Where does the narwhal live? Whales (cetaceans). Horned sea dweller

Origin of the species and description

Narwhals are mammals belonging to the family and genus Narwhalidae - the only representatives of their genus. Narwhals are cetaceans - mammals that have been able to fully adapt to life in water.

It is difficult to establish the origin of narwhals, since their ancestors have not been found that would have a similar tusk, which grows from the head of narwhals. The closest relatives of narwhals are, they have the same constitutional structure, with the exception of the structure of the oral cavity.

Video: Narwhal

Cetaceans have many similarities with. According to their genetic code, they are close to , so it can be concluded that the ancient ancestors of narwhals were Mesonychia mammals. These animals were similar, but had paired hooves.

Mesonychia lived near the coasts and ate fish, crustaceans and. This diet forced the animals to often go into the water or live on. Their bodies changed to suit the aquatic lifestyle - a streamlined body shape and compacted tails were formed. The nostrils of all cetaceans are located on the back - they perform exactly the same functions as the nose of land animals.

Interesting fact: The narwhal tusk is an amazing evolutionary phenomenon. When scientists reliably understand why these animals need it, many questions about the origin of the narwhal will be closed.

Why the narwhal does not have a dorsal fin is also an open question. Probably, due to the northern habitat, the fin was reduced - it was inconvenient when swimming on the surface, near a layer of ice. The fins of cetaceans have a fairly fragile structure, so narwhals could simply break them often on thick ice.

Appearance and features

Narwhals are very large animals - their weight can exceed a ton, and the body of males reaches 6 meters in length. The bulk of the narwhal is fat, which protects the animal from the cold and allows it to go without food for a long time.

Narwhals exhibit sexual dimorphism: males are one and a half times larger than females. Outwardly, all individuals resemble, and because of their long “horn”. They have a large rounded head with a movable neck, like a. There is no fin on the back, the body is smooth and streamlined, which allows the narwhal to develop high speeds. The color of narwhals is the same: it is a pale gray body covered with dark and black spots, which are most numerous on the back and head.

Interesting fact: Because of their color, narwhals got their name - from Swedish, “narwhal” is a “corpse whale”, since their coloring reminded the discoverers of corpse spots.

The narwhal's mouth is small, narrow, and lacks teeth, with the exception of a pair of upper teeth, similar to incisors. The upper left tooth of the male turns into the same tusk, which cuts through the skull and grows into a spiral up to 3 m long. The weight of such a tusk can reach 10 kg. Females have such tusks, although they are quite rare.

Interesting fact: The Hamburg Museum contains the skull of a female narwhal with two tusks.

The narwhal tusk is unique in its structure: it is very strong and at the same time flexible. Therefore, it is impossible to break it - you need to make enormous efforts. Scientists don't know why narwhals need their tusks. There is a version that it can attract females during the mating season, but then such tusks would not be found on females at all.

Another theory is that the tusk is a sensitive area that can detect water temperature and pressure. Contrary to popular belief, narwhals do not fight with their tusks and do not use them as weapons, treating them with extreme care.

Where does the narwhal live?

Narwhals live only in cold waters and also in the north.

The places where you can most often find herds of narwhals are as follows:

• archipelago;
• shore ;
• Spitsbergen;
• Franz Josef Land (since 2019);
• New Earth;
• south (only in winter);
• coast;
• White Sea (also only in winter);
• Bering Islands.

Despite the many areas where narwhals live, their numbers are extremely low. This scattering makes it difficult to observe narwhals, which is why even today some individuals can become victims of poachers.

Narwhals lead a herd lifestyle. They usually live at depth, being in constant motion. Together with young and elderly individuals, they travel tens of kilometers a day in search of food. Narwhals remember places where there are holes in the ice to breathe.

Two herds of narwhals meet extremely rarely - using echolocation, they determine each other’s locations and avoid meeting each other. When meeting (they occur, most often, at wintering grounds), they make greeting sounds, without conflicting families in any way.

Now you know where is the sea unicorn narwhal found?. Let's see what he eats.

What does a narwhal eat?

The physiology and lifestyle of narwhals allow them to become successful predators.

