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Archive for 10/02/2009

Arctic Unicorns Icy Display

Arctic unicorns - more commonly known as Narwhal -  have been captured on camera for the first time from the air during their summer migration.  The elusive Narwal are sometimes called Arctic unicorns because of the long spiral tusk that protudes from their jaw.  The whales were filmed by a BBC crew as they navigated through cracks in the melting sea ice. 

  narwal.jpg

The producer, Justin Anderson, said capturing the footage was, “like finding a needle in a haystack. It was an amazing sight. These creatures are just so completely unreal - they are just like something from mythology.”   The footage will be shown on ‘The Great Melt’ on BBC1 on 11 February.

Our interest is simple.  Charles Lamb’s journal records how, when discussing the purpose of the lion head statue in the Wildeness Garden at Blakesware Manor, Captain Lewin told him that, “It was either a lion or a unicorn, but the lion beat the unicorn all around the town.”  Is the footage a covert reminder to humanity about the treat posed by the potential melting of ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica?

Interestingly, this is the second reference to a unicorn we’ve witnessed in our Watch - see post for 12 June 2008 for details.

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