Narwhal

Monodon monoceros

Status: Near Threatened. climate change, fishing industry, and pollution are putting the future of Narwhals at risk.

How the Narwhal got its tusk:

An Inuit mother had two children, a daughter, and a blind step-son. One day, the son went hunting with a bow and arrow. He shot and killed a bear, but the mother lied to him and told him his arrow had not flown true. She fed him scraps, while secretly the mother and his sister filled their bellies with the meat from the bear.

His sister had a kind heart however, and so sometimes when their mother was not present, she slipped him bits of the rich and delicious bear meat. One day, a pod of white whales swam by and the son realized how cruel his mother was. He lashed her to the passing whales, and as she was pulled away and drowned, her plaited hair twisted in the waters and formed the tusk of a narwhal.

References:
Deutsch, James. "How the Narwhal Got its Tusk". curator, Folklore, Smithsonian center for Folklife and cultural Heritage, The Smithsonian, August 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-narwhal-got-its-tusk-180964331/