{"id":370223,"date":"2026-08-24T16:29:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T10:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=370223"},"modified":"2026-08-24T16:29:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T10:59:29","slug":"narwhals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/narwhals\/","title":{"rendered":"Narwhals"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"content-box-green\">\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong> Researchers have decoded the narwhal tusk\u2019s double-twist structure, which helps explain how the tusk grows straight and remains strong.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"red-h2-box\">About Narwhals<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_370232\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-370232\" style=\"width: 226px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-370232\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Source-Escales-300x298.jpg?resize=226%2C224&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Narwhals\" width=\"226\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Source-Escales.jpg?resize=300%2C298&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Source-Escales.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Source-Escales.jpg?w=525&amp;ssl=1 525w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 226px) 100vw, 226px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-370232\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source &#8211; Escales<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Narwhals<\/strong>\u00a0are <strong>medium-sized toothed whales<\/strong> belonging to the <strong>Monodontidae family<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>They differ from other toothed whales as they <strong>have no teeth in their mouths.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"112\" data-end=\"167\" data-is-last-node=\"\"><strong data-start=\"114\" data-end=\"126\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Habitat:<\/strong> They <strong data-start=\"132\" data-end=\"166\">spend the winter under sea ice<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>In <strong>spring, they move to inshore waters<\/strong> and <strong>spend the summer in coastal waters.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Distribution: <\/strong>They live in the <strong data-start=\"37\" data-end=\"53\">Arctic Ocean<\/strong>, mainly around <strong data-start=\"69\" data-end=\"110\">Canada, Greenland, Norway and Russia.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Key Features<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Size:<\/strong> They can reach <strong>around 5 m in length.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Appearance:<\/strong> They have <strong>stout, torpedo-shaped bodies, a low dorsal ridge, and short paddle-shaped front flippers.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Colour: <\/strong>They <strong>change colour as they grow older.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Newborns are blue-gray,<\/strong> <strong>juveniles become blue-black<\/strong>, <strong>adults are mottled gray<\/strong>, and <strong>old narwhals become nearly all white.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Diet:<\/strong> They feed on <strong>fish, squid and shrimp.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Behaviour:<\/strong> They usually <strong>travel in groups<\/strong> and can <strong>hold their breath for 25\u201330 minutes.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Tusk:<\/strong> The <strong>tusk is a long, spiralled canine tooth<\/strong> that <strong>usually develops in males<\/strong> and can <strong>grow up to 3 metres<\/strong> long.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Females occasionally develop<\/strong> a tusk.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tusk Anatomy:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Outer and Inner Layers:<\/strong> <strong>The outer layer, called cementum<\/strong>, forms a <strong>left-handed spiral.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>While the <strong>inner layer, called dentine,<\/strong> forms a <strong>right-handed spiral.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Double-Twist Structure:<\/strong> These <strong>two layers have opposite twists<\/strong>, which <strong>create an internal counterbalance<\/strong> where the inner and outer parts meet.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Strength and Stability:<\/strong> This <strong>arrangement creates internal tension<\/strong> and <strong>helps the tusk grow straight<\/strong> and <strong>strong<\/strong>, while <strong>providing stability against bending and twisting.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Function:<\/strong> Their tusks may <strong>help males establish social hierarchy<\/strong> during contests.\n<ul>\n<li>They may also be <strong>used for play,<\/strong> <strong>detecting the level of salt in the waters through which narwhals swim<\/strong>, and <strong>investigating, manipulating, and influencing the behaviour of prey<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Threats:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Oil and gas development<\/li>\n<li>Climate change<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>IUCN Status:<\/strong> <strong>Least Concern<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: Researchers have decoded the narwhal tusk\u2019s double-twist structure, which helps explain how the tusk grows straight and remains strong. About Narwhals Narwhals\u00a0are medium-sized toothed whales belonging to the Monodontidae family. They differ from other toothed whales as they have no teeth in their mouths. Habitat: They spend the winter under sea ice. In spring,&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/narwhals\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Narwhals<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10401,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,4182,12039,11834],"tags":[11872],"class_list":["post-370223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-environment","category-knolls","category-species-in-news","tag-9pm-daily-factly","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370223\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}