It is generally accepted that unicorns are fictional fairy animals. However, among all the variety of species of living beings on planet Earth, there are such individuals who are called unicorns. True, unlike mythical characters, real unicorns are aquatic mammals known in science as narwhals.
The narwhal is a mammal that belongs to the family and order of the narwhal. As for the appearance, the body length of adults reaches 5 meters, and the cubs are born approximately 1-1.5 meters long. Males have a body weight of 1.5 tons, and a third of the mass is fat. Female narwhals weigh 900 kilograms. Animals have a round head with a bump-like growth. Outwardly, narwhals can resemble belugas.
A distinctive feature of males is the presence of one tusk, which is a continuation of one of the two teeth. This tusk may resemble a horn, which is why narwhals are called unicorns. The length of a male's tusk can be 2-3 meters. Females also have two teeth, but none of them grows to this size, they are practically invisible.
Narvawls can be found only in icy waters along the edges of the Arctic ice - for example, off the coast of Greenland, near Franz Josef Land, in the waters near Spitsbergen, as well as on the islands of Novaya Zemlya. But animals are capable of seasonal movements, which depend on the movement of ice, that is, in the winter in the direction of the south, and in the summer in the direction of the north.
The main food of narwhals is molluscs, but crustaceans and fish are not excluded. In order to get food, mammals dive to a depth of one kilometer and are able to spend there for a long time.
Narwhals, like all animals, have enemies. In this case, these are polar bears and killer whales. But sharks can also be a threat to the young.
Over the years, mankind has learned to use the fat of narwhals as a lubricant for lamps, and the intestines of animals were previously used to make ropes.
