Can You Tell Me Something About An Arctic Narwhal Whale?

The word narwhal means "corpse whale" in Old Norse and the narwhal whale was first recognised by the early Vikings. Today, the narwhal is a rarely seen Arctic whale. Narwhals live in the icy waters of the Arctic seas. They rarely stray far from ice. In summer they infrequently enter estuaries, deep fjords, and bays.

Narwhals can grow to be about 4.9 m long and weigh about 1.6 tonnes. Females are slightly smaller, averaging about 4 m long, and weighing 0.9 tonnes. At birth, narwhals are about 1.5 m long and weigh about 80 kilograms.

Narwhals have an interesting characteristic feature. They start life with two teeth in their upper jaw but then, after the first year of a male narwhal's life, its left tooth grows out and starts to spiral. This long, single tooth projects from its upper jaw and can grow to be 2 to 3 metres long. The giant tooth is usually twisted in a counterclockwise direction and is hollow inside.