CHILD: Narwhals are mythical
creatures related to unicorns.
They have a magical
horn that grants wishes
and they love rainbows, and--
NARRATOR: 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.
[music playing]
