Narwhal

Narwhals are Arctic whales with a long, spiral tusk. They live in cold waters and use their tusks to sense the environment. Narwhals are known as the “unicorns of the sea.” Join Albert as he explores these amazing narwhal facts for toddlers, preschoolers and kindergartners. Click on the images to hear silly sounds and then read about fun narwhal facts like what do narwhals look like?, what sound do narwhals make?, how big are narwhals?, what do narwhals eat?, where do narwhals live?, and more fun facts about narwhals for kids!

What do narwhals look like?

Narwhals are mammals which means that they are warm-blooded, breathe air and feed their babies milk.

Narwhals are whales. They are known as “unicorns of the sea”. This is because the males (and a few females) have a long tusk sticking out of their head! The tusks look like a unicorn’s horn.

Narwals are white and gray in color.

What sound do narwhals make?

Click the the image to hear the sound!

Narwhals can make different sounds including clicks and whistles.

They can also use sound to help them find prey. This is called echolocation. When they make a noise, the noise will bounce off an object, creating an echo. The whales can hear this echo. This will tell them which direction the object is in such as food like fish.

How big are narwhals?

Narwhals are medium-sized whales. They can grow to 13-18 feet (4-5 meters) long.

Narwhals can weigh as much as 1700-3500 pounds (770-1600 kilograms).

That’s as long AND heavy as a big car!

What do narwhals eat?

Narwhals eat fish such as halibut and cod as well as cuttlefish, shrimp and squid.

They can use their tusk to help catch fish. Not by spearing the fish, but by flicking its tusk around to stun the fish, and then suck it into its mouth.

Where do narwhals live?

Narwhals live in Arctic waters in the northern part of the world. This is very cold sea water with lots of ice.

More fun facts about narwhals for kids

Narwhal tusks help them to feel their environment. They can tell how salty the water is, what the pressure is like if they dive deep down, and how cold or warm the water is.
Narwhals can swim underwater to a depth of 1 mile! They can hold their breath for 25 minutes.
Water is very heavy. When narwhals swim deep underwater, they can cope with the heavy water squishing them because their ribs are flexible.
Groups of narwhals are called pods. These usually have about 15 narwhals in them but can have several hundred.
Narwhals keep warm in the freezing Arctic water because they have a very thick layer of fat all over their body.
Narwhals have to be very careful when swimming in such cold water. There is a lot of ice floating around and sometimes it can freeze over completely. This means that the narwhals cannot resurface to breathe and could become trapped underwater.
Narwhals sometimes communicate by rubbing their tusks together.
Narwhals don’t have a fin on their back. This helps keep them warm and allows them to swim underneath ice easier.

Sources: Wikipedia, Live Science, Creative Commons, Britannica.com and Freesound.org