Bowhead whale

The bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) is a baleen whale adapted to Arctic waters, distinguished by its massive arched skull, thick blubber, and exceptionally long lifespan.

Baleen: Fringed plates of keratin in some whales’ mouths that filter small prey from water. Bowheads strain zooplankton from seawater with exceptionally long baleen plates.
Filter feeding: A feeding strategy that separates small food particles from water or another surrounding medium. Bowheads use baleen to filter tiny prey from large volumes of seawater.
Bering–Chukchi–Beaufort population: A bowhead whale population that ranges through the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas. Its recovery from commercial whaling is one of the best-documented bowhead conservation cases.
Commercial whaling: The large-scale capture of whales for products such as oil, baleen, and meat. Commercial whaling sharply reduced bowhead populations, especially in the North Atlantic.
North Atlantic right whale: A critically endangered baleen whale of the North Atlantic, named for its historical vulnerability to whaling. Both are right whales, but this species occupies temperate North Atlantic waters rather than the Arctic.
Mysticeti: The cetacean suborder comprising whales that feed using baleen rather than teeth. Bowheads belong to this baleen-whale lineage.
Zooplankton: Small drifting animals and animal-like organisms that move through aquatic food webs. Copepods and other zooplankton make up much of the bowhead’s food.
Spitsbergen bowhead whale population: A historically depleted bowhead whale population in the waters around Svalbard and the Barents Sea. Its severe decline illustrates the lasting effects of centuries of commercial whaling.
International Whaling Commission: An international body established by the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling to manage whaling and conservation. Its regulations govern much of the international management of bowhead whaling.
Southern right whale: A baleen whale found in the Southern Hemisphere, belonging to the right-whale family Balaenidae. It shares the bowhead’s family but lives in Southern Hemisphere waters.

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