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  • Narwhals are mythical creatures related to unicorns.

  • They have a magical horn that grants wishes and they love rainbows

  • No, no, no, no, no, that's not right.

  • There are lots of misconceptions and mystery surrounding narwhals.

  • Let's start with the horn.

  • It's not a horn.

  • It's the narwhal's left front tooth.

  • And it's not growing out of the forehead.

  • It grows out of the lip.

  • Other animals have teeth or tusks that grow outside of the mouth, like elephants and walrus, but their tusks are curved.

  • The narwhal tooth is the only straight tusk in the world.

  • It's also one of the few teeth that is a spiral shape.

  • The tooth grows in a counterclockwise spiral.

  • And it is flexible and can bend a foot in any direction without breaking.

  • But that's not all.

  • The tooth is actually inside out compared to other animals.

  • All the nerves are on the outside, which is a good reason that narwhals wouldn't want to use their sensitive tooth as a sword.

  • In fact, narwhals have never been witnessed using their tusks to fight.

  • It is hard to know exactly what the tusk is used for, because narwhals do not survive in captivity.

  • Current theories suggest the tusk could be used to determine social rank, impress the ladies, or communicate information about the water it has traveled through.

  • Narwhals migrate seasonally and travel in pods through Arctic waters.

  • Summers are often spent in the shallow, ice-free waters closer to the coast.

  • During the winter, they stay in a smaller area and live among the shifting ice and cracks.

  • Their underwater life is very secretive.

  • No one has reported seeing narwhals eat or mate underwater.

  • The mysterious narwhal has inspired myths around the world.

  • In the Middle Ages, the narwhal tusk was sold as a unicorn horn.

  • Physicians believed it could cure the plague, increase virility, detect poison, and even raise the dead.

  • No wonder it was worth 10 times its weight in gold and one of the most coveted substances in Europe.

  • It is said that thrones of Danish kings, utensils of French royalty, and Thanes' scepters were all the left front tooth of this mystical marvel.

Narwhals are mythical creatures related to unicorns.

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