:Bowhead whale

{{See also|Evolution of cetaceans}}

Carl Linnaeus named this species in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae (1758).{{cite book|last=Linnaeus |first=C |author-link=Carl Linnaeus |date=1758 |title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. |trans-title=System of nature through the three kingdoms of nature, according to the classes, orders, genera, species, with the characters, the differences, synonyms, places. |volume=I |edition=tenth, reformed |language=la |publisher=Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii) |page=824 |url=http://dz1.gdz-cms.de/index.php?id=img&no_cache=1&IDDOC=265100 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319115418/http://dz1.gdz-cms.de/index.php?id=img&no_cache=1&IDDOC=265100 |archive-date=19 March 2015 }} It was seemingly identical to its relatives in the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Southern Oceans, and as such they were all thought to be a single species, collectively known as the "right whale", and given the binomial name Balaena mysticetus.

Today, the bowhead whale occupies a monotypic genus, separate from the right whales, as proposed by the work of John Edward Gray in 1821.

{{cite iucn

| author1 = Reilly, S.B. | author2 = Bannister, J.L. | author3 = Best, P.B.

| author4 = Brown, M. | author5 = Brownell, R.L. Jr. | author6 = Butterworth, D.S.

| author7 = Clapham, P.J. | author8 = Cooke, J. | author9 = Donovan, G.

| author10 = Urbán, J. | author11 = Zerbini, A.N.

| display-authors = 6

| year = 2012

| title = Balaena mysticetus

| volume = 2012 | page = e.T2467A17879018

| doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012.RLTS.T2467A17879018.en

| quote = The taxonomy is not in doubt. ... Concerning common names, the species was once commonly known in the North Atlantic and adjacent Arctic as the Greenland Right Whale. However, the common name Bowhead Whale is now generally used for the species.

}}

For the next 180 years, the family Balaenidae was the subject of great taxonometric debate. Authorities have repeatedly recategorized the three populations of right whale plus the bowhead whale, as one, two, three or four species, either in a single genus or in two separate genera. Eventually, it was recognized that bowheads and right whales were different, but there was still no strong consensus as to whether they shared a single genus or two. As recently as 1998, Dale Rice listed just two species – B. glacialis (the right whales) and B. mysticetus (the bowheads) – in his comprehensive and otherwise authoritative classification.

{{cite book

|last=Rice |first=Dale W.

|date=1998

|title=Marine Mammals of the World: Systematics and distribution

|series=Special Publication

|volume=4

|publisher=Society of Marine Mammalogy

|isbn=978-1-891276-03-3

}}

Studies in the 2000s finally provided clear evidence that the three living right whale species comprise a phylogenetic lineage, distinct from the bowhead, and that the bowhead and the right whales are rightly classified into two separate genera.

{{cite encyclopedia

|last=Kenney |first=Robert D.

|year=2008

|title=Right Whales (Eubalaena glacialis, E. japonica, and E. australis)

|editor1-last=Perrin |editor1-first=William F.

|editor2-last=Würsig |editor2-first=Bernd |editor2-link=Bernd Würsig

|editor3-last=Thewissen |editor3-first=J.G.M.

|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals

|publisher=Academic Press

|isbn=978-0-12-373553-9

|pages=962–969

|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=2rkHQpToi9sC|page=96}}

}}

The right whales were thus confirmed to be in a separate genus, Eubalaena. The relationship is shown in the cladogram below:

{{cladogram

|title=Family Balaenidae |align=left

|caption=The bowhead whale, genus Balaena, in the family Balaenidae (extant taxa only){{cite journal

|author1=Rosenbaum, H.C. |author2=Brownell, R.L. Jr. |author3=Brown, M.W.

|author4=Schaeff, C. |author5=Portway, V. |author6=White, B.N.

|author7=Malik, S. |author8=Pastene, L.A. |author9=Patenaude, N.J.

|author10=Baker, C.S. |author11=Goto, M. |author12=Best, P.

|author13=Clapham, P.J. |author14=Hamilton, P. |author15=Moore, M.

|author16=Payne, R. |author17=Rowntree, V. |author18=Tynan, C.T.

|author19=Bannister, J.L. |author20=Desalle, R.

|display-authors=6

|year=2000

|title=World-wide genetic differentiation of Eubalaena: Questioning the number of right whale species

|journal=Molecular Ecology

|volume=9 |issue=11 |pages=1793–802

|s2cid=7166876 |pmid=11091315

|doi=10.1046/j.1365-294x.2000.01066.x

|bibcode=2000MolEc...9.1793R }}

|cladogram={{clade

|style=font-size:90%;line-height:92%;width:650px;

|label1=Balaenidae

|1={{clade

|label1=Eubalaena

|sublabel1=(right whales)

|1={{clade

|1=E. glacialis (North Atlantic right whale)

|label2=

|2={{clade

|label1=

|1=E. japonica (North Pacific right whale)

|2=E. australis (Southern right whale)

}}

}}

|label2={{green|Balaena}}

|sublabel2={{green|(bowhead whales)}}

|2={{green|B. mysticetus (bowhead whale)}}

}}

}}

}}

{{clear left}}

The earlier fossil record shows no related cetacean after Morenocetus, found in a South American deposit dating back 23 million years.

An unknown species of right whale, the so-called "Swedenborg whale", which was proposed by Emanuel Swedenborg in the 18th century, was once thought to be a North Atlantic right whale. Based on later DNA analysis, those fossil bones claimed to be from Swedenborg whales were confirmed to be from bowhead whales.