The narwhal's daily diet includes:

• small fish - they prefer the most boneless, “soft” fish;
• mollusks, including cephalopods - cuttlefish, squid;
• crustaceans;
• various northern fish: halibut, cod, cod, red snapper.

Narwhals usually hunt at depths of up to 1 km, although they prefer not to go below 500 meters. If a flock has not had food for a long time, they do not experience discomfort from this, but feed on their fat reserves. Narwhals have never been found emaciated or starved to death.

They search for food using echolocation. The sound is repelled by objects, among which narwhals recognize fish or other possible prey. They attack a school of fish together, using their moving necks to capture as much food as possible.

If the prey is single - an octopus or a squid, then the cubs and nursing females feed first, then the older females, and only at the end do the males eat. Narwhals spend all their time searching for food.

Like beluga whales, the narwhal's teeth have the ability to suck up water and "shoot" a long stream. Narwhals actively use this ability to get octopus or crustaceans out of narrow crevices or to suck small fish into their mouths.

Features of character and lifestyle

Narwhals are sociable and peaceful creatures. They prefer cold waters, but in the fall, when water temperatures drop, they migrate south. During this period, many narwhals have young, which is why they also move to warmer waters.

Narwhals spend most of their time under the ice. Sometimes you can see the long tusks of males that have floated to the surface to the hole to take a breath of oxygen, and then sink back to the depths. If the hole is covered with ice, large male narwhals break it with their heads, but not with their tusks.

Narwhals, like dolphins, live in schools of about ten individuals. Males stay apart from females. Narwhals communicate using various sound signals and echolocation, but the exact number of sound signals is unknown. It can be reliably said that dolphins and whales have a similar way of communication.

Interesting fact: Each flock of narwhals has its own sound designations, which will not be understood by another flock. It's like different dialects of the same language.

In the summer, narwhals migrate back north, either pregnant or with grown cubs. Sometimes single males swim at a distance from the flock - the reason for this behavior is unknown, since narwhals do not expel their relatives from the flock. These animals can dive to depths of up to 500 meters. They can remain without air for up to half an hour, but the cubs emerge to breathe every 20 minutes.

Narwhals do not attack other marine life without reason. They are also non-aggressive towards people, but, unlike dolphins and some whales, they do not show curiosity towards them. If narwhals see a boat near a pack, they prefer to slowly disappear from view.

Social structure and reproduction

Mating games occur in the spring, but it is difficult to name the exact month due to changing climatic conditions. Narwhals choose the period when the first stable warmth appears and the water temperature rises.

As a rule, narwhals are gregarious, but sometimes solitary individuals are found. During the breeding season, loners join flocks where there are females and males. Most often, females and males stay apart from each other, swimming at a short distance, but during the mating season, all narwhal individuals gather in one large group, which can number up to 15 individuals.

Narwhals begin to make sounds that have echolocation properties. A number of sounds indicate readiness for mating and the search for a partner - female narwhals choose their males by singing. No aggression was observed in males during this period, nor were dominant males with the exclusive right to mate found.

The absence of a rigid hierarchy in the pack provides narwhals with good genetic diversity, which, in turn, provides a good basis for further reproduction and spread of the population. The female's pregnancy lasts approximately 15 months. As a result, she gives birth to one calf, which will swim next to its mother until it is 3-4 years old. By 5-6 years he will become sexually mature. In general, narwhals can live up to 60 years, but in captivity they do not live even a year.

This is due to the high mobility of narwhals - they swim tens of kilometers per day. Narwhals are also very sociable, so they cannot live in captivity.

Natural enemies of narwhals

Due to their large size, narwhals have no natural enemies. The only threat to these animals was humans, who influenced the number of narwhals.

Baby narwhals can sometimes be caught by polar bears as they swim up to the hole to breathe. Polar bears do not purposefully hunt narwhals - they simply keep watch near the ice hole, usually waiting for seals. A polar bear cannot drag away a large narwhal, but it can injure it with its powerful jaws, leading to the death of the animal.

If a narwhal escapes an attack, it makes a warning sound, signaling to the flock that there is danger there. The flock goes to another hole. For this reason, the first breath is most often taken by the male narwhal. During the breeding season, narwhals may be attacked by walruses. Males become extremely aggressive, attacking literally everything underwater. Narwhals are faster, so they ignore such attacks.

