Narwhal’s have been called some of the world’s strangest animals, with their unicorn-like tusks that can reach over 8 feet long. Over the years unique feature has attracted a lot of attention from scientists, who have hypothesized that the animals use the tusk, which is technically a tooth, for spearing prey or perhaps as a sensory organ.
But researchers in Canada now have new video evidence showing that narwhals do in fact use the tusk for feeding. According to the researchers, the never-before-seen behavior shows the narwhal’s flick the tusks as a way to stun their prey, which immobilizes the fish so the narwhals can easily scoop them into their mouths.
Watch as scientists from Fisheries and Oceans Canada explain how they managed to capture the first recorded evidence of this behavior:
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