Science Friday - How Narwhals Use Their Tusks To Hunt And Play | This Week's ‘Blood Moon’ Lunar Eclipse

Episode Date: March 12, 2025

An international team of researchers used drones to study narwhals and learn more about their behavior. And, a total lunar eclipse will be visible across most of North and South America in the early morning hours of March 14.New Footage Shows How Narwhals Use Tusks To Hunt And PlayWe’re taking a polar plunge into the science of sea unicorns, also known as narwhals!Narwhals are mysterious arctic whales with long, twirly tusks protruding from their foreheads, like a creature out of a fairy tale. And it turns out that we don’t know too much about them, partly because they live so far north in the remote Arctic.An international team of researchers used drones to observe narwhals in the wild and learned new things about their behavior, including how they use their tusks to hunt and play.Host Flora Lichtman gets on the horn with Dr. Gregory O’Corry-Crowe, research professor and biologist at Florida Atlantic University, who was an author on the new narwhal study, published last month in Frontiers in Marine Science.How To See The ‘Blood Moon’ Lunar Eclipse This WeekEarly on Friday, March 14 (or super late on Thursday, March 13, depending on your time zone) people across the U.S. will be able to watch a total lunar eclipse, if skies are clear. The partial eclipse will begin at 1:09 a.m. Eastern time on Friday the 14th, with totality lasting from 2:26 to 3:31 a.m. Eastern.Astronomer Dean Regas joins Host Flora Lichtman to tell us what to expect, and share some tips for comfortable lunar eclipse viewing.Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.   Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

This is Science Friday. I'm Flora Lichtman. Today in the podcast, a mysterious creature with a tooth longer than your body. Oh, yeah. No, it's incredible. I mean, they can grow to 10 feet in length. And they really are remarkable structure. We are taking a polar plunge into the science of sea unicorns. I am talking, of course, about narwhals. These are the mysterious Arctic whales with those long, twirly tusks protruding from their forehead. They look like a creature out of a fairy tale, and it turns out we don't know too much about them. They're hard to study, partly because they live so far north in the remote Arctic. So an international team of researchers had this idea.

They turned to drones to observe them and learned all these new things about this storied creature. On the horn to tell us more is Dr. Greg O'Coree Crow, a research professor at Florida Atlantic University based in Boca Raton, Florida. Greg, welcome to Science Friday. Thank you for having me. Okay, are Narwhals mysterious? Yes, I think so. I think they fire the human imagination, as you say, with their incredible tusks that are truly amazing natural features.

And as you mentioned earlier, you know, they live in quite remote, challenging locations and are known to few. But fortunately for us, we partnered with an indigenous community, in the far north to set out and learn more about this incredible animal. What did you learn about them? So a big challenge up to now has been actually just getting to observe them in the wild. We've been fortunate to work from boats sometimes and from the sea ice. But with the advent of drones, we've been able to sort of get this bird's eye view and this unique

insight. And we're learning that they have very complex, sophisticated societies. and there's a lot of interesting interactions between individual animals and other species. And, you know, the hits just keep coming. Every day we fly, we see something completely new and amazing. Well, let's dive into some of those interactions. What are they doing? So in the summer, the general understanding is they've spent a long time in the winter feeding

and they've spent a lot of the spring migrating north as the ice retreats. And so in the summer, when they come in some locations close to shore, it really wasn't very clear what they were doing. And what we're starting to realize is they spend a lot of time socializing, probably resting after a long journey. And when animals have time on their hands, they get up to some pretty interesting behaviors. And one of them we got to see was how they actually used their tusks in a way we never really knew about. What are they doing with those tusks? Tell us. So basically, the general understanding is, you know, these tusks have evolved as what we call secondary sexual characteristics. They're involved in mating behavior, only males or predominantly males have them.

But they're using their tusks sometimes to track down, manipulate, stun, and sometimes kill fish. So they actually use their tusks as not just a display or a weapon. They use it as a kind of surgical instrument to catch prey. To spear them? or what are they doing with them? So that's a very good question. They usually seem to focus on a particular fish, in this case, the Arctic char, track it,

and then they whack it basically, and slow it down, maybe stun it and then consume it. We started to pick up on other things. And in one amazing encounter, we realized that they actually weren't trying to really even injure, let alone kill and consume the fish. It appeared that what they were actually doing was just playing and exploring.

