As I sit in my living room with the windows open I think about how fast winter will come. Will it be like last year? Winter in Omaha last year was reason enough to get me to move. However, on my daily quest to find interesting under water creatures I find that maybe it isn't so frigid here after all.
On a CBC story on December 1, 2008 called, "Narwhal cull approaches 600 near Pond Inlet," fishermen in the Baffin Islands area are finding that narwhals are being trapped in the ice. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans find that over 500 narwhals were trapped in the ice. Hunters then kill the narwhals that are trapped for themselves. In fact media is often unable to fly into the area because the hunters are refusing media to enter the area (from: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2008/12/01/narwhal.html)
Narwhals are called the unicorns of the sea. They have a giant 8ft tooth (or often called tusk) that reaches straight out of their head. They use this tusk to fight for a female mate. The way they feed is from the ice making fish more vulnerable. They are pod animals and have been seen in large numbers (from: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/narwhal/)
In an article on August 25, 2008 by Fox News called, "Narwhals more at risk to Arctic warming than polar bears," talks about how polar bears were the animals most vulnerable to global warming but now scientists are saying that this creature might be even more vulnerable because of their constant need for ice (from:http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Apr25/0,4670,ClimateArcticAnimals,00.html) Regardless of their story, it makes me appreciate the fall for a little longer. These creatures roam the cold their whole lives dodging polar bears, sea lions, Inuit hunters and now large patches of ice as they try to grab a cold trapped fish through the Arctic seas.
picture from: (http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/narwhal/)
No comments:
Post a Comment