{{cite news

|title=Whale bones found in highway were not from mystery whale

|date=7 February 2013

|website=ScienceNordic.com

|url=http://sciencenordic.com/whale-bones-found-highway-were-not-mystery-whale

}}

File:GreenlandWhaleLyd3.jpg

File:Faroe stamp 198 Baleana mysticetus.jpg with a drawing depicting a mother and a calf]]

The bowhead whale is among the largest baleen whale species and is distinguished by its round body with an exceptionally curved rostrum, a large head, and long, dark baleen plates. Relative to its size, the bowhead whale has the largest head of any cetacean,{{Cite book |last1=George |first1=J. C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YVTODwAAQBAJ |title=The Bowhead Whale: Balaena Mysticetus: Biology and Human Interactions |last2=Thewissen |first2=J. G. M. |date=2020-09-11 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-818970-2 |language=en|pages=88–89}} measuring nearly 40% of the total body length.{{Cite book |last=Corporation |first=Marshall Cavendish |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c4TnNFY2A6sC&dq=Bowhead+Whale&pg=PA1635 |title=Endangered Wildlife and Plants of the World |date=2001 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=978-0-7614-7206-3 |pages=1634 |language=en}} Two blowholes are situated atop its head, and help propell a stream of water up to {{cvt|6.1|m}} in the air.{{cite book|ref=Burns|editor1=Burns, J. J.|editor2= Montague, J. J.|editor3=Cowles, C. J. |title=The Bowhead Whale. Special Publication No. 2|year=1993 |publisher=The Society for Marine Mammalogy|place=Lawrence, Kansas|isbn=0-935868-62-3|chapter=Foods and Feeding Ecology}} The lower lips encompasses the baleen racks and resembles a curved circular shape when viewed from the side. It also has wide, trigonal flukes and fairly large, oar-shaped flippers. The skin is mostly black with white patches around the flukes, tail, eyes, and chin. These patches develop throughout life, with the exception of the patch surrounding the chin, which is usually visible in newborn calves, and increases in size at the same rate with the whale's overall growth.

An adult whale usually measures {{cvt|14|to|18|m}} in length and {{cvt|75|to|100|t}} in weight. The fluke of this species measures {{cvt|2|-|6|m}} long and the 230 to 360 baleen plates are thought to grow to {{cvt|4|m}} long, which is longer than that of any other whale by more than a meter. This species is sexually dimorphic as females usually reach lengths of {{cvt|16|-|18|m}}, while males average {{cvt|14|-|16|m}}. There are, however, some specimens that exceed these sizes. In one instance, a female killed off the waters of Pond Inlet in the 1800s allegedly measured {{cvt|19.5|m}}. Some estimates put the total maximum length higher at about {{cvt|20|m}}.{{Cite journal |last1=Finley |first1=K. J. |last2=Darling |first2=L. M. |date=1990 |title=Historical Data Sources on the Morphometry and Oil Yield of the Bowhead Whale |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40511140 |journal=Arctic |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=153–156 |doi=10.14430/arctic1605 |jstor=40511140 |issn=0004-0843}}{{Cite book |last1=Perrin |first1=William F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2rkHQpToi9sC&dq=Bowhead+Whale&pg=PA131 |title=Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals |last2=Würsig |first2=Bernd |last3=Thewissen |first3=J. G. M. |date=2009-02-26 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-08-091993-5 |language=en}}

Analysis of hundreds of DNA samples from living whales and from baleen used in vessels, toys, and housing material has shown that Arctic bowhead whales have lost a significant portion of their genetic diversity in the past 500 years. Bowheads originally crossed ice-covered inlets and straits to exchange genes between Atlantic and Pacific populations. This conclusion was derived from analyzing maternal lineage using mitochondrial DNA. Whaling and climatic cooling during the Little Ice Age, from the 16th century to the 19th, is supposed to have reduced the whales' summer habitats, which explains the loss of genetic diversity.{{cite news |last=Eilperin |first=Juliet |date=18 October 2012 |title=Bowhead whales lost genetic diversity, study shows |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/bowhead-whales-lost-genetic-diversity-study-shows/2012/10/18/8b0324d0-186c-11e2-a55c-39408fbe6a4b_story.html?wprss=rss_health-science&tid=pp_widget}}

A 2013 discovery has clarified the function of the bowhead's large palatal retial organ. The bulbous ridge of highly vascularized tissue, the corpus cavernosum maxillaris, extends along the centre of the hard plate, forming two large lobes at the rostral palate. The tissue is histologically similar to that of the corpus cavernosum of the mammalian penis. This organ is thought to provide a mechanism of cooling for the whale (which is normally protected from the cold Arctic waters by {{cvt|40|cm}} or more of fat). During physical exertion, the whale must cool itself to prevent hyperthermia (and ultimately brain damage). This organ becomes engorged with blood, and as the whale opens its mouth cold seawater flows over the organ, thus cooling the blood.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Ford | first1 = T. J. Jr.

| last2 = Werth | first2 = A. J.

| last3 = George | first3 = J. C.

