11 Amazing Narwhal Facts for Kids [UPDATED]
The first time your kid spots a picture of a whale with a long spiral horn sticking out of its head, they almost always ask if it is a make-believe animal from a storybook. It is easy to see why, since this chilly ocean swimmer looks just like a cross between a chubby dolphin and a unicorn.
Wait until you tell your kid that the narwhal is 100 percent real, and that giant spiral horn is actually a tooth growing right through its upper lip!
11 Interesting & Fun Narwhal Facts for Kids They Will Love to Know about
Narwhals are some of the most unusual whales swimming in the ocean today. Instead of cruising through warm tropical beaches, these tough, friendly whales spend their whole lives playing, diving, and hunting in freezing Arctic waters packed with floating sea ice.
From a bendy tooth packed with millions of tiny sensors to babies that change color as they grow up, every part of a narwhal’s body is built for life in the icy deep.
Now let us take a look at those fun narwhal facts!
1. A Narwhal’s “Unicorn Horn” Is Actually a Giant Tooth
When you look at a picture of a narwhal, that long spiral spike on its head looks just like the bill of a swordfish or a mythical horn. That is why people often call narwhals the “unicorns of the sea”.
That long spike is not a horn on its forehead at all, because it is actually a giant canine tooth. In most male narwhals, the left tooth grows straight out through the upper jaw in a counter-clockwise spiral and can reach up to 10 feet (3 meters) long, while only a few females ever grow one.
Even though it is a tooth weighing over 20 pounds, it is not stiff like a rock. The outer layer is flexible enough to bend up to 1 foot (0.3 meters) in any direction without snapping while the whale swims.
2. They Are as Long as a Minivan and as Heavy as Two Giant Bears
Because people talk so much about the narwhal’s tooth, it is easy to forget how big the rest of the whale is. Without even counting the tusk, an adult narwhal’s body grows between 13 and 18 feet long.
That means a grown-up narwhal is about as long as a family minivan parked in your driveway. Males grow a little longer and heavier than females.
An adult female weighs around 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms), while a big adult male can weigh up to 3,530 pounds (1,600 kilograms). That single male narwhal weighs about the same as two full-grown Kodiak bears put together!
3. They Can Dive Over One Mile Deep on a Single Breath
Like all whales, narwhals are mammals that breathe fresh air through a blowhole on top of their head. Whenever they get hungry, they have to hold their breath and dive down toward the dark ocean floor to find dinner.
A narwhal can dive more than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) deep into the freezing water, plunging down into the abyss just like a deep-sea submarine. That is deep enough to stack four Empire State Buildings on top of each other underwater.
Even at those freezing depths, a narwhal does not rush. It can hold its breath for up to 25 minutes on a single dive before swimming back up to a crack in the ice for a fresh breath of air.
4. They Swallow Squid and Fish Whole Using Mouth Suction
If you peeked inside a narwhal’s mouth, you would not see rows of sharp chomping teeth. Their only two teeth stay tucked inside the upper jawbone or grow outside the mouth as a tusk, leaving their mouth smooth for eating.
Since they cannot chew their food, narwhals use a clever vacuum trick to catch Greenland halibut, Arctic cod, squid, and shrimp. Sometimes they gently tap a fish with their tusk to stun it first so it cannot swim away.
Then the narwhal uses its mouth and tongue to create strong suction, slurping the whole fish or squid straight down its throat in one big gulp.
5. Baby Narwhals Are Called Calves and Change Color as They Grow Up
Mother narwhals carry their babies for about 13 to 16 months before giving birth in the summer. A baby narwhal is called a calf, and it is born already measuring about 5 feet (1.6 meters) long and weighing 176 pounds, which is as tall as an older kid.
A calf stays close to its mom and drinks rich mother’s milk for more than a year. As a narwhal grows up, its skin goes through a full color change right before your eyes.
Newborn calves start out dark brownish-gray, then grow white spots over their dark skin as teenagers and adults, and finally turn almost solid white when they become old grandparents.
6. Their Tooth Has 10 Million Tiny Sensors to Taste the Ocean
The teeth inside your mouth have a hard cover to keep them from feeling cold water or air. A narwhal’s long tooth is built the exact opposite way, with soft sensory tunnels reaching all the way to the outside surface.
Each tusk is packed with up to 10 million tiny nerve endings that connect straight to the whale’s brain. That makes the giant tooth work like a giant thermometer and taste bud sticking out in front of the whale.
By waving its tusk through the water, a narwhal can feel tiny changes in water temperature and salt levels. Since ocean water gets saltier as surface ice freezes, this special sense helps the whale know if the water ahead is freezing shut or opening up.
