UPDATE: Jun. 16, 2023, 4:55 p.m. EDT This story has been updated with the latest

Narwhals are among the most elusive creatures in the ocean, with their long, spiralling tusks giving them an almost mythological quality. And whilst many people would pay good money to see these unicorns of the sea in the flesh, they are notably absent from the world’s aquariums. The reason for this is both dark and mysterious, since there have only been two attempts to keep the toothed whales in captivity. Both of these ended in tragedy and the general acceptance that narwhals simply don’t belong in our sealife centres. The legendary porpoises, which are related to belugas and orcas, are found in Arctic coastal waters and rivers. They have two teeth and, in males, the more prominent of these grows into the swordlike tusk which can be up to 10 feet long, according to National Geographic. Back in 1969, Coney Island’s New York Aquarium becoming the first-ever centre to put a narwhal on display. According to IFL Science, the aquarium became home to a young calf called Umiak, whose name referred to the canoe used to hunt the species in the High Arctic. It was captured by members of the Inuit community who said that it followed their canoe back to camp after they killed its mother for meat. Umiak was put in a tank alongside a female “white whale” (most likely a beluga), who acted as its stepmother. And although staff reportedly fed vast quantities of milk mixed with chopped clams to keep it happy, they weren’t able to keep it healthy. Less than a year after Umiak arrived at the centre, the orphaned narwhal died of pneumonia, as reported by The New York Times at the time. Still, the animal’s swift and tragic demise didn’t stop Canada’s Vancouver Aquarium from attempting the same feat in 1970. The aquarium had been gearing up to host a narwhal since 1968, when its director, Murray Newman, hoped that bringing narwhals to the city could generate interest in the species and help with its conservation, IFL Science reports. After two unsuccessful attempts to capture one of the whales themselves, Newman and his team were forced to buy a young male from a community of Inuit hunters based in Grise Fiord on Canada’s Ellesmere Island. The animal was reportedly called Keela Luguk – a phonetic spelling of the word “qilalugaq”, which means “narwhal” in some Inuktitut dialects. Within a week of Keela Luguk’s arrival at Vancouver Aquarium in August 1970, the centre had caught two female narwhals and three calves, which were then added to his tank. However, in less than a month, the three calves had died. And by November, the two females were also gone. As public outrage mounted, the mayor of Vancouver himself called for Keela Luguk to be returned to the wild. But Newman would not succumb to their pressure and, eventually, on 26 December that same year, the young whale was reported to have died too. It’s not known exactly why the narwhals fared so dismally in captivity, particularly given that the species’s closest relative, the beluga, can survive a number of years, or even decades, in aquarium facilities. However, the porpoises are known to be exceptionally sensitive animals, with studies finding that they are so affected by human-made noises that even the sound of a ship sailing near their habitat is enough to radically impact their behaviour. Fortunately, aquariums seem to have got the memo, and narwhals have largely been left to continue their lives as fabled enigmas of the sea. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Ads on Instagram and Facebook can use artificial intelligence technology to create photos, videos and audio of events that don’t actually exist, Meta has said. But those advertisers must make clear that they are not actually real if they are advertising on political or social issues, Meta said. When they do so, Meta will add a small note on the ad that gives information about the fact that it has been created with artificial intelligence. Meta said that it was introducing the new policy “to help people understand when a social issue, election, or political advertisement on Facebook or Instagram has been digitally created or altered, including through the use of AI”. It will go into effect in the new year, across the world, it said. The new policy will require advertisers to make clear if their political ads have an image, video or audio that looks real but was digital created or altered so that it looks like someone is saying something they didn’t, shows a person or event that is not actually real, or poses as a depiction of a real event but is actually fake. If the content is digitally created or altered by in ways that “are inconsequential or immaterial to the claim, assertion, or issue raised in the ad”, Meta said. It gave examples such as using technology to adjust the size or sharpen their image, but noted that those could still be problematic if they change the claim in the ad. But it also said that those fake videos, images and audio will still be allowed to be posted on the site. Instead, Meta will “add information on the ad when an advertiser discloses in the advertising flow that the content is digitally created or altered”, it said, and that same information will appear in Meta’s Ad Library. It said that it would give further information about that process later. It did not say how advertisers will flag such ads, what will be shown to users when they are flagged, and how those who do not flag them will be punished. Meta did say that it would remove any ads that violates its policies, when they are created by artificial intellgience or real people. If its fact checkers decide that a piece of content has been “altered”, then it will stop it from being run as an ad, the company said. “In the New Year, advertisers who run ads about social issues, elections & politics with Meta will have to disclose if image or sound has been created or altered digitally, including with AI, to show real people doing or saying things they haven’t done or said,” said Nick Clegg, Meta’s president for global affairs in a series of tweets that announced the new policy. “This builds on Meta’s industry leading transparency measures for political ads. These advertisers are required to complete an authorisation process and include a ‘Paid for by’ disclaimer on their ads, which are then stored in our public Ad Library for 7 years.” Read More The rise of the AI friend – but what happens when ‘bots’ turn into ‘bad’ mates? Instagram working to let people make AI ‘friends’ to talk to Meta launches paid-for version of Instagram and Facebook

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