How Narwhals Use Their Tusks To Hunt And Play | This Week's ‘Blood Moon’ Lunar Eclipse
Summary
This episode explores the mysterious lives of narwhals using drone technology to reveal their hunting and social behaviors, including the surprising uses of their tusks. It also discusses the upcoming total lunar eclipse (blood moon), offering tips for viewing this celestial event. The episode highlights the importance of both technological advancements and traditional observational methods in understanding the natural world.Episode description
An international team of researchers used drones to study narwhals and learn more about their behavior. And, a total lunar eclipse will be visible across most of North and South America in the early morning hours of March 14.
New Footage Shows How Narwhals Use Tusks To Hunt And PlayWe’re taking a polar plunge into the science of sea unicorns, also known as narwhals!
Narwhals are mysterious arctic whales with long, twirly tusks protruding from their foreheads, like a creature out of a fairy tale. And it turns out that we don’t know too much about them, partly because they live so far north in the remote Arctic.
An international team of researchers used drones to observe narwhals in the wild and learned new things about their behavior, including how they use their tusks to hunt and play.
Host Flora Lichtman gets on the horn with Dr. Gregory O’Corry-Crowe, research professor and biologist at Florida Atlantic University, who was an author on the new narwhal study, published last month in Frontiers in Marine Science.
How To See The ‘Blood Moon’ Lunar Eclipse This WeekEarly on Friday, March 14 (or super late on Thursday, March 13, depending on your time zone) people across the U.S. will be able to watch a total lunar eclipse, if skies are clear. The partial eclipse will begin at 1:09 a.m. Eastern time on Friday the 14th, with totality lasting from 2:26 to 3:31 a.m. Eastern.
Astronomer Dean Regas joins Host Flora Lichtman to tell us what to expect, and share some tips for comfortable lunar eclipse viewing.
Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.
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