Narwhal The tusks were staples of the cabinet of curiosities. European knowledge of the tusk's origin developed gradually during the Age of Exploration, as explorers and naturalists began to visit Arctic regions themselves. The narwhal was one of two possible explanations of the giant sea phenomenon written by Jules Verne in his 1870 novel "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea". Verne thought that it would be unlikely that there was such a gigantic narwhal in existence. The size of the narwhal, or "unicorn of the sea", as found by Verne, would have been . For the narwhal to have caused the
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film) Will Smith for the Captain Nemo role, but he has reportedly turned down the part. As a second possible choice, McG had mentioned Sam Worthington, whom he worked with on "Terminator Salvation", though they did not ever discuss it seriously. The project was later shelved in November 2009 with McG backing out of directing. During the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con, director David Fincher announced plans of directing "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" for Walt Disney Pictures based on a script by Scott Z. Burns. While Fincher was wrapping up "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (2011), it was speculated that