Page 139 - World of Animals - Book of Sharks & Ocean Predators

Narwhals
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Never giving up:

the man behind

the research

With a background studying particular
characteristics and features of animals and humans,
as well as a clear passion for the narwhal, expert and
scientist Dr. Martin Nweeia took a fresh approach to
the mystery of the whale’s tusk. Having studied the
creatures for some 14 years, he has a new light to
shed on the unusual-looking creature

What were the conflicting ideas that made you want to what those do either!’ I could see him smile, because in
clarify the role of the tusk? the moment there was an understanding that, whatever
Well there’s about every theory you can imagine to you study and whatever you look at in life, it doesn’t
explain them, but the most general one that is accepted, matter whether it’s a tusk or a personal relationship
and still has validity by the way, is that it’s a secondary of any other attribute of life, your level of really
sexual characteristic. Certainly there’s nothing wrong understanding something is really only proportional to
with that, but [it] only explains a certain level of your curiosity.
understanding… Rather than just kind of pushing it off,
one has to think: ‘Why make this decision as an animal?
What in evolution decided to go this route?’ Not all narwhals have tusks, so how do we know which
individual gets one?
We are actually doing a large genetic study at the © Corbis, Getty, Thinkstock, Glenn Williams, Narwhal Tusk Research; Joseph Meehan, Doc White, Gretchen Freund, Isabelle Croc, Anthony
Do we know whether or not narwhals act in the same moment… The thing that we found in our most recent
way as other cetaceans? paper is that this tusk is a giant sensor – it has the
BELOW Scientists have to
They are very social like beluga. Narwhals have a large capability of understanding its ocean environment. be careful to cause as little
vocal range and they also have a strong social network. That was a critical piece because no one has really ever distress to the animals as Giusepetti, Kevin Hand
Certainly in the work that we’re doing, we do brief looked at this aspect, as a sensory organ. It may have possible as they do tests
capture and release of whales, and we have both a significance in terms of sexual selection… it may help

veterinarian and often go with the VP of the Vancouver determine the fitness of the species, so for example if

aquarium… Both of these people are very sensitive to the tusk senses certain kinds of fish that would

aspects of social interaction, because typically they do be important for newborn calves to have, that
work with belugas a lot. Interestingly enough, if in our would demonstrate fitness to the female, so

catch and release programme we catch one member of those kinds of things.
a family, the team is very sensitive to the fact that often But likewise, there still may be a
other members of the family will stick around until their social hierarchy standpoint. People
partner comes back. have hypothesised that while the
secondary sexual characteristic

is used so males can fight it out
Where did you start with dispelling the myth of the for who gets the female, but
mysterious narwhal tusk? nobody has ever witnessed on
It was certainly a long process, but my starting point a common level any aggression
was very distinct for me. I made an appointment with between males. It’s been
James Mead, then the curator of marine mammals at hypothesised, but it’s [only
the Smithsonian Museum – regarded as one of the most rarely] been seen [and]
prominent marine mammal anatomists in the world when it has been seen it’s
today… I remember at a distinct point of the conversation very isolated. You could see
when I had questioned the function of this tusk, he a rogue male going off and
looked at me and he said: ‘Oh I thought this was pretty doing something but it’s not
well understood as a secondary sexual characteristic, like typical in the species to do
the peacock feather and the lion mane,’ and I remember that. The last thing you want to
looking at him directly… I said: ‘Yeah and nobody knows do is break that tusk.

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