| title = An intraoral thermoregulatory organ in the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus), the corpus cavernosum maxillaris

| journal = Anatomical Record

| volume = 296

| issue = 4

| pages = 701–708

| year = 2013

| doi = 10.1002/ar.22681

| pmid = 23450839

| s2cid = 1181457

| doi-access = free

}}

In one study, the brain size of two males that measured {{cvt|12|and|13.3|m}} in total length, were recorded at {{cvt|2.072|and|2.280|kg}}, respectively. With a gyrencephalic index of 2.32, the brains of the two males were found to exhibit extreme gyrification. Compared to other cetaceans, their brain had a lower level of gyrification in the cerebral cortex, more vertically-aligned gyri, and a relatively dull temporal pole region.{{Cite journal |last1=Raghanti |first1=Mary Ann |last2=Wicinski |first2=Bridget |last3=Meierovich |first3=Rachel |last4=Warda |first4=Tahia |last5=Dickstein |first5=Dara L. |last6=Reidenberg |first6=Joy S. |last7=Tang |first7=Cheuk Y. |last8=George |first8=John C. |last9=Hans Thewissen |first9=J.g.m. |last10=Butti |first10=Camilla |last11=Hof |first11=Patrick R. |date=2019 |title=A Comparison of the Cortical Structure of the Bowhead Whale (), a Basal Mysticete, with Other Cetaceans |url=https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ar.23991 |journal=The Anatomical Record |language=en |volume=302 |issue=5 |pages=745–760 |doi=10.1002/ar.23991 |issn=1932-8494}}

File:Grönlandwal 6-1999.jpg]]

File:Bowhead-1 Kate Stafford edit (16272151841).jpg

{{See also|Whale surfacing behaviour}}

The bowhead whale is not a social animal, typically travelling alone or in small pods of up to six. It is able to dive and remain submerged under water for up to an hour. The time spent under water in a single dive is usually limited to 9–18 minutes.Würsig, B. and C. Clark (1993). "Behavior". In Burns et al. The bowhead is not thought to be a deep diver, but can reach a depth down to {{cvt|500|ft|order=flip}}. It is a slow swimmer, normally travelling around {{cvt|2|–|5|km/h|m/s mph}}. When fleeing from danger, it can travel at a speed of {{cvt|10|km/h|m/s mph}}. During periods of feeding, the average swim speed is increased to {{cvt|1.1|–|2.5|m/s|km/h mph}}.{{cite journal |author1=Simmon, Malene |author2=Johnson, Mark |author3=Tyack, Peter |author4=Madsen, Peter T. |date=2009 |title= Behaviour and Kinematics of Continuous Ram Filtration in Bowhead Whales (Balaena mysticetus) |journal=Biological Sciences |volume=276 |issue=1674 |pages=3819–3828 |doi= 10.1098/rspb.2009.1135|pmid=19692400 |pmc=2817290}}

The head of the bowhead whale comprises a large portion of its body length, creating an enormous feeding apparatus. The bowhead whale is a filter feeder, and feeds by swimming forward with its mouth wide open. It has hundreds of overlapping baleen plates consisting of keratin hanging from each side of the upper jaw. The mouth has a large, upturning lip on the lower jaw that helps to reinforce and hold the baleen plates within the mouth. This also prevents buckling or breakage of the plates from the pressure of the water passing through them as the whale advances. To feed, water is filtered through the fine hairs of keratin of the baleen plates, trapping the prey inside near the tongue where it is then swallowed.[http://acsonline.org/fact-sheets/bowhead-whale/ Bowhead Whale] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905120155/http://acsonline.org/fact-sheets/bowhead-whale/ |date=5 September 2015 }}. American Cetacean Society. Retrieved on 16 November 2015. The diet consists of mostly zooplankton, which includes krill, copepods, mysids, amphipods, and many other crustaceans.{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Balaena_mysticetus/ | title=Balaena mysticetus (Bowhead) | website=Animal Diversity Web }} About {{cvt|2|ST|t|order=flip}} of food are consumed each day. While foraging, bowheads are solitary or occur in groups of two to 10 or more.Lowry, L. F. (1993). "Foods and Feeding Ecology". In Burns et al.

Bowhead whales are highly vocal{{cite web|url=http://cetus.ucsd.edu/voicesinthesea_org/species/baleenWhales/bowhead.html|title=Bowhead Whale : Baleen Whales : Voices in the Sea|access-date=3 April 2013|archive-date=21 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053941/http://cetus.ucsd.edu/voicesinthesea_org/species/baleenWhales/bowhead.html|url-status=dead}} and use low frequency (<1000 Hz) sounds to communicate while travelling, feeding, and socialising. Intense calls for communication and navigation are produced especially during migration season. During breeding season, bowheads make long, complex, variable songs for mating calls.{{cite journal |author=Finley, K.J. |date=2001 |title= Natural History and Conservation of the Greenland Whale, or Bowhead, in the Northeast Atlantic |journal= Arctic|volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=55–76 |doi=10.14430/arctic764|citeseerx=10.1.1.500.2600 |url=http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic54-1-55.pdf }} Many tens of distinct songs are sung by a population in a single season.{{cite web |title=SAFS Seminar: Kate Stafford, Scientific serendipity—unveiling the acoustic behavior of bowhead whales |url=https://marinebiology.uw.edu/2018/10/15/safs-seminar-kate-stafford-scientific-serendipity-unveiling-the-acoustic-behavior-of-bowhead-whales/ |publisher=University of Washington |access-date=January 14, 2024}} From 2010 through to 2014, near Greenland, 184 distinct songs were recorded from a population of around 300 animals.{{Cite news|url=https://www.zmescience.com/science/bowheads-songs-range-15134134|title="Bowhead [whales] are jazz," says researcher astonished by the diversity of their songs|last=Micu|first=Alexandru|date=2018-04-05|work=ZME Science|access-date=2018-04-05}}

{{See also|Whale reproduction}}

Sexual activity occurs between pairs and in boisterous groups of several males and one or two females. Breeding season is observed from March through August; conception is believed to occur primarily in March when song activity is at its highest. Reproduction can begin when a whale is 10 to 15 years old. The gestation period is 13–14 months with females producing a calf once every three to four years.Koski, William R., Rolph A. Davis, Gary W. Miller, and David E. Withrow (1993). "Reproduction", p. 245 in Burns et al. Lactation typically lasts about a year. To survive in the cold water immediately after birth, calves are born with a thick layer of blubber. Within 30 minutes of birth, bowhead calves are able to swim on their own. A newborn calf is typically {{cvt|4|-|4.5|m}} long, weighs roughly {{cvt|1000|kg}}, and grows to {{cvt|8.2|m}} within the first year.

