Narwhals

David B. (United States of America)
20 words 17 learners

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  1. narwhal
    an Arctic cetacean, the male of which has a long ivory tusk
    Well, they spent their fortune on narwhals' teeth!

    4 Living in the icy waters of the Arctic, the narwhal -- or "unicorn of the sea" -- is one type of whale.
  2. orca
    predatory black-and-white toothed whale with large dorsal fin; common in cold seas
    Orcas (killer whales), polar bears, and Greenland sharks are all narwhals' natural enemies.
  3. tusk
    a long pointed tooth specialized for fighting or digging
    For a female narwhal, both of her teeth are usually undeveloped.

    5 Nobody knows for sure what narwhals use their tusks for.
  4. squid
    widely distributed fast-moving ten-armed cephalopod mollusk having a long tapered body with triangular tail fins
    They dine on fish, squids, shrimps, and other small animals.
  5. flipper
    the flat broad limb of aquatic animals specialized for swimming
    Their flippers are petite with upturned tips.
  6. polar bear
    white bear of Arctic regions
    Orcas (killer whales), polar bears, and Greenland sharks are all narwhals' natural enemies.
  7. predator
    any animal that lives by preying on other animals
    But these predators do not pose much threat to them.
  8. blubber
    an insulating layer of fat under the skin of some animals
    For thousands of years, the Inuit people and northern Europeans have hunted narwhals for their skin, blubber (body fat), flesh, and tusks.
  9. shrimp
    small slender-bodied chiefly marine decapod crustaceans with a long tail and single pair of pincers; many species are edible
    They dine on fish, squids, shrimps, and other small animals.
  10. Arctic
    the regions to the north of the Arctic Circle centered on the North Pole
    Well, they spent their fortune on narwhals' teeth!

    4 Living in the icy waters of the Arctic, the narwhal -- or "unicorn of the sea" -- is one type of whale.
  11. exclude
    prevent from entering; shut out
    The mottled appearance of an adult narwhal, coupled with its habit of floating belly-up, gives rise to a rather unpleasant nickname -- the corpse whale!

    7 Narwhals can grow up to 16 feet long (excluding the tusk) and weigh over 3,500 pounds.
  12. commodity
    any good that can be bought and sold
    The myth made a unicorn's horn a very valuable commodity.
  13. delicacy
    the quality of being exquisitely fine in appearance
    As unbelievable as this seems, one of the Inuit delicacies is to eat narwhals' skin raw!
  14. scientist
    a person with advanced knowledge of empirical fields
    Some scientists think that these teeth come in handy during the breeding season.
  15. temper
    a characteristic state of feeling
    If waved over a tempered dish, the horn would neutralize any kind of poison.
  16. develop
    progress or evolve through a process of natural growth
    As the young narwhal gets older, it starts to develop blotches of white spots all over its body.
  17. possess
    have ownership of
    They believed that its horn possessed a magical power.
  18. length
    the linear extent in space from one end to the other
    That left tooth, spiraling counter-clockwise and reaching 10 feet in length, is the alleged unicorn's horn.
  19. period
    an amount of time
    She mates every three years and gives birth to a single calf after a gestation period of 10-16 months.
  20. human
    a person; a hominid with a large brain and articulate speech
    Humans, as it turns out, are narwhals' worst nightmare.
Created on Tue Feb 08 17:32:46 EST 2011 (updated Tue Feb 14 16:33:27 EST 2012)

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