PORPOISES AND DOLPHINS. 
43 
ill-defined ridge. The flippers are short, wide, and rounded. In colour the narwhal 
is dark grey or dusky above and white beneath, the back and sides being irregularly 
mottled with various shades of grey. The entire length may vary from 12 to about 
16 feet. A tusk measuring 8 feet in length had a basal girth of inches. 
. The narwhal resembles the Greenland whale in being an inhabit- 
Distnbution. „ . ... ... 
ant ot the icy polar seas, and like that species is circumpolar m its 
distribution; it is, however, apparently local in its range, being, according to 
Captain Scammon, but rarely found in the seas accessible to the whalers who pass 
through the Behring Strait. Although seldom occurring to the south of the 65th 
parallel of north latitude, there are three instances (one in 1648, a second in 1800, 
and a third eight years later) of narwhals visiting the British coasts. From the 
extreme rarity of such occurrences, there is, however, no doubt that the individuals 
in question had been carried by currents out of their proper habitat. From constant 
persecution, the numbers of the narwhal have been greatly reduced in the more 
accessible portions of its habitat; and according to Baron Noidenskiold, it is now 
never seen on the coasts of Novaia Zemlia. It is, however, more common at 
Hope Island, and large herds are reported from the seas between Spitzbergen and 
Novaia Zemlia. It is noteworthy that fossil remains of the narwhal have been 
found in the so-called forest-bed of the Norfolk coast,—a deposit laid down before 
the great cold of the glacial period, but when the temperature may have been 
steadily lowering, whereby Arctic animals were enabled to leave their more 
northerly haunts. 
Habits. 
Of the habits of narwhals, unfortunately very little is known. 
They are generally found in small schools, comprising from fifteen to 
twenty individuals; and were described long ago by Scoresby as being extremely 
playful in their disposition. Much has been written as to the use of the characteristic 
tusk, but nothing very definite has yet been ascertained with regard to it. That it 
is not employed for the purpose of procuring food, is perfectly evident from the 
fact of its absence in the female. A more probable suggestion is that it is used by 
the males in combats among themselves for the possession of the females ; in which 
case it should be regarded as a sexual appendage, analogous to the antlers of the 
deer. The food of the animal is stated to be mainly composed of cuttles and 
various crustaceans, together with small fishes. As a rule, but a single young is 
produced at a birth, but an instance of twins is on record. 
The narwhal is valued both for its ivory and its oil; the latter 
being of superior quality to ordinary whale-oil. The ivory of the 
tusk is very dense in structure, and of a pure creamy-white colour; but since the 
tusk is hollow throughout the greater part of its length, its value is much less than 
it would be otherwise. The price of narwhal tusks, although very variable is, 
however, considerable. 
Products. 
The White Whale. 
Genus Delphinapterus. 
Nearly allied to the narwhal is the white whale, or beluga (Delphinapterus 
leucas), which is likewise an Arctic species. It resembles the narwhal in having 