Northern ones are small predators, but they pose a danger to baby narwhals. As a rule, the males drive away the sharks, and the females closely surround the pups, but sometimes the sharks still get their prey.

It is generally accepted that the narwhal's main enemy is the killer whale. The fact is that killer whales very rarely attack waterfowl mammals such as whales and dolphins, since they belong to the same family. Only a hungry pod of killer whales attacks the narwhals. But killer whales are fierce predators, and narwhals are afraid of these animals. Because of this, narwhals prefer to live in the northern territories, choosing narrow fjords where large predators do not swim.

Population and species status

Since ancient times, narwhals have served as a source of meat and fat for the indigenous peoples of the Far North. People hunted narwhals by standing guard near the ice hole or sailing into cold waters on boats armed with harpoons.

Until now, hunting narwhals is allowed for residents of the Far North, but only adult males must be chosen as prey. This is due to the fact that cetaceans and narwhals in particular still play an important role in the lives of these people.

Interesting fact: Narwhal fat is used as fuel for lamps, strong guts served as the basis for ropes, and tusks were carved into crafts and tips for weapons.

In the 20th century, narwhals were actively exterminated. All sorts of healing properties were attributed to their meat, fat and tusks, which is why narwhals were highly valued in the market and sold very expensively. By analogy with fur seals, the market received an oversupply of narwhal trophies, so they stopped selling at a high price.

There are still poachers. The number of narwhals has decreased significantly, and they are now a protected species. It is strictly forbidden to hunt females and cubs - caught males must be used “without waste”; there is a certain quota for the production of these animals, which is determined by their annual number.

Pollution of the world's oceans also negatively affects the population. Narwhals are very sensitive to water temperature and its purity, so the life expectancy of narwhals living in polluted areas decreases.

Melting glaciers provokes a reduction in the food supply of narwhals, which also affects their lives and forces them to migrate to other places where they encounter sharks and killer whales. Thanks to strict protection and constant monitoring of known narwhal schools, their numbers are increasing, although they still remain disastrously low.

Narwhal conservation

The narwhal is listed in the territory as a rare, small-numbered species, a monotypic genus. The situation is complicated by the fact that narwhals do not tolerate captivity well, so breeding in specialized conditions is impossible.

In February 2019, a group of 32 narwhals was found in the north of the Franz Josef Land archipelago, which included an equal number of males, females and calves. It was discovered by a group of scientists from the Narwhal project. Legend of the Arctic." This find suggests that the animals chose a permanent habitat and breeding area for themselves. Largely thanks to this group, the number of narwhals in the Arctic is increasing. Scientists continue to monitor these individuals; the flock is protected from poachers.

The results of this expedition are used to study the nuances of narwhal behavior in order to further assist in the conservation of the species. There is already information about the approximate number, migration patterns, breeding seasons and areas where narwhals are common. Research is planned until winter 2022. The Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Gazprom Neft, which is interested in the Arctic Time program, are connected to them.

Narwhal- an amazing and rare animal. They are the only representatives of their kind who lead a solitary, peaceful lifestyle. The efforts of scientists and naturalists are concentrated on the conservation of these animals, since protecting the population in the wild is the only chance to preserve this unique species.

• Kingdom - Animals
• Type - Chordata
• Subphylum - Vertebrates
• Class - Mammals
• Order - Cetaceans
• Family - Unicorns
• Species - Narwhal

Narwhal (unicorn) is a mammal that belongs to the unicorn family and is the only species of the narwhal genus.

An adult narwhal has a body length of approximately 3.5 to 4.5 meters, while a newly born one is about 1.5 meters. Weight can reach 1.5 tons, and females weigh slightly less, about 900 kg, with approximately a third of the weight being fat. The dorsal fin is missing. The head has a round shape, and a frontal tubercle that hangs over it. The narwhal's mouth is small and located at the bottom. In appearance and size, the narwhal is very similar to the beluga whale, but adult individuals have grayish-brown spots on a light body that can merge, and the narwhal also has only 2 teeth on top. The narwhal's horn develops from the left tooth and reaches a length of up to 2-3 meters, weighs up to 10 kg, and is twisted in a left-hand spiral. The right tooth in males and both teeth in females, as a rule, do not erupt and are hidden in the gums. There are cases, approximately 1 in 500, exceptions to the rules. If the tusk is broken, it does not grow back, but the tooth canal, which turns out to be open in this case, is closed with a bone filling. The narwhal's tusk is very elastic and durable; its end can bend up to 31 cm in any direction without damage.

