We turned off the lights and turned on the screen. A mysterious looking creature with dark freckled skin and a unicorn-like horn appeared on a blue ocean background.
Nature writer Todd McLeish started by saying, “The first question I get with this slide is – what is it? The second question is – is it real?”
It’s a narwhal whale, and yes, it is real.
The next hour was filled with tales of adventure to the Arctic Circle and fascinating trivia about the narwhal.
Narwhals have two teeth, one of which grows through their upper lip (mostly in the males) to look like the characteristic horn. In rare instances, both teeth will grow out as horns. There is still a debate among researches about the purpose of the elongated tooth.
The narwhal horn does in fact have a connection to the unicorn. The unicorn myth says a cup made of unicorn horn can heal all your illnesses and keep you healthy for life. When narwhals were first discovered, the entrepreneurs of the time took advantage of the myth and sold the narwhal horns at high prices labeled as unicorn horns.
Intrigued? For more on how narwhals have connections to celebration meals, climate change, and even dentistry – check out the book Arctic Whales in a Melting World.
