The Narwhal
A. Martin
The Narwhal, or Monodon monoceros Linnaeus, can be found mainly in the high
Arctic oceans of Canada and West Greenland. Often times, they are found amongst the packs of ice and
more often found offshore than white whales or Beluga whales. Males average 4 to 5 meters
not including their tusk, which is 1.5 to 3 meters in length. They weigh
between 800 to 1,600 kilograms. Females tend to be smaller than males and have a smaller tusk.
Males have one pair of teeth in their upper jaw, where their left tooth greatly extends
out as a spiraled tusk. The male body's coloration is mottled grey-green, cream and
black, and whitens on the belly with age. The young tend to be gray, blue-gray or
black in coloration. Narwhals have a stout body with a small, rounded head, bulbous
forehead and a very slight beak. They have short flippers, broaded with upturned tips
and no darsal fin, only a ridged back. Narwhal tails tend to be fan-sahped and they
have a fluke with deep notches in center. Their estimated population size is best known
for the high Arctic, where there are about 10,000 to 30,000.
The total world population is unknown, but it ranges somewhere between 25,000 and 50,000. These whales are mainly concentrated in Baffen Bay, the Davis Strait, and the Greenland Sea.
Andrea-Vanessa-Erica @ the Advanced Technologies Academy