Relevant information about whales

The narwhal, a mysterious, long-tusked whale. The narwhal is the only animal in the world with threaded tusks. Although there may be 20-30,000 narwhals roaming the Arctic waters, their ecological characteristics and habits remain obscure to most of us. On the rare occasion that a narwhal is studied in detail, no one has ever succeeded in domesticating it.

Dentist stumbles on big secret

Envia, a Connecticut dentist with a keen interest in dental research, began studying narwhal tusks eight years ago. Envia said, "The fact that this long tusk defies the basic principles and characteristics of teeth, and that there are many conflicting statements about it, made my interest grow."

In 2000, Envia decided to devote himself to the study of the tusk, and in 2002 he traveled to Baffin Island, Canada, to study narwhals in the field. There, he was greatly assisted by an Inuit guide. According to international agreements, the Inuit are allowed to hunt narwhals in moderation. From 2003 to 2004, Envia collected a number of narwhal head and tusk specimens. In the lab, he and his colleagues found distinct neural connections between the narwhal brain and the tusk.

In fact, the major discovery was purely accidental. At the time, the surface of the specimen was full of calcified seaweed and plankton, and the researchers had planned to wash the specimen with acidic water, but they improvised by deciding to take a look at the tusk with an electron microscope first. To their surprise, the surface of the tooth was covered with nerve endings, which simply could not be explained by traditional knowledge of dental anatomy. This could not be explained by conventional dental anatomy, because the nerve tubes of a healthy tooth would never grow on the surface. It was believed that narwhal tusks could cure diseases, and 17th-century English medical books described grinding them into powder and drinking them in water as a cure for scurvy, ulcers and edema.

The narwhal likes to live in groups, often dozens of them collectively. It has been suggested that the male whale relies on his long tusks to drive the stragglers back into the group. This may be useful when thousands of narwhals migrate in herds. Each fall, they push through the ice and migrate south. By the time the ice melts in the spring, they re-enter the high latitudes. Arctic explorer Robert Pirie has seen migrating pods of narwhals "traveling against the wind, their long white horns frequently emerging from the water.

Circumpolar explorers often see schools of narwhals in the distance because they always have their long tusks sticking up in the air. In her book "Arctic Unicorns," Janice Ross writes, "Sometimes more than 100 can be seen, and they often stand up straight in the water, showing half their bodies above the surface by the strength of their tails. Both males and females take part in this activity, and you will sometimes find a male narwhal and a female narwhal suddenly leaping up out of the water with their bellies pressed together and their bodies trembling uncontrollably. This kind of behavior is indeed confusing." The researchers noted that this would be the mating activity of the narwhals. Harvard University's Envia said the Inuit people of the Arctic Ocean are very familiar with the narwhal, whose name in their language means "a fish that specializes in flying into the air.