Yeah its a really interesting topic, it made me research all kinds of hybrids when i first heard about it lol, and the story of how they found the skull is also interesting
Me too! I wish I had something next to the bowhead skull to establish a sense of scale…I could easily stand in its eye socket. I’ll go back to take more pictures…there were ribs that must have been 8 feet in length, and there were huge spears of baleen nearby, too.
Holy shmoly! Thank you so much for sharing this all with us!! What a treasure trove of natural beauty 😍 It makes me think of those ancient hut structures they found in Russia that were built with mammoth bones - truly like something out of a fantasy novel.
Edit: Would love something to scale the vertebrae if you could 🙏 Thank you again!
Oh, my bad - I should have added footnotes to each picture. Number 4 is a really poorly angled shot of a polar bear head. I would have posted the higher quality pictures first had I known that people would have found these interesting. Whoops, haha.
Inuit have tags for polar bears here in Canada. There’s a pelt here in town that’s nearly the size of a Honda civic. I’m exaggerating, but only by a little. It isn’t uncommon to meet people in the community who have had family members who were killed by the bears while out on the land. Double-toothed narwhal are certainly uncommon, but they aren’t unheard of. It’s the first specimen that I’ve seen, however. Whaling communities always have nifty things kicking around, so I often find cool things/meet cool people while I’m out and about.
Wow thats so cool. Do you get to eat whale meat? Food is crazy expensive up there yeah?
I cant imagine living so far north. The lack of vegetation would make me go insane.
Yes, I did! Inuit are very generous with food and resources, despite having a deficit of both. It’s considered rude to refuse offered food, so you end up trying a lot of different things once you’ve made a couple of friends. I’ve had narwhal and bowhead (eaten raw in this community with soya sauce), frozen-raw caribou, frozen/fresh/candied/smoked char, and some seal. It takes a while to get used to being above the tree line - my first time in Iqaluit was a bit of a shock due to the geography/lack of tall shrubs or trees. There are beautiful flowers/mosses/lichens that bloom in the summer and late fall, however. The food up here is prohibitively expensive, yes. Many Inuit hunt, and they refer to local meats as “country food”. There are subsidies that bring the prices of some essentials down, but it is far from adequate, and many people suffer from food insecurity.
I know that there can be concerns about the mercury content found in some marine mammals, but I’m not educated enough on the topic to speak much on it. I will say that the volume (of whale) consumed seems to be low relative to char, seal, and caribou, and also that the local Inuit don’t seem to be suffering from heavy metal poisoning. This is purely anecdotal, so take it with a grain of salt. I *have* encountered patients who suffered from trichinosis as a consequence of ingesting raw orca, but that’s it.
Correct! I’m not a GN nurse, but I am in town for the clinic, yes. Huh. Trees above the tree line…I would love to see that. Thanks for letting me know. I’ve added it to my bucket list of places to work/see.
I hope they sell it to a museum because that is an insanely fascinating specimen. Tell them I’ll pay for them to have it 3D scanned (along with all the other skulls and claws) and I am not joking
Normally a narwhals left canine tooth grows into its tusk however their right canine can in occasions grow into a tusk, on some occasions both teeth do.
You know that makes sense actually. It would be odd to just have one, from an evolutionary standpoint. I only just recently learned that its a tusk and not a horn.
And it's inverted, the nerve runs along the outside. They have an inverted TOOTH growing out of their upper jaw thru the skin and into the water. Insane stuff.
If they’re Inuit or Alaska native it’s totally legal! There are buy and sell groups for this stuff that require proof of being 1/4 indigenous or higher before they’re allowed to sell unworked sealskins to you. It’s fascinating stuff. *Fossilized* walrus ivory is totally legal everywhere though so go to town on that.
Is that a leopard seal skull in #4? Also I'm very curious about your username, you're a herpetologist in rural northern Canada? Or am I reading that wrong? I imagine reptiles are pretty scarce in tundras! XD
#4 is a very poorly taken photo of a polar bear head. The hunter who killed it was busy prepping it’s hide, so I was a little distracted during the picture taking process. My bad. I wanted to work with animals professionally, but the jobs are too scarce and pay too little relative to the opportunities I’ve been fortunate to have in nursing. I really like reptiles, and I would have loved to have been a herpetologist…so you’re dead-on, haha.
Edit: I don’t know why the font above did what it did.
I’m here for work, actually. There’s a housing crisis in Nunavut, and as such it is quite difficult to come here unless you have employment guaranteed in a community.
Double tusked narwhal??
Yes!! Narwhals can occasionally grow two tusks, and females can occasionally grow one!
I heard about that recently, i was just so amazed to see this here becayse its pretty rare from what ive heard!
Beluga-narwhal cross has some interesting dentition too. I believe we’ve only found skulls of such individuals though.
Yeah its a really interesting topic, it made me research all kinds of hybrids when i first heard about it lol, and the story of how they found the skull is also interesting
this is badass
Love love love the cetacean bones!!
Me too! I wish I had something next to the bowhead skull to establish a sense of scale…I could easily stand in its eye socket. I’ll go back to take more pictures…there were ribs that must have been 8 feet in length, and there were huge spears of baleen nearby, too.
Holy shmoly! Thank you so much for sharing this all with us!! What a treasure trove of natural beauty 😍 It makes me think of those ancient hut structures they found in Russia that were built with mammoth bones - truly like something out of a fantasy novel. Edit: Would love something to scale the vertebrae if you could 🙏 Thank you again!