Like a cat toying with a mouse? Yes, it was like play with your food, you know? And so this is the first sort of documented example of Norwell's, you know, playing. The other thing that was so striking was the tusk looks like a giant broadsword that you might wield to inflict some injury. And yet they were using it like, you know, a surgical instrument in very precisely interrogating, messing with basically this fish. Several times a fish would stop as if to say,

what are you guys doing? I've had enough. I've had enough of this. And in the process of actually observing this, we noticed a lot of interesting interactions between the narwhals themselves. And some of it looks like it's social learning and possibly even social instruction

from one whale to another, which is pretty remarkable. Like one narwhal is doing something with their tusk and then the other one copies it? Yeah, I think, you know, and that's something we are particularly focused on. We're doing a lot of research on beluga whales as well as narwhals and trying to understand how that kind of social learning short circuits, ways to innovate and start sort of new behaviors in a changing Arctic. So, you know, rather than everybody having to figure it out for themselves, somebody has a bright idea and everybody copies it and things kind of go viral. I mean, isn't this the basis of culture, passing down ideas? You've asked a wonderful question. So I agree.

I think we're starting to see other animals that have culture as well as humans and other primates, including beluga whales. And the crux of that is passing down traditional behaviors and activities through social learning. But one of the concerns I have is sometimes cultures and traditions, as we know, you can become hidebound by by tradition. And if something changes, you know, are you going to be actually able to respond? And so in the Arctic, you know, are our animals like Narwhals and Bulugas going to be stuck in a kind of rut as to, well, we've always done it this way? Versus on the other side, the innovator saying, well, let's try something new. And social

learning is key to both of those things. And that's really what we're up there trying to understand. How are Norwalks adapting to climate-driven changes in the Arctic? Are they threatened? Is it harming them? Well, it's quite challenging, and they're probably one of the most challenging species to study. Unfortunately, we have our indigenous partners in Nunavut and other places who are the real experts on Norval, and their concern is that it's not just the loss of sea ice and maybe shifting prey bases, but the increase in human activities and especially increases in ocean noise

from shipping and oil and gas exploration. So our team, which includes a lot of Canadian scientists from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and some of the subsistence hunters from villages and none of it, are trying to actually ask that particular question. How are they dealing with this major shift? You know, a big aha for our team. So we all watched the videos associated with this paper.

listeners, you can watch them too at our website at sciencefriday.com slash tusk. Highly recommend. A big aha for us was how long these tusks are. Oh, yeah. No, it's incredible. I mean, they can grow to 10 feet in length. And they really are remarkable structure. And when you're sort of standing in the water, you know, right beside an arwall, and you're just mesmerized by the beauty of it as well, because it has this beautiful scroll pattern, it almost looks. like it has been carved. And when seafarers brought these back to Europe and to Asia, you can imagine how the myth of the unicorn became real to a lot of people. They're just magnificent structures. What are they made of? They are a tooth. So basically, they're a very specialized tooth that comes out

through the front of the head, as I said, predominantly in males. They are interestingly quite sensitive to the environment in terms of they have the ability to sort of respond to changes in salinity and temperature. And so one other potential use is that the narwhal tusk is kind of a environmental probe. Really? Like an antenna or something? Well, it's like a Swiss Army knife. You know, it has multiple applications. So I think there's just so much more to learn. The other thing I thought was fascinating was, and you'll see it from the videos, how subtle there. movements are how precise and careful their behavior is with the fish and that ability to move it with such precision and manipulate a small object was really incredible. Yeah, especially when it's

10 feet long. Exactly. Like I can barely hold a fork. You know what I mean? True. Yeah. I mean, and it's a heavy object as well. So we want to continue this research. We want to go back and learn more. But every day, as I said, in camp, we would just sort of review what we just saw and look at each other and go, did we really just see that? Wow. You know, as someone who has experienced a drone buzzing over my head, they can be annoying. Did you have to worry about disturbing the narwhals? Well, a very good point. And I think a lot of the impetus behind this work was could we use methods that were minimized disturbance. And so could we fly drones that are quiet and fly them at an altitude?

So we are not disturbing the animals. We deployed hydrophones in the water to listen to them. And so the whole concept was, you know, rather than maybe the traditional methods of trying to get close in boats and get hands on animals, could we take a step back. and that has been the really exciting part. You know, yes, we have this new technology, but it's old school science. It's about stepping back and just observing nature

and letting it unfold in front of you. And we were able to, without disturbing these animals, just sort of become kind of part of their environment. And all this things started to happen around us. And it was like an eye-opener for a lot of us that, you know, we need to go back to this, what I call notebook and pencil kind of a natural history. That's fascinating that this, you know, very new technology actually allows us to go, you know,

back to tried and true methods of observational science. Yes, and I think, you know, technology over the last 30, 40 years has been a revelation and a revolution in a lot of what we do with remote cetacean species, whether it's satellite tagging or genetics or aerial surveys, and they will continue to provide new insight. You know, I think a lot of people at one time in their life, myself included, have dreamed of being a marine biologist. Is studying Norwal's, like, unlocking expert level for marine biology? I mean, to me, I've had a passion for the high north and for looking at social species in so many ways, beluga whales and narwhals are kind of the holy grail for what I want to study.

