Bowhead Whale

Quick Take

• The longest-living mammal on Earth isn't what most people expect, and Bowhead Whales have a genome sequence that puts a hard ceiling on just how long they can survive. Discover their lifespan →
• Despite weighing up to 100 tons, the Bowhead Whale pulls off something most animals its size never could. And it happens above the waterline. See the leaping fact →
• Most whales share a common physical feature that the Bowhead Whale lacks entirely, and that absence is actually a survival advantage. Explore their unique body →
• A Bowhead Whale's skull isn't just big. It's engineered for a specific Arctic challenge that no other animal on the planet faces the same way. Learn about the skull →

Bowhead Whales live in the cold Arctic and subarctic waters. Bowhead Whales were given their name because of their large, triangular skull that they use to break through heavy ice to come up for air. Bowheads are believed to be the longest-living mammal; they can live for 200 years or more. They have the largest mouth of any animal and more blubber than any other whale. Bowheads are also sometimes called Russian Whales, Greenland Right Whales, Arctic Whales, Steeple-Tops, or Polar Whales.

5 Incredible Bowhead Whale Facts

• A Bowhead Whale’s mouth is larger than any other animal’s mouth.
• These whales have the longest lifespan of any mammal.
• Bowhead Whales can use their large and powerful skull to break through ice that is up to 8 inches thick.
• Even though it is quite large, it can leap completely out of the water.
• A Bowhead Whale has two blow-holes.

Classification and Scientific Name

The Bowhead Whale’s scientific name is Balaena mysticetus. Balaena is the genus of whales that these whales belong to. Mysticetus is derived from Greek roots, combining mystax, meaning mustache, and ketos, meaning whale, giving it the sense of a mustached or whalebone whale. Bowhead Whales are also known as Greenland Right Whales or Arctic Whales. They are also sometimes referred to as Steep-Tops, Russian Whales, or Polar Whales by American whalemen.

Bowhead Whales belong to the Family Balaenidae. There are three genera in this family. They are Balaena, the genus of Bowhead Whales, Eubalaena, the genus of Right Whales, and Caperea, the genus of the Pygmy Right Whale. Bowhead Whales are in the Mammalia class.

Appearance

These whales are dark in color except for their white chin and lower jaw. They were given their name because of their large skull that is nearly triangular in shape. Bowhead Whales use this large and powerful skull to push through the Arctic ice and come up for air.

These whales’ baleen, the feeding system inside their mouth, is larger than that of any other whale. It can reach up to 14 feet long and allows this whale to catch and strain very small prey in the water.

Another unique feature of a Bowhead Whale is that they have a pair of blow-holes. These blow-holes are located at the tip of their head and are capable of spouting water up to 20 feet high. These whales also have the thickest blubber of any animal. Their blubber can be up to 19 inches thick.

While most whales and other cetaceans have dorsal fins, the Bowhead Whale does not. This is an adaptation that allows this species to spend more time beneath the ice rather than at the surface.

Bowhead Whales have an average length of 50 to 60 feet. They typically weigh between 60 and 100 tons. Females are typically larger than males.

Distribution, Population, and Habitat

These whales live in the cold Arctic and subarctic waters. Their exact range and location can vary based on how much ice has formed or melted due to climate change. They can be found a bit farther south during the winter months, but will head north when ice begins breaking up or receding in the spring. This species can be found in the Hudson Bay, Foxe Basin, Bering Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, Davis Strait, Baffin Bay, Sea of Okhotsk, and the waters between eastern Siberia and Greenland and Spitsbergen. They typically don’t dive too deep beneath the surface. They may go up to 500 feet beneath the surface at times, though.

The exact population of the Bowhead Whale is unknown, but it is estimated that about 10,000 members of this species remain. The global population has a conservation status of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, though some individual stocks, including all bowhead whales listed under U.S. law, are considered endangered. There are five different Bowhead population stocks located in different areas.

One stock can be found in the Baffin Bay and Davis Strait. It is estimated that there are about 6,400 whales in this stock. the number of whales in the Western Arctic Stock has been growing each year by about 3.7%.

The Hudson Bay and Foxe Basin stock of these whales likely has a population of about 500 or 600. The population of the Svalbard-Barents Sea stock is currently unknown, but this stock is considered endangered due to a drastic decrease in the number of whales over the years. The Sea of Okhotsk stock is another endangered group of Bowhead Whales. There are probably fewer than 400 whales left in this stock.

Predators and Prey

What Threatens the Bowhead Whale?

These whales do not have many natural predators due to their large size. A pod of Killer Whales may sometimes prey on a Bowhead Whale.

Humans are the greatest threat to Bowhead Whales. Before commercial whaling ended, the population of these whales saw a significant decrease. They are hunted for their meat, blubber, baleen, bones, and oil. As a slow swimmer that floats when dead, they were often targeted by commercial whalers. Currently, these whales are hunted by a small population of native people in North America, but nowhere near the levels they were hunted during the days of commercial whaling.

What Do Bowhead Whales Eat?

These whales eat amphipods, crustaceans, copepods, and other zooplankton. Each day, they consume about two short tons of food. The mouth of the whale consists of hundreds of plates of baleen that overlap one another. The baleen works to filter food from the water that passes through it as the whale swims. Prey becomes trapped inside the baleen close to the whale’s tongue, where the whale is able to swallow it. Animals that use this method of feeding are known as filter feeders.

Reproduction and Lifespan

It is estimated that these whales reach sexual maturity somewhere between the ages of 10 and 15. Their breeding season takes place from March to August, with the majority of conceptions likely occurring in March, as this is when mating song activity is at its peak. Bowhead Whales may engage in sexual activity in pairs or in a group that is made up of numerous males and just one or two females.

Female whales typically give birth to a live calf about every three or four years. The gestation period typically lasts about 13 or 14 months. After a calf is born, it will nurse for about a year.

Bowhead calves are capable of swimming independently within 30 minutes of being born. The calves are between 13 and 15 feet long and weigh about 2,200 pounds at birth. By the end of their first year of life, they will be about 27 feet long. Since these whales live in the cold Arctic waters, calves are born with a very thick layer of blubber to keep them warm.

The exact lifespan of these whales is unknown, but scientists believe they are the longest-living mammals. Many Bowhead Whales may live to be over 200 years old. Researchers from Australia’s National Science Agency hypothesized that the longest a Bowhead Whale could live is 268 years due to their genome sequence.

Fishing and Cooking

It is illegal to hunt these whales in most areas. The Iñupiat and St Lawrence Island Siberian Yupik, two native Alaskan groups, are permitted to hunt them on a subsistence level. This means they are only allowed to hunt small numbers of whales to sustain their communities.

These groups do use the meat and blubber from the whales in cooking. Muktuk is one meal made from the skin and blubber of a Bowhead Whale. Traditionally eaten raw, this dish may now also be deep-fried.