Bowhead whales are considered to be the longest-living mammals, living for over 200 years.{{Cite journal|last1=George|first1=John C.|last2=Bada|first2=Jeffrey|last3=Zeh|first3=Judith|last4=Scott|first4=Laura|last5=Brown|first5=Stephen E.|last6=O'Hara|first6=Todd|last7=Suydam|first7=Robert|date=1999|title=Age and growth estimates of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) via aspartic acid racemization|journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology|volume=77|issue=4|pages=571–580|doi=10.1139/cjz-77-4-571|issn=1480-3283}} In May 2007, a {{cvt|15|m}} specimen caught off the Alaskan coast was discovered with the {{cvt|3.5|in|order=flip}} head of an explosive bomb lance of a model manufactured between 1879 and 1885 lodged in its body, so the whale was probably bomb lanced sometime between those years, and its age at the time of death was estimated at between 115 and 130 years.{{cite web|url=https://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=07-P13-00024&segmentID=7|title=A Whale of a Sliver|date=June 15, 2007}} Spurred by this discovery, scientists measured the ages of other bowhead whales; one specimen was estimated to be 211 years old.{{cite web |title=Can Marine Biology Help Us Live Forever? Bowhead Whale Can Live 200 Years, Is Cancer Resistant |url=http://www.medicaldaily.com/can-marine-biology-help-us-live-forever-bowhead-whale-can-live-200-years-cancer-316424 |date=6 January 2015 |work=Medical Daily |access-date=8 November 2015}} Other bowhead whales were estimated to be between 135 and 172 years old. This discovery showed the longevity of the bowhead whale is much greater than originally thought.{{Cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/techandscience/lifespan-clock-reveals-bowhead-whales-live-to-268the-oldest-mammals-on-earth/ar-AAK4vLn?li=BBr5KbJ|title='Lifespan clock' reveals bowhead whales live to 268...the oldest mammals on Earth|website=www.msn.com}} Researchers at CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, estimated that bowhead whales' maximum natural lifespan is 268 years based on genetic analysis.{{Cite web|url=https://www.csiro.au/en/news/all/news/2019/december/genetic-clock-predicts-lifespan-in-animals|title=Genetic 'clock' predicts lifespan in animals|last=CSIRO|website=www.csiro.au|access-date=2020-04-19}}

A greater number of cells present in an organism was once believed to result in greater chances of mutations that cause age-related diseases and cancer.{{cite news |title=Researchers hope this whale's genes will help reverse human aging |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/01/06/researchers-hope-this-whales-genes-will-help-reverse-human-aging/ |date=6 January 2015 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=8 November 2015}} Although the bowhead whale has thousands of times more cells than other mammals, it has a much higher resistance to cancer and aging. In 2015, scientists from the US and UK were able to successfully map the whale's genome.{{cite web |title=Scientists map bowhead whale's genome; discover genes responsible for long life |url=http://www.techienews.co.uk/9722127/scientists-map-bowhead-whales-genome-discover-genes-responsible-long-life/ |date=5 January 2015 |work=Technie News |access-date=5 January 2015 |archive-date=6 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906195540/http://www.techienews.co.uk/9722127/scientists-map-bowhead-whales-genome-discover-genes-responsible-long-life/ |url-status=dead }} Through comparative analysis, two alleles that could be responsible for the whale's longevity were identified. These two specific gene mutations linked to the bowhead whale's ability to live longer are the ERCC1 gene and the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) gene. ERCC1 is linked to DNA repair and increased cancer resistance. PCNA is also important in DNA repair. These mutations enable bowhead whales to better repair DNA damage, allowing for greater resistance to cancer. The whale's genome may also reveal physiological adaptations such as having low metabolic rates compared to other mammals.{{cite web |title=The bowhead whale lives over 200 years. Can its genes tell us why? |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150105101421.htm |date=5 January 2015 |work=Science Daily |access-date=8 November 2015}} Changes in the gene UCP1, a gene involved in thermoregulation, can explain differences in the metabolic rates in cells.

The bowhead whale is the only baleen whale to spend its entire life in the Arctic and subarctic waters.Moore, S. E., and R. R. Reeves (1993). "Distribution and Movement". In Burns et al. The Alaskan population spends the winter months in the southwestern Bering Sea. The group migrates northward in the spring, following openings in the ice, into the Chukchi and Beaufort seas.{{cite book |last1=Smultea |first1=M. |last2=Fertl |first2=D. |last3=Rugh |first3=D. J. |last4=Bacon |first4=C. E. |date=2012 |title=Summary of systematic bowhead surveys conducted in the U.S. Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, 1975–2009 |publisher=U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-AFSC-237 |page=48 |url=https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo29638}} The whale's range varies depending on climate changes and on the forming/melting of ice.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1038/ncomms2714| pmid = 23575681| title = Ancient DNA reveals that bowhead whale lineages survived Late Pleistocene climate change and habitat shifts| journal = Nature Communications| volume = 4| page = 1677| year = 2013| last1 = Foote | first1 = A. D. | last2 = Kaschner | first2 = K. | last3 = Schultze | first3 = S. E. | last4 = Garilao | first4 = C. | last5 = Ho | first5 = S. Y. W. | last6 = Post | first6 = K. | last7 = Higham | first7 = T. F. G. | last8 = Stokowska | first8 = C. | last9 = Van Der Es | first9 = H. | last10 = Embling | first10 = C. B. | last11 = Gregersen | first11 = K. | last12 = Johansson | first12 = F. | last13 = Willerslev | first13 = E. | last14 = Gilbert | first14 = M. T. P. | bibcode = 2013NatCo...4.1677F| doi-access = free }}

