Unicorns of the Sea: Narwhals
Turns out that Narwhals are are about as magical as unicorns.
Do males use their “horns” (really a tooth, but who wants to call it that?), to fence for the hearts of females? Yup.
Do the horns serve as an honest signal of testicle size? So I’m told…
They are also covered in thousands of nerve endings and pores that help narwhals sense the environment around them.
Finally, they use ’em to stun fish while hunting.
But, most interestingly of all, they can claim the title of “best echolocator,” (AKA sonar), beating even the bats (who have quite the advantage, being 1/5 of all mammal species).
Define, “best,” you say?
Apparently they can emit 1000 ‘clicks’ per second, which rebound off objects & then are detected on specialized pads on their jaw.
Narwhals are uniquely able to ‘focus’ their sound beams, like a flashlight. This gives them the best directional information, so they can hone in on prey. They also have the ability to change the focus of their beam, so they can start with a “wide angle” when broadly trolling for prey.
I can’t find research on this, but I’m going to predict the their “horn” is key to their echolocation ability somehow…(antenna? sound gun?).
Listen to the full story:
Also: Research for the nerds