To date, the exact purpose of the tusk has not been clarified. But it is known that it is not an attack weapon and does not serve to break through ice. However, it is believed that the tusk is a sensitive organ, and it is riddled with millions of small tubes with nerve endings, this was revealed under an electron microscope. It is also assumed that the narwhal uses its tusk to sense changes occurring in the water. And when narwhals cross their tusks, they apparently clean off growths from them.

The narwhal's habitat is the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic, that is, in cold waters along the edge of the Arctic ice. This is mainly the Canadian archipelago and the shores of Greenland, as well as the waters of Spitsbergen, Franz Josef Land, and the northern tip of the North Island of Novaya Zemlya. Narwhals swim north, up to 85 north latitude, in warm weather, and in winter they can swim south to Great Britain and the Netherlands, the Murmansk coast, the White Sea and Bering Island, making seasonal migrations. In the summer, narwhals stay at depth, unlike, for example, beluga whales. And in cold times they live among the ice, and if these gaps freeze, then the narwhals break through the ice by striking with their backs or tusks. The thickness of the ice that narwhals can break through is about 5 cm.

The narwhal's diet includes mainly cephalopods, with crustaceans and fish a little less common. As a rule, they like to feast on bottom representatives of the ichthyofauna - cod, stingrays, halibut, flounder, gobies. The narwhal can dive 1 km for food and remain at depth for a long time. It is also known that the narwhal lifts bottom-dwelling fish from the bottom with the help of its tusks.

Narwhals swim either alone or in small schools of 6-10 individuals. Such flocks consist of males or females with cubs. Previously, large groups of several hundred or even thousands of individuals were noticed. In groups, narwhals talk to each other with sharp sounds that resemble whistles, sighs, moos, clicks, gurgles and squeaks. Narwhals mate mainly in the spring. The gestation period lasts 14-15 months, after which 1, rarely 2 cubs are born. Sexual maturity occurs at 4-7 years, at which time males grow up to 4 meters in length, and females up to 3.4 meters. Narwhals live very short lives in captivity, up to 4 months, and do not reproduce, but in the wild they live up to 55 years.

Narwhals are caught mainly by northern peoples, in particular Eskimos. They eat meat, use the fat to fuel lamps as oil, and use the intestines to make ropes. Crafts are made from tusks. In 1976, the Canadian government introduced restrictive measures on narwhal fishing.

The narwhal population numbers approximately 40-50 thousand individuals. This species is listed in the Red Book of Russia and is considered rare.

The topic of today’s article on the “Me and the World” website is again about the inhabitants of the sea: Narwhal is a sea animal, a photo and description of which you will see below.

Horned sea dweller

The narwhal fish looks like a unicorn that lives in the sea. For its spiral-shaped horn, similar to an elephant's tusk, it was nicknamed the sea unicorn, although scientists are still arguing about its purpose.

Males and females of different sizes. The first ones grow up to 4.5 m in length and weigh up to three tons, while the girls are smaller and weigh only about 900 kg. But almost a third of the total weight is fat - it’s too cold in the latitudes where they live.

The head is round with a large forehead, and the mouth has only 2 upper teeth, one of which grows in the form of a horn up to a size of three meters and weighing up to 10 kg. Such a tusk occurs only in males and very rarely in females, although they are found with two tusks at once. There are several versions of what a horn is needed for. It was assumed that males used it to attract females in mating games.

One of the research groups discovered many small tubes with nerve endings on the tusk - a version that it is a sensitive organ of the animal. A few years ago, another group filmed a fish stunning its prey with its tusk. Most likely, all versions of using the horn work.

Outwardly, narwhals resemble beluga whales, because they belong to the same subfamily, but the color of the skin is spotted. The appearance of this relative of whales and dolphins (also reminiscent of seals) can be seen in the pictures. Books with such drawings and photographs are especially useful for children.