Historically, bowhead whales' range may have been broader and more southerly than currently thought. Bowheads were abundant around Labrador, Newfoundland (Strait of Belle Isle) and the northern Gulf of St Lawrence until at least the 16th and 17th centuries. It is unclear whether this was due to the colder climate during these periods.{{cite web|url=http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic61-1-61.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100401034943/http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic61-1-61.pdf|url-status=live|archive-date=2010-04-01|title=Bowhead Whales, and Not Right Whales, Were the Primary Target of 16th- to 17th-Century Basque Whalers in the Western North Atlantic}} The distribution of Balaena spp. during the Pleistocene were far more southerly as fossils have been excavated from Italy and North Carolina, thus could have overlapped between those of Eubalaena based on those locations.{{cite journal|title=The oldest marine vertebrate fossil from the volcanic island of Iceland: a partial right whale skull from the high latitude Pliocene Tjörnes Formation|first1=Daniel J.|last1=Field|first2=Robert|last2=Boessenecker|first3=Rachel A.|last3=Racicot|first4=Lovísa|last4=Ásbjörnsdóttir|first5=Kristján|last5=Jónasson|first6=Allison Y.|last6=Hsiang|first7=Adam D.|last7=Behlke|first8=Jakob|last8=Vinther|date=1 March 2017|journal=Palaeontology|volume=60|issue=2|pages=141–148|doi=10.1111/pala.12275|bibcode=2017Palgy..60..141F |url=http://opus.bath.ac.uk/56217/1/Iceland_Final_resubmission_MS_clean.docx|doi-access=free|hdl=1983/953db179-65ed-45e2-9c9e-e8d708ae7e75|hdl-access=free}}

Generally, five stocks of bowhead whales are recognized: 1) the Western Arctic stock in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas, 2) the Hudson Bay and Foxe Basin stock, 3) the Baffin Bay and Davis Strait stock, 4) the Sea of Okhotsk stock, and 5) the Svalbard-Barents Sea stock. However, recent evidence suggests that the Hudson Bay and Foxe Basin stock and the Baffin Bay and Davis Strait stock should be considered one stock based on genetics and movements of tagged whales.{{cite web|url=http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pr/sars/pdf/stocks/alaska/2015/ak2015_bowhead.pdf|title=Bowhead Whale: Western Arctic Stock (December 30 2015)|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515192600/http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pr/sars/pdf/stocks/alaska/2015/ak2015_bowhead.pdf|archive-date=15 May 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}

The Western Arctic bowhead population, also known as the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort population, has recovered since the commercial harvest of this stock ceased in the early 1900s. A 2019 study estimated that the Western Arctic population was 12,505; although it was lower than the 2011 value of 16,820, the surveyors believed there was no significant decline in 2011–2019 due to the unusual conditions of whale migration and observation in 2019.{{cite journal|last1=Givens |first1=G |last2=George |first2=JC|last3=Suydam |first3=R|last4=Tudor |first4=B. |year=2021|title=Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) abundance estimate from the 2019 ice-based survey|journal= J. Cetacean Res. Manage.|volume= 22|issue=1|pages=61–73|doi=10.47536/jcrm.v22i1.230 |s2cid=239498895 |doi-access=free}} The yearly growth rate of the Western Arctic bowhead population was 3.7% from 1978 to 2011. These data suggest that the Western Arctic bowhead stock may be near its precommercial whaling level. Migration patterns of this population are being affected by climate change.{{cite journal |last1=Szesciorka |first1=Angela R. |last2=Stafford |first2=Kathleen M. |title=Sea ice directs changes in bowhead whale phenology through the Bering Strait |journal=Movement Ecology |date=7 February 2023 |volume=11 |issue=8 |page=8 |doi=10.1186/s40462-023-00374-5 |pmid=36750903 |pmc=9903510 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2023MvEco..11....8S }}

Alaskan Natives continue to hunt small numbers of bowhead whales for subsistence purposes. The Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission co-manages the bowhead subsistence harvest with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Alaskan villages that participate in the bowhead subsistence harvest include Barrow, Point Hope, Point Lay, Wainwright, Nuiqsut, Kaktovik, Gambell, Savoonga, Kivalina, Wales, and Little Diomede.{{cite web|url=http://www.aewc-alaska.com/bowhead-quota.html|title=Bowhead Quota|website=Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission}} The annual subsistence harvest of the Western Arctic stock has ranged from 14 to 72, amounting to an estimated 0.1-0.5% of the population.

In March 2008, Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans stated the previous estimates in the eastern Arctic had undercounted, with a new estimate of 14,400 animals (range 4,800–43,000).[http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/eastern-arctic-bowhead-whales-not-threatened-after-all-government-says-1.717576 Eastern Arctic bowhead whales not threatened]. Cbc.ca (16 April 2008). Retrieved on 15 September 2011. These larger numbers correspond to prewhaling estimates, indicating the population has fully recovered. However, if climate change substantially shrinks sea ice, these whales could be threatened by increased shipping traffic.Laidre, Kristin (22 January 2009) [https://web.archive.org/web/20090510234455/http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/events/monsterdocs/win2009msjall01.22.09.pdf "Foraging Ecology of Bowhead Whales in West Greenland."] Monster Jam. Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Seattle.

