Watch this video to learn about how researchers identify narwhals and estimate wildlife populations. This video includes underwater footage of narwhals and an experiment that you can do at home!
Mini-lesson Required Materials
- Paper
- Marker
- 2 cups
- Light-coloured beans, rice or cut up pieces of paper
Lesson Plan Preview
Links:
Narwhal Identification SIKU Presentation:
This SIKU Presentation accompanies the Narwhal Identification lesson plan. It combines SIKU resources, images and a video from national geographic to help students understand identification techniques and population measurements.
https://arcticeider.com/links/nwi11
National Geographic Narwhals video:
Two-minute video explaining the basics of Narwhal and showing them trapped in sea ice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSjjHiysBbE
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Narwhal
Detailed information about Narwhal and their protection status.
https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/narwhal
Voices of the Sea: Narwhal Call
Includes brief information about Narwhal, their range and a downloadable MP3 of their call.
http://cetus.ucsd.edu/voicesinthesea_org/species/belugasNarwhals/narwhal.html
Photo Identification Wikipedia
More detailed information about photo-identification technique.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_photo-identification
Wild Book Whale Sharks Catalogue
An example catalogue of whale sharks, that is used by marine biologists to collect and analyze sighting data.
https://www.whaleshark.org/