Life and behavior in nature

Narwhals live in herds, numbering several hundred animals, but some individuals or females with cubs detach and form small groups of 6-7 pieces. They are very talkative and friendly with each other, making sharp sounds: sighs, groans, mooing, gurgling, creaking.

These animals live where cold waters touch the ice of the Arctic: off the coast of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Russia (Arkhangelsk region). They migrate along with floating ice floes, in summer – to the south, in winter – to the north. When a wormwood freezes, they break the ice (no thicker than 5 cm) with their foreheads and tusks.

Due to the lack of teeth, narwhals cannot bite prey; they grab food with their jaws and swallow it whole, so food must be of a certain size. What does it eat? Cephalopods, crustaceans, bottom fish - cod, flounder, gobies, halibut. For food they dive to a depth of 1 km, staying there for a long time. Like bats, they send sound signals around, which come back when they encounter obstacles. This is how the narwhal accurately determines the size and movement of its prey.

Reproduction begins in spring from March to May. After 14-15 months, the female gives birth to one calf. The next time the female will mate only after 2-3 years, but for now she takes care of the baby. The mother pushes the newly born baby to the surface with its nose to inhale air. It weighs 80-90 kg and is one and a half meters long. Spots appear with age.

Use on the farm

Northern peoples use narwhal meat for food, fat as oil for lamps, and intestines for ropes. But tusks are very valuable; figurines are cut out of them for sale. The skin contains a lot of vitamin C.

Poachers and polluted seas pose a great danger to animals. Currently, there are about 30,000 narwhals left, so they are protected and listed in the Red Book of Russia.

Video

The unicorns of the sea are not fairy-tale inhabitants, but real, beautiful and powerful animals whose numbers need to be restored. You learned interesting facts about narwhals from the article you read, and if you liked the information, share the link with your friends. In the meantime, “Me and the World” says goodbye to you!

Narwhal or the riddle of the Unicorn

For more than six months, winter reigns in the Arctic with hurricanes, snowstorms, and severe cold. Frost freezes rivers, lakes, and seas with ice. A cold of 20-40, or even 50 degrees is no joke. Many believe that the Arctic Ocean freezes completely from the coast of Asia through the pole to America.

Scientists used to think so. In fact, even in the harshest winter, there are always ice-free polynyas in the center of the Arctic. From year to year they stay in the same places. Some of them received their own special names.

In 1909, the Greenland Polynya nearly forced Robert Peary to abandon his hope of reaching the North Pole and return back. All subsequent expeditions always found wormwood in the same place.

One of the largest, the Great Siberian Polynya, is located near the New Siberian Islands. It was she who did not allow some expeditions to penetrate into the heart of the Arctic, and the legendary Sannikov Land excited the imagination of polar explorers for more than a quarter of a century. There are permanent polynyas off the eastern shores of the Taimyr Peninsula, near Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land.

The chain of areas of non-freezing water, uniting permanent polynyas, is called the Arctic ring of life. It is here, and not at all to the tropics, that guillemots, guillemots, many gulls and other Arctic seabirds flock for the winter.

Seals and seals, polar bears stay here all winter, and arctic foxes also come here from the mainland. These polynyas are the ancestral patrimony of the amazing northern whale - narwhal, or unicorn(Monodon monoceros).

The largest male narwhals are just over 6 meters and weigh approximately a ton. Females are smaller. On the sides of the round foreheaded head are small eyes. The narwhal does not have the usual dolphin “beak”. The lower part of the body is light, the upper part is darker, especially the head. Grayish-brown spots of different sizes are randomly scattered along the back and sides.

The narwhal owes its high popularity to its horn. In the Middle Ages, it was often presented as the horn of a mythical unicorn horse, which had magical properties. The narwhal tusk was the main "fake" unicorn horn. It was believed that he could help identify poisoned wine and put a doomed patient back on his feet.

Narwhals belong to the dolphin family, a suborder of toothed whales. But narwhals are toothless creatures. The lower jaw has no teeth at all. The upper one has only two rudiments. In the female they never erupt. In males, only the left tooth—the tusk—erupts.

It pierces the upper lip and grows straight forward two to three meters, twisting clockwise into a tight, tight corkscrew. Why only the left tooth grows, why it is so huge and has a left “thread” is one of the mysteries of these animals.