And what is very important is there's also been this kind of dawning among scientists that stakeholders, particularly indigenous people and their knowledge is just as valuable in some cases more so. And so these kind of team approaches, as you say, this international team is the only way we can unlock these kind of secrets. But at the end of the day, it's about just spending time in the wilderness with animals. and then they will reveal their secrets. Thank you for taking us into the wilderness today. It's very refreshing. Thank you. Thank you very much.

And we hope to be able to continue this work and maybe give you some more exciting news in the future. Any time. Please. Any time. Dr. Greg O'Coreau is a research professor at Florida Atlantic University based in Boca Raton, Florida. After the break, mark your calendars. It is a total eclipse. of the moon. Once it's in totality, when it's all the way into the shadow of the earth,

that's when it turns that eerie, reddish, orangish colors and gives it the nickname the Blood Moon. On the horizon is a total lunar eclipse. Here to tell us more is astronomer Dean Regis, host of the Looking Up podcast. Welcome back, Dean. Glad to be here. When is this total lunar eclipse happening? Yeah, there's a little confusion about that because it's technically on March 14, But it's really the night of the 13th into the early morning hours of the 14th. And best of all, it's going to be visible from all across the country. So next Thursday, Thursday night. Basically, yeah.

So either you got to stay up all night past midnight or set an alarm and get up a little bit earlier. But the whole thing kicks off at about 109 a.m. Eastern time. And that's when the shadow of the earth that first appears on the moon. And then it slowly eats away the light. on the moon as the shadow sweeps across. And then once it's in totality, when it's all the way into the shadow of the earth, that's when it turns that eerie, reddish, orangish colors and gives it the nickname the Blood Moon. The Blood Moon. I love the lingo around eclipses. What does it look like exactly during totality? Yeah, totality, it doesn't disappear. The moon is still visible. That's because

light is still getting to the moon. It's just bending through the Earth's atmosphere. So when you have this lunar eclipse happen, you have the sun on one side, the moon on the other side, and the earth directly in between the two. So the sunlight will be mostly blocked by the earth, but a little bit of it kind of bends through the Earth's atmosphere, and that's what projects onto the moon, giving it that weird little reddish color. So I saw the total solar eclipse, and it was an amazing experience. And I remember other people having these really ecstatic experiences. Does a total lunar eclipse deliver in the same way?

Well, for me it does, but I'm a little strange. This is going to be my 22nd lunar eclipse that I've seen, and each one is really memorable to me. But for me, there's two main parts of a lunar eclipse that get me excited, at least, and that is, number one, the beginning. So right when the earth shadow appears on the surface of the moon, that's the part I really like. So it's like the kickoff. This thing's really happening. And then the other part is totality. And so when we're in totality, that's going to be about 226 a.m. to 3.31 a.m. Eastern.

And that one is just more kind of a, you kind of sit back and relax and watch it. And what's so fascinating is the colors on the surface of the moon change every couple of seconds. And so you look at it once. It has a different color. You look at it again. It slowly morphs. So, yeah, I mean, I'm going to be cheering and howling everything, but it's definitely less exciting, dramatic as a total solar eclipse. Your neighbors are going to call the police. Yeah, well, they're used to me being up late at night. They know you. Looking through telescopes, yeah.

Can people everywhere see it? Hawaii, Alaska, you know, we have listeners everywhere. It's going to be visible from coast to coast. So the mainland U.S., Canada, pretty much all of the Western Hemisphere will be able to see this. In Hawaii, you're going to just miss the beginning of it. you'll have plenty of time to see totality. And same with Alaska. So everybody from coast to coast in all 50 states, you'll be able to see totality.

All right, everybody, mark your calendars for the total lunar eclipse late March 13th, you know, slash very, very early March 14th. Thank you, Dean. Hey, my pleasure. Keep looking up. Dean Regis is an astronomer and host of the Looking Up podcast, and he's based in Cincinnati. And that is about all we have time for. Lots of folks helped make the show happen, including Santiago Flores.

Rasha Eridi. Phyllisoma. Robin Kasmar. I'm Flora Lichtenen. Thanks for listening.