The status of other populations is less well known. About 1,200 were off West Greenland in 2006, while the Svalbard population may only number in the tens. However, the numbers have been increasing in recent years.Norwegian Polar Institute. [http://www.npolar.no/en/species/bowhead-whale.html Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus)]. npolar.no

The Hudson Bay – Foxe Basin population is distinct from the Baffin Bay{{snds}}Davis Strait group.{{cite book | doi=10.1007/978-90-481-9121-5_8 | chapter=Past, Present, and Future for Bowhead Whales (Balaena mysticetus) in Northwest Hudson Bay|chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-90-481-9121-5_8|title=A Little Less Arctic | pages=159–177| year=2010 | last1=Higdon | first1=J. W. | last2=Ferguson | first2=S. H. | isbn=978-90-481-9120-8 }} The original population size of this local group is unclear, but possibly about 500 to 600 whales annually summered in the northwestern part of the bay in the 1860s.[http://www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/species/speciesDetails_e.cfm?sid=131 Species Profile (Bowhead Whale) – Species at Risk Public Registry] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160320161720/http://www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/species/speciesDetails_e.cfm?sid=131 |date=20 March 2016 }}. Registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca. Retrieved on 5 November 2016. It is likely that the number of whales that actually inhabit Hudson Bay is much smaller than the total population size of this group,[http://www.nwmb.com/iku/2013-11-09-01-41-51/2013-11-09-01-46-43/2008/mar-06-2008-level-of-tah-for-bowhead-whales/551-tab15-df0-1999/file Hudson Bay-Foxe Basin bowhead whales], Stock status report E5–52. DFO Science, Canada but reports from local indigenous people indicate that this population is increasing over decades. Larger portions of the bay are used for summering, while wintering is on a smaller scale. Some animals winter in Hudson Strait, most notably north of Igloolik Island and north eastern Hudson Bay. Distribution patterns in these regions are affected by the presence of orca, and bowheads can disappear from normal ranges in the presence of atypical numbers of orca. Increased mortality caused by orca attack is a possible outcome of climate change, as reduced ice coverage is expected to result in fewer areas that the bowheads can use for shelter from attack.{{cite book|isbn=978-0-662-40573-3 |title=COSEWIC Assessment and Update Status Report on the Bowhead Whale Balaena mysticetus |year=2005 |publisher=COSEWIC |url=http://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/virtual_sara/files/cosewic/sr_bowhead_whale_e.pdf}} Whaling grounds in the 19th century stretched from Marble Island to Roes Welcome Sound and to Lyon Inlet and Fisher Strait, and whales still migrate through most of these areas.

Distribution within Hudson Bay is mostly restricted to the northwestern part along with Wager Bay,{{cite journal|first1=Susan E. |last1=Cosens |first2=Stuart |last2=Innes |s2cid=131030979 |year=2003 |title=Historical Population Characteristics of Bowhead Whales (Balaena mysticetus) in Hudson Bay|journal=Arctic |volume=56 |issue=3 |doi=10.14430/arctic624 |doi-access=free }} Repulse Bay, Southampton Island (one of two main known summering areas),{{cite journal|url=http://www.nwmb.com/en/public-hearings/2008/mar-06-2008-level-of-tah-for-bowhead-whales/552-tab16-arctic-2000/file |title=Distribution and Numbers of Bowhead Whales (Balaena mysticetis) In Northwest Hudson Bay in 1995 |first1=Susan E. |last1=Cosens |first2=Stuart |last2=Innes |date=March 2000|access-date=5 April 2018|journal=Arctic|volume=53|issue=1|pages=36–41|doi=10.14430/arctic832 |citeseerx=10.1.1.172.4 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.coralharbour.ca/coralharbour_wildlife.html|title=Coral Harbour – Land and Wildlife|website=www.coralharbour.ca|access-date=9 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418024349/http://www.coralharbour.ca/coralharbour_wildlife.html|archive-date=18 April 2018|url-status=dead}} Frozen Strait, northern Foxe