A fast-swimming herd looks impressive. The animals stay close together and perform all maneuvers synchronously. Males look no less impressive when they rest calmly on the surface of the sea. Their long tusks are directed forward, sometimes upward and seem to be directed towards the sky.

No one knows for sure why males need tusks. It is assumed that this weapon is a distinctive sign necessary during mating games, although such an assumption is not substantiated. After all, other dolphins during the mating season easily make do with sound and chemical alarms.

Some polar explorers believe that tusks are necessary for males during mating tournaments. Indeed, observing the behavior of narwhals in breeding waters, scientists noticed that the animals often crossed their weapons. However, no one saw it come to serious brawls.

It is believed that tusks help whales during hunting. A school of males surrounds a school of cod or haddock in a large arc. But when the climax of the hunt comes, the “spikes” are not used. At shallow depths in clear ocean water, we were able to observe how narwhals used their tusks to scare bottom-dwelling fish from the ground.

It is possible that fish lying on the bottom are difficult for animals to notice and awkward to grab. However, this is unlikely to be of significant importance. Otherwise, nature would not deprive the females, who especially need to have plenty of food and be well nourished in order to feed their young.

That rare case when a narwhal has 2 tusks

Narwhals are typical inhabitants of the Arctic. When the water is free of ice in summer, they rush north, often reaching 80-85 degrees north latitude, reaching the edge of the polar ice. Polar explorers at northern drifting stations have encountered them more than once.

With the onset of winter, the animals migrate to the south following the movement of the ice edge. Their favorite places are the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and the shores of Greenland, the waters of Spitsbergen, Franz Josef Land and the waters around the northern tip of the North Island of Novaya Zemlya.

Narwhals live in small groups and very rarely form herds of up to a hundred animals. They feed mainly on cephalopods, but do not disdain fish, eating mainly bottom-dwelling slow-moving representatives of the ichthyofauna. Apparently, they are easier to catch with the narwhal's toothless mouth. In search of food, they dive almost half a kilometer and remain under water for a long time.

Frosts are not scary for narwhals. If the sea is covered with fresh ice, the largest male breaks through it with his powerful tusk and back. A small hole is formed, which, if the frost is not severe, the narwhals manage to keep free of ice for a long time. In severe frosts, the entire herd gathers at one outlet. They sometimes spend several months at such outlets. And this is not an emergency. Living in such winter apartments is not uncommon.

Narwhals stay underwater for quite a long time. During this time, they walk several kilometers, searching a huge area, and find enough food for themselves. In winter, like most cetaceans, narwhals apparently do not feed at all.

However, wintering in the Arctic does not always go well. When significant ice movements occur, the ice breaks often close, and individual groups of narwhals find themselves locked in small ice holes. The water in them seems to be boiling with animals trying to break through to the surface and take a breath of air. It is possible that many narwhals die under such conditions.

Sometimes a polar bear comes to small openings where narwhals gather. Without thinking, he jumps on the unicorn's back, kills it and drags it onto the ice. It happens that the polar wanderer is not limited to a single victim. Hiding near the ice hole, the predator kills with a strong blow of its paw and drags out onto the ice one after another the narwhals when the whales emerge to breathe.

One day, polar explorers discovered a bear's nest, near which there were 21 narwhal carcasses neatly stacked. This supply could be enough for a clubfoot hunter to last more than one winter. Usually a polar bear, if it is not very hungry, eats only the entrails and fat of the narwhal, leaving almost nothing else. Only a mother bear and her cubs, who have recently left their den, find a taste for dolphin meat.

However, the hunting of the Arctic tramp is not always so successful. If solid heavy ice has imprisoned several families or herds in one area of ​​the ocean, each of which has “its own” polynya, they maintain an acoustic connection with each other, apparently “visiting” each other; having been attacked, they seek refuge with their neighbors and never return to their refuge.

The Eskimos of Greenland, who hunt seals, narwhals and beluga whales in the ice in winter, and also often while away the winter under ice fields, say that taking two unicorns from one hole is much less common than taking several beluga whales.

Narwhals are well adapted to life in ice. The large male easily crushes ice 5 centimeters thick. If the tusk breaks, then regeneration begins along the edges of the break, and soon the site of damage, along with the dental canal, is closed with a natural bone filling.

