When they interact with their prey, the narvals would present a behavior different from that of the hunter. This is what scientists discovered in a video that proves it.
Also called “Licorne of the Seas” with its large twisted defense which can measure three meters in length, the narval is a kind of cetaceans often overlooked, which lives mainly between the Canadian Arctic and the Greenland. This atypical defense found mainly in males arouses the curiosity of many scientists around the world.
Some studies have shown that in addition to serving to hunt their prey, it was also used to attract their female partners. But that’s not all. In a video recorded in 2022 thanks to drones, researchers provide proof of another utility of this extraordinary defense. In total, scientists were able to identify 17 interactions between the narvals and their prey. Thus, when they see a fish, the narvals do not only drive them to eat.
What surprised them is that this marine species has fun with its prey, sometimes pushing the fish repeatedly, as if they participated in the game of the cat and the mouse. “”Noting that these animals do not hunt fish, but that they explore them, manipulate them and interact with them changes the situation“Said Dr. Gregory O’cory-Crowwe, author of the study published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.
“Narvals use their defense other than to hunt”
Among their discoveries, scientists also realized that “sensitive and vulnerable to the effects of climate change” must constantly adapt “as the oceans warm up”. These species adept at sea ice also face an increase in fish theft on the part of gulls living in the Arctic, considerably reducing the amount of food they could catch. In response, the narvals have found another solution: they dive more deeply to hunt fish of fish …