Swimming slowly, but gracefully, at a speed of just 6km per hour (4 mph), in the Arctic, is the narwhal. Some consider this majestic whale (yes, it is a whale) as a sea unicorn, because of its tusk on its head, but what is the tusk really for?
Biologists have long debated the purpose of male narwhals’ tusks. The tusk, like those of elephants, are actually elongated teeth. And since narwhals are usually below the sea ice, it’s tough to see how they use their tusk.
Check out the story over at Scientific American.
(Image Credit: Carsten Egevang, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources)
its obviously being used as an oceanic shish kabob
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