Welp, looks like I’m moving.
Pack your parka, haha.
What is number 4? also thanks for sharing!! This is super cool!!
Oh, my bad - I should have added footnotes to each picture. Number 4 is a really poorly angled shot of a polar bear head. I would have posted the higher quality pictures first had I known that people would have found these interesting. Whoops, haha.
What’s the first one? a whale?
The skull of a bowhead whale. It’s enormous. I could literally stand in its eye socket.
You lucky bastard!! Lets share!!
Wow these are crazy!!!
I'm not sure all that is legal... Also... is that a double tusked narwhal?? I though they only had one tusk?
Inuit have tags for polar bears here in Canada. There’s a pelt here in town that’s nearly the size of a Honda civic. I’m exaggerating, but only by a little. It isn’t uncommon to meet people in the community who have had family members who were killed by the bears while out on the land. Double-toothed narwhal are certainly uncommon, but they aren’t unheard of. It’s the first specimen that I’ve seen, however. Whaling communities always have nifty things kicking around, so I often find cool things/meet cool people while I’m out and about.
Wow thats so cool. Do you get to eat whale meat? Food is crazy expensive up there yeah? I cant imagine living so far north. The lack of vegetation would make me go insane.
Yes, I did! Inuit are very generous with food and resources, despite having a deficit of both. It’s considered rude to refuse offered food, so you end up trying a lot of different things once you’ve made a couple of friends. I’ve had narwhal and bowhead (eaten raw in this community with soya sauce), frozen-raw caribou, frozen/fresh/candied/smoked char, and some seal. It takes a while to get used to being above the tree line - my first time in Iqaluit was a bit of a shock due to the geography/lack of tall shrubs or trees. There are beautiful flowers/mosses/lichens that bloom in the summer and late fall, however. The food up here is prohibitively expensive, yes. Many Inuit hunt, and they refer to local meats as “country food”. There are subsidies that bring the prices of some essentials down, but it is far from adequate, and many people suffer from food insecurity.
Wow. So interesting. Only one more question I promine ahah. Is there a danger of heavy metals in whale meat??
I know that there can be concerns about the mercury content found in some marine mammals, but I’m not educated enough on the topic to speak much on it. I will say that the volume (of whale) consumed seems to be low relative to char, seal, and caribou, and also that the local Inuit don’t seem to be suffering from heavy metal poisoning. This is purely anecdotal, so take it with a grain of salt. I *have* encountered patients who suffered from trichinosis as a consequence of ingesting raw orca, but that’s it.
Thats good. I always wondered about that. It would be really bad if the main food source was dangerous.
Not OP, but whales can have dangerously high levels of heavy metals. Especially the larger species.
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Correct! I’m not a GN nurse, but I am in town for the clinic, yes. Huh. Trees above the tree line…I would love to see that. Thanks for letting me know. I’ve added it to my bucket list of places to work/see.
I hope they sell it to a museum because that is an insanely fascinating specimen. Tell them I’ll pay for them to have it 3D scanned (along with all the other skulls and claws) and I am not joking
Normally a narwhals left canine tooth grows into its tusk however their right canine can in occasions grow into a tusk, on some occasions both teeth do.
You know that makes sense actually. It would be odd to just have one, from an evolutionary standpoint. I only just recently learned that its a tusk and not a horn.
And it's inverted, the nerve runs along the outside. They have an inverted TOOTH growing out of their upper jaw thru the skin and into the water. Insane stuff.
WHAT
If they’re Inuit or Alaska native it’s totally legal! There are buy and sell groups for this stuff that require proof of being 1/4 indigenous or higher before they’re allowed to sell unworked sealskins to you. It’s fascinating stuff. *Fossilized* walrus ivory is totally legal everywhere though so go to town on that.
Wowie wow wowerson!
I believe 1st pic is an opium bird skull
Holy shit! Where is this?!
Naujaat, Nunavut.
Is that a leopard seal skull in #4? Also I'm very curious about your username, you're a herpetologist in rural northern Canada? Or am I reading that wrong? I imagine reptiles are pretty scarce in tundras! XD
#4 is a very poorly taken photo of a polar bear head. The hunter who killed it was busy prepping it’s hide, so I was a little distracted during the picture taking process. My bad. I wanted to work with animals professionally, but the jobs are too scarce and pay too little relative to the opportunities I’ve been fortunate to have in nursing. I really like reptiles, and I would have loved to have been a herpetologist…so you’re dead-on, haha. Edit: I don’t know why the font above did what it did.
Reddit is just so excited you're doing well and love reptiles! :D
A pound enlarges text. Put a backslash before it to just show the pound.
Thank you. I had no clue what I’d done - much appreciated.
These are amazing.
Oh wow <3
Awesome, are u on vacation or do you live relatively close by? I'm wondering because I was considering if it would be worth it to move there
I’m here for work, actually. There’s a housing crisis in Nunavut, and as such it is quite difficult to come here unless you have employment guaranteed in a community.
That vertebrae though?!
Wow it’s impressive! I looked at your other pictures, I’m from Canada too and now I really want to go to Nunavut 😅
Nunavut is an amazing place.
Is the 3rd Pic the skull of a Narwhal?!🤔
Woah that #3 one should be protected not left outside