A day in the life of Nigel the Nervous Narwhal

Hello Earth Cubs! I’m Nigel the Nervous Narwhal and I’d like to show you my home. Just be very careful. The ice is very thin and I don’t want you to fall in!

My home is in the Arctic waters of Canada. It’s very cold up here. It’s so cold that half of me is made up of body fat. But I don’t think that’s the first thing you noticed, is it? Did my tusk catch your eye? I’m called the unicorn of the sea due to my beautiful long tusk.

I really like one of the girl narwhals in my pod. She’s called Nadia. But I’m really nervous that she won’t like me back. Do you think my tusk is pretty enough for her? I told her I will narwhal ways love you.

My tusk isn’t just to show off to the girls, it’s also very sensitive. It has 10 million nerve endings inside and covered in tiny holes allowing seawater to enter. Scientists think this means I can detect when the ocean warms up or if it gets more salty. This helps me and my friends know where to go to get our dinner!

In my pod you can tell how old we all are. I’m grey as I’m an adult but my youngest brother is blue-black and Grandpa who is 45 is almost completely white.

Will you come and join me on a deep dive? I’m after some halibut, cod, squid and shrimp. I do hope we can find some. What if there aren’t any around? I’m sure there will be, won’t there? It’s a long dive down so you might want to take a deep breath. I can dive a mile deep to catch my lunch. It’s very dark down there so I use echolocation to find food. A bit like bats do. I may have a very large tusk but I don’t have any teeth in my mouth. I just suck really hard and swallow my lunch whole! Don’t do that at home, I’d be worried you’d get indigestion!

Do you like oranges? You can’t find oranges where I live in the Arctic but I have lots of vitamin C in my skin, like oranges!

I actually had a dream once that I was swimming in an ocean of orange soda…. turns out it was a fanta sea.

Talking of sleeping, I don’t sleep in the same way you do. I have to remember to breathe and part of my brain needs to decide when I’m going to come up for air. Only one half of my brain sleeps at a time. I can sleep whilst I’m still swimming. I really hope I don’t bump into anything!

Usually there are around 20 of us swimming together in a pod. We communicate using clicks, squeals, whistles and buzzes.

Want to know why they call me Nervous Nigel? The temperature of the earth is getting hotter. This means more ice melts and sea levels rise. I’m worried that my friends will lose their homes if this happens.

But you can help make a difference! Walk or cycle instead of using a car. Turn off your TV and lights when you’re not using them. And, learn more about animals and their habitats with Earth Cubs!

It’s been so cool to meet you! Come and visit me and my friends by downloading the Earth Cubs app. There are lots of lots of games to play! And Home Learning Packs that your family can all do together. We even have free lesson plans and resources for your teacher!

Finally, check me out here, I have my own video!here, I have my own video!