Bowhead Whales

The bowhead whale is a large baleen whale of Arctic and subarctic waters, named for its massive, bow-shaped skull.

Classification

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Mammalia
Order	Cetacea
Family	Balaenidae
Genus	Balaena
Species	mysticetus

Description

Bowhead whales are stocky and mostly black, with a massive, strongly arched skull that can break through sea ice several feet thick to breathe. They have no dorsal fin, an adaptation for life under ice.

Size

Bowhead whales grow to 46 to 59 feet in length and weigh 75 to 100 tons, with the thickest blubber layer of any whale — up to 43 cm — insulating them against Arctic cold.

Habitat

Bowhead whales live year-round in Arctic and subarctic waters, closely associated with sea ice, and do not migrate to warmer waters the way most great whales do.

Diet

Bowhead whales feed on copepods, krill, and other small invertebrates, skimming through dense patches near the surface or at depth using their long baleen plates — the longest of any whale, up to 4 meters.

Life span

Bowhead whales are believed to be the longest-lived mammals on Earth; harpoon-point and eye-lens analyses have found individuals estimated at over 200 years old.

Conservation

Historically decimated by commercial whaling, most bowhead whale populations have since recovered substantially and the species is now considered of least concern overall, though some subpopulations remain endangered.