Basin, and north of Igloolik in summer. Satellite tracking{{cite web|url=http://arctic.blogs.panda.org/field/june-2014-bowheads-and-breaking-ice/|title=June 2014: Bowheads and breaking ice – Thin Ice Blog|last=WWF}} indicates that some portions of the group within the bay do not venture further south than Whale Cove and areas south of Coats and Mansel Islands.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}} Cow – calf pairs and juveniles up to {{cvt|13.5|m}} in length make up the majority of summering aggregation in the northern Foxe Basin, while matured males and noncalving females may use the northwestern part of Hudson Bay. Fewer whales also migrate to the west coast of Hudson Bay and Mansel and Ottawa Islands. Bowhead ranges within Hudson Bay are usually considered not to cover southern parts,{{cite web|url=http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/coe-cde/cemam/themes/dynami-fra.htm|title=MPO – Recherche sur les mammifères marins au Canada – MPO Sciences|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120224726/http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/coe-cde/cemam/themes/dynami-fra.htm|archive-date=20 January 2016|df=dmy-all}} but at least some whales migrate to locations further south such as Sanikiluaq{{citation needed|date=April 2016}} and Churchill river mouth.{{cite journal|doi=10.14430/arctic2243 |title=Distribution and Migration of the Bowhead Whale, Balaena mysticetus, in the Eastern North American Arctic |journal=Arctic |volume=36 |year=1983 |last1=Reeves |first1=Randall |last2=Mitchell |first2=Edward |last3=Mansfield |first3=Arthur |last4=McLaughlin |first4=Michele|doi-access=free }}{{cite web|url=http://churchillpolarbears.org/2015/07/bowhead-whale-in-churchill-waters/|title=Bowhead Whale in Churchill Waters – Churchill Polar Bears}}{{cite web|url=https://www.churchillscience.ca/about/churchill-wildlife.cfm|title=Churchill Northern Studies Centre|website=Churchill Northern Studies Centre|access-date=9 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170615210307/https://www.churchillscience.ca/about/churchill-wildlife.cfm|archive-date=15 June 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}{{cite journal|doi=10.1007/s00300-025-03353-1 |title=First documented sighting of a group of bowhead whales outside their typical range in Hudson Bay |journal=Polar Biology |volume=48 |year=2025 |last1=Coppolaro |first1=Veronica L.M. |last2=Ausen |first2=Emma L. |last3=Petersen |first3=Stephen D. |last4= Ferguson |first4= Steven H. |last5= Marcoux |first5= Marianne|doi-access=free }}

Congregation within Foxe Basin occurs in a well-defined area of {{cvt|3,700|km2|sqnmi|lk=out}} north of Igloolik Island to Fury and Hecla Strait and Kapuiviit and Gifford Fiord, and into Gulf of Boothia and Prince Regent Inlet. Northward migrating along western Foxe Basin to eastern side of the basin also occurs in spring.

File:A bowhead whale breaches off the coast of western Sea of Okhotsk by Olga Shpak, Marine Mammal Council, IEE RAS.jpg in Ulbansky Bay, northwestern Okhotsk Sea]]

Not much is known about the endangered Sea of Okhotsk population. To learn more about the population, these mammals have been regularly observed near the Shantar Islands, very close to the shore, such as at Ongachan Bay.{{cite web |url=http://www.arcticexpedition.ru/?tourname=place-power9250&photogallery=1&direction=FarEast-NearSea&powerplace=place-power92 |title=Тур 'наблюдение за китами и плавание вдоль побережья Охотского моря и на Шантарските острова' |publisher=Arcticexpedition.ru |date=15 August 2000 |access-date=19 October 2012 |language=ru |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619063428/http://www.arcticexpedition.ru/?tourname=place-power9250&photogallery=1&direction=FarEast-NearSea&powerplace=place-power92 |archive-date=19 June 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}{{cite web|url=http://www.turizmvnn.ru/cont/show/14672/ |title=Фотография: Киты подходят совсем близко к берегу |language=ru |publisher=Turizmvnn.ru |date=16 April 2011 |access-date=19 October 2012}} Several companies provide whale-watching services, which are mostly land-based. According to Russian scientists, this total population likely does not exceed 400 animals.{{cite web |language=ru |last=Shpak |first=Olga |date=19 February 2014 |url=http://ria.ru/earth/20140219/995484804.html |title=Второе рождение гренландского кита |publisher=RIA Novosti |access-date=4 June 2014}} Scientific research on this population was seldom done before 2009, when researchers studying belugas noticed concentrations of bowheads in the study area. Thus, bowheads in the Sea of Okhotsk were once called "forgotten whales" by researchers. The WWF welcomed the creation of a nature sanctuary in the region{{cite web |date=31 December 2013 |url=http://ria.ru/hab/20131231/987503119.html |title=WWF приветствует создание нацпарка в Хабаровском крае |language=ru |publisher=RIA Novosti |access-date=4 June 2014}}

Possibly, vagrants from this population occasionally reach into Asian nations such as off Japan or the Korean Peninsula (although this record might be of a right whale{{cite journal|title=Spatial and Seasonal Distribution of American Whaling and Whales in the Age of Sail|first1=Tim D.|last1=Smith|first2=Randall R.|last2=Reeves|first3=Elizabeth A.|last3=Josephson|first4=Judith N.|last4=Lund|date=27 April 2012|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=7|issue=4|pages=e34905|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0034905|pmid=22558102|pmc=3338773|bibcode=2012PLoSO...734905S|doi-access=free}}). The first documented report of the species in Japanese waters was of a strayed infant ({{cvt|7|m}}) caught in Osaka Bay on 23 June 1969,{{cite web|url=http://osakagyoren.or.jp/naniwa/|title=大阪府漁業協同組合連合会|publisher=osakagyoren.or.jp}} and the first live sighting was of a {{cvt|10|m}} juvenile around Shiretoko Peninsula (the southernmost of ice floe range in the Northern Hemisphere) on 21 to 23 June 2015.[https://web.archive.org/web/20160105195006/http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASH6R5VQ2H6RIIPE026.html ホッキョククジラか、知床沖遊泳　国内観察は極めてまれ]. Asahi Shimbun (23 June 2015) Fossils have been excavated on Hokkaido,{{cite web|url=http://www.city.ishikari.hokkaido.jp/soshiki/bunkazaih/2785.html|title=いしかり博物誌／第5回 - 北海道石狩市公式ホームページ|publisher=city.ishikari.hokkaido.jp}} but it is unclear whether the northern coasts of Japan were once included in seasonal or occasional migration ranges.

