Narwhal: The Arctic Unicorn

Narwhal: The Arctic Unicorn

Justin Anderson

Jo Weaver

Walker Books, 2023

32pp., pbk., RRP $A17.99

9781529513912

As winter slowly lets go of its tenacious grip of the Arctic regions and cracks appear in the ice, a pod of narwhals starts its journey to the islands north of mainland Canada.  Much like the humpback highways along the coasts of Australia,  this is an annual migration as these strange, almost mythical “unicorns of the sea” follow their instincts to find warm summer waters that  offer plentiful food and a place to give birth to the next generation. 

Narwhal Migration Routes

But despite being up to 5 metres long and weighing 1800 kilos, there are those that are bigger and fiercer and just as hungry, so the old narwhal, who has seen 50 seasons already, must find a way to keep his pod safe. For other Arctic creatures are also on the move searching for the same things.

Another in the wonderful Nature Storybooks series combining accessible narrative, information and realistic illustrations, this is written by the producer of a BBC program on the springtime melting of Arctic ice that marked the first time narwhal migration was captured on film and introduces a creature that for many, like me, only existed in fiction.  But, indeed. while there are estimated to be only about 80 000 left and climate change is having a profound impact on those as sea ice shrinks and more creatures are competing for the same food source, they are very real unique members of the whale family distinctive because of the single tooth that males (and a few females) have -a  tusk that grows out like a 180cm  spear,

One that is almost certain to inspire your budding marine biologists to go on a reading hunt to find out more.