In addition to humans and bears, narwhals have another enemy - killer whales. The Eskimos claim that it is because of killer whales that narwhals go to live in drifting ice or enter fiords that extend deep into the land, where killer whales do not like to swim.

Narwhals' eyes have an interesting adaptation for living in cold water. Like all cetaceans, they lie deep. Only the iris is visible through the gap of the eyelids. It is richly supplied with blood vessels that carry heat. In addition, in narwhals, the intraocular fluid circulates quite intensively, which prevents cooling of the photosensitive receptors of the fundus.

For the normal functioning of receptor formations and the conduction of excitation in nerve fibers, a known temperature optimum is required. Everyone has probably noticed how quickly the skin of the hands loses pain sensitivity when working in cold water.

At such moments, you can cause quite significant damage to yourself without causing pain. This arrangement of the eyes indirectly indicates that vision is an important sensory organ for narwhals, although they have to live for a long time in the darkness of their winter apartments under the ice.

Little is known about narwhal family traditions. Adorable bluish-gray or slate-colored newborn narwhals appear to be born at any time of year. They reach a length of 1.5-1.7 meters, and the “boys” do not yet have the famous tusk. For narwhals this is a “wisdom tooth”. He grows up a little later.

Baby narwhals - suckers - are very similar to beluga whales and have light skin; adults are covered with light skin with gray-brown spots.

Like other dolphins, the narwhal has a hydro-echo-locator. How else? At a depth of several hundred meters, under continuous massifs of ice fields, pitch darkness reigns. You can’t find food, wormwood, or your herd.

Many sounds made by narwhals are clearly audible to the human ear. There is nothing surprising. Zoologists consider the unicorn to be the closest relative of the most noisy dolphin - the beluga whale. Narwhals produce sharp sounds that resemble a whistle, sometimes ending in a short explosion.

They make groans (or heavy sighs) reminiscent of similar sounds of a large land animal, such as a cow or a bear, clicks, creaks... Often gurgling sounds are heard in a herd of narwhals, the kind that occurs when gargling.

A few years ago, a group of American scientists decided to study the sounds of the narwhal. There has already been some experience in keeping unicorns in captivity. They lived at the Niagara Fox in the USA and at the Vancouver Aquarium in Canada.

However, in recent decades the animals have become rare enough that capturing them would be prohibitively expensive. Therefore, the narwhals were not brought to the laboratory, but the laboratory went out in search of them. This is what is now always done when researching whales.

During the study, we managed to find two herds of unicorns in the Iceland region. The first was small, 10-12 narwhals. The second consisted of approximately 50 animals. We managed to get almost close to him. A herd of narwhals circled a few meters from the hydrophone. The sounds of individual animals were drowned in a general harmonious chorus. It was extremely difficult to isolate and analyze them.

Narwhals are perhaps the most famous representatives of the cetacean order. Their popularity is associated with the long horn or tusk (about 3 m, weight up to 10 kg), which protrudes from the mouth of the animal. Bone tusk is very hard and at the same time quite flexible. Essentially, this is one of the two upper teeth that pierced the upper lip and came out. But the narwhal has no other teeth.

Adult male narwhals reach a length of 3.8-4.5 m, their weight is 2000-3000 kg, of which about a third is fat (its layer reaches 10 cm and reliably protects the animal from the cold). Females are always smaller, weighing about 900 kg. The head is round in shape, the frontal tubercle is overhanging, and the dorsal fin is absent. The mouth is small and located below.

In terms of the size and shape of the body, the fins on the chest and the dark color of newborn babies, the narwhal resembles narwhal, but adults are distinguished by spotting: on a light background there are spots of grayish-brown color that can merge. And the main difference is the presence of only two upper teeth. The left one in males grows into a tusk up to 2-3 m in length, weighing about 10 kg, which twists into a left spiral, while the right tooth does not erupt at all. The right tooth of males and both teeth of females remain in the gums; their development with the formation of a horn occurs extremely rarely. But there may also be females with one or two tusks. The broken tusk does not grow back; its dental canal is covered with a bone filling. The narwhal tusk is distinguished by high strength and flexibility; its end bends approximately 30 cm in all directions without breaking.

