3 Neat Facts About Narwhals (Including: They're Real!)

In case you didn't know, not only are narwhals real, they're rad. Hank shares some little known facts about one of the least understood sea mammals, including some insights into why they're so hard to study, and what that big thing on its face is for!

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[naomibousson]

In my second year in high school I was once disqualified from a game of word chaining because my classmates AND THE TEACHER didn't know the narwal existed and they accused me of making up animals to win the game.

[shurdi]

Wait... people didn't know Narwhals existed?

[aPAROz]

Thank you for this video Hank! I still can't believe that some people think this is just some mythological beast. I did a really huge, carefully researched report on the narwhal when I was in third grade and my teacher politely informed me that I wasn't allowed to report on "made up animals." My mom brought a few books on the subject and it all worked out, but it still astonishes me how little people know about these guys.

[MsSBVideos]

Narwhals, narwhals, swimming in the ocean, causing a commotion, 'cause they are so awesome!
Sorry. I had to.

[dappernarwhal]

To those of you that did not believe in our existence, I am disappointed in you.

[mrnarwhal]

Narwhals, narwhals so energetic
Acting so majestic
'Cause they are so EPIC!

[doface]

Narwhals are one of the coolest things I want to see one at some point in my life!! Thank you for doing a video on these amazing creatures!

[chopinbloc]

Now the song is stuck in my head. Thanks.

[kalamaroni]

The tooth you showed at 2:00 is currently being held in Vienna, and was once a prized possession of the Habsburg monarchy, who believed it to be a unicorn horn. Just around the corner from that exhibit there is another Narwhal horn, this one used as part of a heralding stick.

[treenelson]

Hank I was surprised at how you Spelled and pronounced Muktuk as I had always heard it and saw it spelled Muktuk in Alaska. So I thought I would share a little more about this food.

Muktuk
It is a true traditional Inuit/Eskimo and Chukchi meal of frozen whale skin and blubber.
Muktuk is often eaten with seal oil which makes it a very rich dish to those who are not accustomed to eating this wonderful food.
Muktuk is most often made from the skin and blubber (fat) of the Bowhead whale,
although the Beluga and the Narwhal are also used.

Usually eaten raw, it is today occasionally finely diced, breaded, deep fried, and served with soy sauce. It is also sometimes pickled.When chewed raw, the blubber becomes oily, with a nutty taste; if not diced, or at least serrated, the skin is more than a bit rubbery.
Muktuk has been found to be a good source of vitamin C, the epidermis containing up to 38 mg per 100 grams (3.5 oz). Blubber is also a source of vitamin D.
However, now it also contains PCBs, carcinogens that damage human nervous, immune and reproductive systems, These PCBs originate from industrial sources and are concentrated in the marine food web. Thus poisoning A once nutrients native subsistence food.

This word can also be spelled:
Ikiilgin,
Chukchi
Maktaaq (ᒪᒃᑖᖅ),
Siglitun, Kivalliq, Aivilik, North Baffin, East Baffin, South Baffin
Maktak (ᒪᒃᑕᒃ),
Inupiat, Siglitun, North Baffin
Maktaq,
Inuinnaqtun, Natsilingmiutut (Inuvialuktun)
Mattak,
Labrador, Greenland
Mangtak, Alaskan
Yup'ik
Mungtuk,
Siberian Yupik
Kimaq,
Alutiiq/Sugpiaq

In some dialects, such as Inuinnaqtun, the word Muktuk refers only to the edible parts of the whale's skin and not to the blubber.​

[graceadee]

I loved narwhals before this video, but now I super love them! This was such a great topic.

[freedapeeple]

Thanks, Hank, for correcting something I have believed ever since I learned about Narwhals.I always thought they were NOT any type of whale. Live and learn...

[ineedhealing]

Narwhals! Narwhals! Swimming in the ocean, causing a commotion, because they are so awesome!

[sarahvargas]

Narwhal narwhal swimming in the ocean causing a commotion because they are so awesome! XD

[Smartacus]

Can we get them to breed with horses and make unicorns?

[Magnymbus]

I demand that there be Narwhals that swim majestically through *THE SKY*. They shall be called "Cornaeroceti" (From latin Cornus (Horn), Aer (Air) and Ceti (Whale))

[veronicacross]

vikings used to hunt narwhals and sell their tusks as unicorn horns and that's why in most depictions of unicorn the horn is swirled like the narwhal's is.

[PatrickHansen]

Narwhals, Narwhals 
Swimming in the ocean
Causing a commotion
Coz they are so awesome

[awesomesaucellama]

I knew some if these facts about marshals before watching this video, and I have had to convince 4 different people that they existed, because lots of people think they're mythical. Now I can show then this video as proof of the narwhal's very real awesomeness.

[lilydown]

i love narwhals so so so so much they are literally my favourite animals - even ahead of the platypus!!