7. They Talk and See in the Dark Using Clicks, Whistles, and Knocks
Deep beneath the thick winter ice, sunlight cannot reach the water, leaving the ocean dark like a room with the lights turned off. Eyes alone are not enough to spot a tasty squid or keep track of family members far away.
To solve this problem, narwhals chat and find their way using loud clicks, whistles, and knocks. Each whale can make fast clicking sounds at rates of 3 to 10 clicks per second.
When those rapid clicks bounce off a fish or a block of ice, the echo bounces right back to the narwhal. This sound trick, called echolocation, lets the narwhal build a clear sound picture of everything around it in total darkness.
8. They Have No Back Fin So They Can Swim Smoothly Under Thick Ice
Most whales and dolphins have a tall triangle fin on their back, called a dorsal fin, that sticks up out of the water. If you look at a narwhal’s back, you will notice it has no dorsal fin at all.
Narwhals spend up to seven months of the year swimming underneath solid sheets of floating Arctic sea ice alongside fellow ice lovers like harp seals in the waters of Canada, Greenland, Norway, and Russia. A tall fin on their back would bump and scrape against the icy ceiling every time they came up to breathe through narrow cracks.
Instead of a fin, a narwhal has a low, bumpy ridge along its back. This smooth back lets it glide right underneath frozen ice sheets and break through thin new ice to catch a breath.
9. They Travel in Tight Family Pods That Join Up by the Thousands
Swimming in the chilly Arctic is much safer and more fun when you have friends around. Narwhals are super social whales that live in tight family groups called pods.
On a normal day, a pod has about 15 to 20 narwhals swimming, hunting, and resting side by side. Staying in a group helps them watch out for predators like killer whales and polar bears.
When the seasons change and it is time to travel between winter and summer feeding spots, dozens of small pods team up together. During these big ocean road trips, you can see giant super-herds of several thousand narwhals swimming across the sea at the same time!
10. They Do Not Use Their Tusks for Aggressive Sword Fights
Because a male narwhal’s long tooth looks just like a pointed knight’s lance, people once thought males used their tusks to stab and fight each other. Even hundreds of years ago in medieval times, traders found washed-up narwhal tusks and sold them to kings and queens as real storybook unicorn horns.
Scientists have busted that old sword-fighting myth for good. Because a narwhal’s tooth is filled with 10 million sensitive nerves, smashing it hard in a fight would hurt like a giant toothache.
Instead of fighting, male narwhals gently rub their tusks together above the water or compare tusk size in peaceful, nonviolent displays to see who is the biggest and oldest male in the group.
11. Their Name Means “Pointing to the Sky” and “One-Tooth, One-Horn”
Every name given to the narwhal tells a story about how this whale looks and acts in the water. Scientists call the narwhal Monodon monoceros, which comes from ancient Greek words that mean “one-tooth, one-horn”.
In the Arctic language of Inuktitut, the whale is called Qilalugaq qernertaq, which translates to “the one that points to the sky”. That name comes from the way narwhals lift their heads and point their long tusks straight up into the air above the waves.
Even the everyday word narwhal comes from old Nordic and Icelandic words meaning “corpse whale,” because a resting narwhal’s mottled gray-and-white skin, much like the winter camouflage of an Arctic fox, looks just like pale driftwood floating quietly at the top of the sea.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What do narwhals eat?
Narwhals eat a seafood diet of Greenland halibut, Arctic cod, polar cod, squid, and shrimp that they catch near the deep ocean floor and swallow whole using mouth suction.
2. Do all narwhals have a long tusk?
No, usually only male narwhals grow a long spiral tusk from their upper left tooth, while most females keep both of their teeth tucked inside their upper jawbone.
3. Can a narwhal grow two tusks at the same time?
Yes, on rare occasions both the left and right upper teeth grow out through the lip, giving a male or female narwhal two long spiral tusks instead of one.
4. Where do narwhals live?
Narwhals live all year round in the freezing Arctic Ocean waters of Canada, Greenland, Norway, and Russia, spending up to seven months under floating sea ice.
5. What is a baby narwhal called?
A baby narwhal is called a calf, and at birth it already measures about 5 feet (1.6 meters) long and weighs around 176 pounds.
6. How long do narwhals live in the wild?
Narwhals typically live between 25 and 50 years in the wild, though some scientific studies of their eye lenses confirm the oldest individuals can live for more than 100 years.
Next time your kid draws an ocean picture or spots a unicorn in a storybook, you can remind them about the real-life Arctic whale that tastes the freezing sea with a ten-foot spiral tooth. Sharing how narwhals glide under thick sea ice and chat with clicks and whistles is a wonderful way to spark curiosity about ocean animals at home.
That was it, folks! Hope you and your little one enjoyed these amazing facts about narwhals.
