PMF IAS Current Affairs A Z

Narwhals: Unicorns of the Sea

  • Context (DTE): For the first time, scientists have captured footage of narwhals (Monodon monoceros) using their iconic tusks for hunting, providing crucial insights into their behaviour.

About Narwhals (Monodon monoceros)

  • Often referred to as the ‘unicorns of the sea’, narwhals are strange and beautiful creatures.
  • Habitation: Arctic waters of Canada, Greenland, Norway and Russia.
  • Physical Description: Males are distinguished by their long, spiral tusks, which are actually elongated teeth with sensory capability. Some narwhals have up to two tusks, while others have none.
    • They change their colour as they age. Newborns are blue-grey, juveniles are blue-black, and adults are mottled grey. Old narwhals are nearly all white.
  • Diet: The feed on Greenland halibut, Arctic and polar cod, squid and shrimp.
  • Conservation Status: IUCN: LC
  • Threats: Oil and gas development (collisions and underwater noise), climate change, pollution etc.

Narwhals

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