Both the structure of the tusk and its role are interesting. At first, scientists assumed that it was used during mating games to attract a mate, or in mating tournaments, since it was noted that narwhals can rub their tusks. Later it was discovered that inside the tusk there are many small tubes with nerve endings, which means it can be a sensitive organ, for example, allowing the narwhal to sense changes in pressure, temperature and other environmental conditions. And only very recently, scientists were able to observe how the narwhal hunted, and it turned out that the animal uses its tusk as a club to stun its prey. As for when males rub their antlers, this is most likely a way to clean them of deposits and mineral build-up.

The narwhal's diet consists of cephalopods, as well as small amounts of crustaceans and fish. The basis of nutrition is bottom representatives of ichthyofauna (cod, skate, halibut, flounder, gobies). The narwhal can dive up to 1 km for prey and can remain under water for quite a long time. In addition, the animal scares and stuns bottom fish with the help of its tusk.

The narwhal is distributed in the waters of the Arctic Ocean and the north Atlantic Ocean. Its main habitats are the Canadian archipelago and the coast of Greenland, the waters near Spitsbergen, Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya. The northernmost points where narwhals were observed in summer reached 85° north latitude; in winter, the animals go south to Great Britain and the Netherlands, the Murmansk coast, the White Sea, and Bering Island.

Male narwhals are approximately 1.5 times larger than females. But their main difference is the left tooth developed into a large horn or tusk. Females with such a horn are extremely rare.

Narwhals are inhabitants of the cold waters located along the edge of the Arctic ice. Animals make seasonal migrations based on the movement of floating ice: in winter they go south, and in summer - north. The narwhal rarely goes beyond polar waters, that is, below 70° north latitude, and only in winter. The animal differs from the beluga whale in that it stays in deep waters even in the summer. In winter, it prefers openings in the middle of the ice, and when the ice holes freeze, the males are able to break ice up to 5 cm thick using blows with their backs and tusks.

Narwhals live alone or in small groups, which consist of 6-10 individuals, either adult males, or females with babies. Although it is known that previously animals were characterized by the formation of large clusters of several hundred and thousands of individuals. The narwhal herd, like the beluga whale herd, is very talkative. Animals usually produce sharp sounds like whistling, groaning and sighing, mooing, clicking, creaking and gurgling sounds.

The peak mating season for narwhals is in the spring. The duration of pregnancy is 14-15 months, and the entire reproductive cycle takes 2-3 years. Usually one baby is born, very rarely two. Males reach sexual maturity when they grow up to 4 m in length, females - up to 3.4 m, which occurs at approximately the age of 4-7 years. In the wild, narwhals live up to 55 years; in captivity, they survive for only 4 months and do not reproduce.

The natural enemies of narwhals are polar bears and killer whales. Arctic sharks can attack babies. Powerful and ferocious killer whales easily cope with narwhals. It is for this reason that animals go as far as possible into cold waters, and live in narrow and long fjords, where the huge killer whale does not swim. Polar bears catch narwhals during harsh winters, when the animals congregate near small holes in the ice. The bear lies quietly next to the wormwood, waiting for the narwhal to lean out for a breath of air. That's when the predator catches him. But he only has one try. After losing a narwhal, the flock makes sharp sounds and high-pitched whistles, which are responded to by other flocks that are further away. And the flock moves towards them. In addition, narwhals and walruses can attack, but they do this extremely rarely.

Therefore, the main enemy for animals remains people, who kill them for fat, as well as to obtain exotic horns. Now the killing of females and cubs is strictly prohibited and is considered as poaching. Males are allowed to be hunted exclusively by representatives of the indigenous peoples of the north.

• Since ancient times, narwhal meat has been eaten by the indigenous people of the north, for example, the Eskimos. They used the fat of these animals as oil for lamps, made ropes from their intestines, and especially valued the tusks, from which they carved various crafts. The skin of narwhals contains a lot of ascorbic acid.
• Due to population declines in the late 20th century, the narwhal harvest was limited: the harvest of females and calves is prohibited, harvested animals must be completely disposed of, and there is an annual quota for narwhal harvest.
• Now the narwhal is a protected rare species listed in the Red Book of Russia. There are currently no accurate data on the population size. Unlike the beluga whale, the narwhal does not survive in captivity, so restoration of its population is only possible under natural conditions.