weight in gold.
Deep divers
Narwhals dive more than a mile down, under the ice, to hunt halibut and squid in the dark.
Life among the ice
They spend the winter in cracks in thick pack ice, breathing through small gaps.
No teeth for chewing
Apart from the tusk it has no working teeth. It sucks its prey in and swallows it whole.
The real thing
Photos of the narwhal
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
Narwhals are shy and live far from towns. A few trips to Arctic Canada and Greenland watch them at the ice edge in early summer.
How to help
Narwhals are very sensitive to noise from ships. Quiet, protected seas in the Arctic matter more as the ice opens up.
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