Narwhals have nature's only straight tusk, a single tooth up to three meters (10 feet) long, so strange they were sold as magical unicorn horns during the Middle Ages.
There’s research that suggests the narwhal tusk is used primarily for hunting, but contrary to what you might be imagining, they don’t actually spear their food. In fact, there’s video evidence indicating that they instead give a quick and firm “tusk tap” to momentarily stun their prey (usually fish, shrimp or squid) and then quickly suck them up.
TIL that narwhal tusks are for smacking and not stabbing
I was curious about what the tusk is even used for
https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2019/03/08/exactly-narwhal-tusk/
TIL that narwhal tusks are for smacking and not stabbing
The video link, although I haven’t watched it myself and didn’t find the timestamp: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OoTjLIN67Bw
Similar with swordfish. If they speared food they’d have difficulty removing it without hands.
Those old Looney Tunes cartoons tell a different story.
~Just sayin’.~