A wayward narwhal, that has been spotted for the last three years in the St. Lawrence River, has been hanging out with some friendly beluga whales. A video shot in July shows the narwhal swimming among a pod of juvenile male beluga whales. The video was shot by the Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals (GREMM), a not for organization that focuses on whale research, conservation, and education.
Scientists with the World Wildlife Fund studying Narwhals in the Canadian Arctic may have just uncovered the mystery surrounding the function of the narwhal tusk. Narwhals are famous for the ivory tusk that juts out from its mouth, up to nine feet long, but the function was never proven until now. Researchers using a drone to film Narwhals recorded never before seen behavior of the whales stunning fish by smacking them with the tusk in order to more easily eat them. Image from Shutterstock.
The function of the curious unicorn-like tusk of the Narwhal (Monodon monoceros) has long been a puzzle to researchers. However, a researcher from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine is to present a paper about the tooth’s function at the 16th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, writes the Harvard Gazette.