Ok, so confession time. I really really thought Narwhals were fiction.
Yeah, you can laugh at me, but let's be honest, it's a unicorn whale. Seriously? The whole thing just sounds fake. Something PT Barnum made up, like the mighty 'egress' which people believed to be an animal in a menagerie, when really, its just a fancy way of saying exit. You go through to see the bird and get, well . . . an exit. It's funny when the joke isn't on you.
So for years I denied the existence of Narwhals.
Until last week.
Last week I said to my husband: "So, uh, narwhals, crazy right?"
Husband: "Crazy how?"
Me: "Unicorns of the sea?" (There was definitely some eyebrow raising here on my part).
(Laughter)
Husband: "Genn, narwhals are real. You know that, right?"
Me (nervous laughter): "Yeah, sure, uh . . . no. Seriously, they're real?"
Husband: "Yes, they live in the arctic. They're really interesting you see the horn is actually . . . ." (this is the part where I get SCHOOLED in narwhals. Because, honestly my husband is brilliant and knows a lot about the natural world and animals and what he doesn't know, he asks or researches. Me? I blush, try to hide my ignorance and then at a later date do some proper research, maybe, usually, I try to. Ok, clearly I don't do as much research as I should.)
So, if you thought narwhals didn't exist. If like me you doubted their awesomeness . . . well doubt no further. Even National Geographic says they're real!! So, prepare yourself for the amazeballness that is the NARWHAL. (And no, I'm seriously not kidding, this is so not an 'egress' situation.)
I love the Barnum reference and I love narwhals. Isn't it amazing just how wonderful and diverse the world is??
ReplyDeleteI don't think you're alone in thinking something might be more fiction than fact -- I mean, think of the platypus. If I hadn't seen one in the zoo, live and waddling, I would still think that that was impossible. Part duck, part beaver, part kangaroo... with a poisonous bite? I mean come on. How weird is that? No weirder than the narwhal and equally as fantastic.
Thank you for sharing your love for the unicorn of the sea!
NARWHAL!!
ReplyDeleteYou know, I had actually thought the same thing until I saw something about them in the Natural History Museum in Albany (I think) as a kid. I seem to remember asking the curator if it was like the Fiji Mermaid (another Barnum classic) and he gave me a look and asked me "You know about the Fiji Mermaid, but you don't know about Narwhals? How old are you?" It was a very odd day. There was some other thing like that that I was surprised to find out was real later on, but I can't remember what it was now.
I love this post! Rock on, narwhal!!