Rare ‘Arctic unicorn’ remains found on remote Russian island

The rare remains of a sea creature dubbed the ‘Arctic unicorn’ have been found on a remote Russian island.

Scientists at a military outpost on Alexandra Land discovered a well-preserved narwhal horn that measures longer than a human body.

A skull of the creature, a cousin of the beluga whale, had washed up on the island which makes up part of the Franz Josef Land archipelago off the northern coast of Russia.

Unlike the mythical unicorn, the narwhal’s horn is a long canine tooth that protrudes through its upper lip and weighs around 20kg on average.

Finds are rare because the mammals usually die at sea, leaving their remains to wash up in remote locations where they are destroyed by storms and harsh ice.

Darya Antufyeva, an environment expert at Russia’s Arctic National Park, said: ‘This was a narwhal’s skull with the tooth intact, both in ideal condition.

‘With great care we transported our precious find to our base.’

Typically only male narwhals have the tusk, which has up to 10 million nerve endings and grows throughout its lifetime. About one in 500 have two.

Scientists are unsure of its purpose but Harvard University researchers have claimed the rubbing of tusks together by two narwhals is used to communicate information about the water each has travelled through.

Unlike human teeth, whose sensitive parts are protected by enamel, the narwhal’s coiled tooth is designed to get seawater in contact with nerve endings.

The salinity of the water is believed to tell the animal whether nearby ice is melting or forming, indicating the risk of becoming trapped by ice.

Narwhals live year-round in the Arctic waters around Greenland, Canada and Russia.

They were dubbed ‘unicorns of the sea’ after medieval Europeans mistook their horns to be from the legendary unicorn, trading them for many times their weight in gold.

The length of the horn was not disclosed, though they can grow up to 10 feet long.

The latest find is currently being analysed by scientists and will later be displayed at the Arctic National Park museum in Arkhangelsk.