Genetic studies suggest Okhotsk population share common ancestry with whales in Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas, and repeated mixings had occurred between whales in the two seas.{{cite thesis|url=http://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2002-THESIS-M33 |title=Occurrence, behavior and genetic diversity of bowhead whales in the Western Sea of Okhotsk, Russia|last1=MacLean|first1= Stephen Ahgeak|date=1 January 2002|publisher=Texas A&M University|type=Thesis}}

{{See also|Russian Arctic National Park}}

The most endangered but historically largest of all bowhead populations is the Svalbard/Spitsbergen population.Gross A., 2010 [http://qsr2010.ospar.org/media/assessments/Species/P00494_Bowhead_whale.pdf Background Document for Bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus]. The OSPAR Convention and Musée des Matériaux du Centre de Recherche sur les Monuments Historiques. {{ISBN|978-1-907390-35-7}}. retrieved on 24 May 2014 Occurring normally in Fram Strait,Kovacs M.K., [http://mosj.npolar.no/en/fauna/marine/indicators/bowhead_whale.html? Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus)]. Environmental Monitoring of Svalbard and Jan Mayen. retrieved on 27 May 2014 Barents Sea and Severnaya Zemlya along Kara Sea to Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea regions, these whales were seen in entire coastal regions in European and Russian Arctic, even reaching to Icelandic and Scandinavian coasts and Jan Mayen in Greenland Sea, and west of Cape Farewell and western Greenland coasts.{{cite journal|author1=Gilg O.|author2= Born W.E.|year= 2004 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226243275 |title=Recent sightings of the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) in Northeast Greenland and the Greenland Sea|journal= Polar Biology|volume= 28|issue= 10|pages= 796–801|doi=10.1007/s00300-005-0001-9|s2cid= 5284359}} Also, bowheads in this stock were possibly once abundant in areas adjacent to the White Sea region, where few or no animals currently migrate, such as the Kola and Kanin Peninsula. Today, the number of sightings elsewhere is very small,Ritchie B. (June 2013) [https://vimeo.com/83027638 Arctic shorts – bowhead whale]. Vimeo. Retrieved 2 June 2014 but with increasing regularitiesSala E. (2013) [https://web.archive.org/web/20130914044603/http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/09/11/franz-josef-land-expedition-first-look-at-post-expedition-discoveries/ Franz Josef Land Expedition: First Look at Post-Expedition Discoveries]. Pristine Seas Expeditions. National Geographic. retrieved on 24 May 2014 with whales having strong regional connections.WIIG Ø., Bachmann L., Janik M.V., Kovacs M.K., Lydersen C., 2007. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249474046_SPITSBERGEN_BOWHEAD_WHALES_REVISITED/file/504635298afa4eb130.pdf Spitsbergen Bowhead Whales Revisited]. Society for Marine Mammalogy. Retrieved 24 May 2014 Whales have also started approaching townships and inhabited areas such as around Longyearbyen.Johannessen, R. (19 October 2011) [http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/--Dette-er-en-sensasjon-6407203.html#.U4QNo-lZrIU Dette er en sensasjon!]. The Aftenposten. retrieved on 27 May 2014 The waters around the marine mammal sanctuaryNefedova T., Gavrilo M., Gorshkov S., 2013. [http://www.rgo.ru/ru/article/letom-v-arktike-stalo-menshe-lda Летом в Арктике стало меньше льда] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524004126/http://www.rgo.ru/ru/article/letom-v-arktike-stalo-menshe-lda |date=24 May 2014 }}. Russian Geographical Society. retrieved on 24 May 2014 of Franz Josef Land is possibly functioning as the most important habitat for this population.European Cetacean Society. [http://liege.europeancetaceansociety.eu/content/bowhead-whales-balaena-mysticetus-sighting-franz-josef-land-area Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) sighting in the Franz Josef Land area.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140523231126/http://liege.europeancetaceansociety.eu/content/bowhead-whales-balaena-mysticetus-sighting-franz-josef-land-area |date=23 May 2014 }}. retrieved on 24 May 2014Scalini I. (19 February 2014) [https://web.archive.org/web/20141129204614/http://www.rus-arc.ru/ru/News/Details/e155b1cd-4f34-436f-979c-7e0a36cc5821 Всемирный день китов]. Russian Arctic National Park. retrieved on 24 May 2014

It is unclear whether this population is a remnant of the historic Svalbard group, recolonized individuals from other stocks, or if a mixing of these two or more stocks has taken place. In 2015, discoveries of the refuge along eastern Greenland where whaling ships could not reach due to ice floes{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150721-secret-whale-refuge-discovered|title=Secret whale refuge discovered|first=Matt|last=Walker|work=BBC|date=2015-07-21}} and largest numbers of whales (80–100 individuals) ever sighted between Spitsbergen and Greenland{{cite web|url=https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/blog/exceptional-sighting-of-80-bowhead-whales|title=Exceptional sighting of 80+ Bowhead Whales|publisher=oceanwide-expeditions.com}} indicate that more whales than previously considered survived whaling periods, and flows from the other populations are possible.

During expeditions by a tour operator 'Arctic Kingdom', a large group of bowheads seemingly involved in courtship activities was discovered in very shallow bays south of Qikiqtarjuaq in 2012.Lennartz T. (29 April 2013) [http://arctickingdom.com/new-bowhead-whale-molting-location-found/ New Bowhead Whale Molting Location Found]. Arctic Kingdom. retrieved on 9 June 2014 Floating skins and rubbing behaviours at sea bottom indicated possible moulting had taken place. Moulting behaviours had never or seldom been documented for this species before. This area is an important habitat for whales that were observed to be relatively active and to interact with humans positively, or to rest on sea floors. These whales belong to Davis Strait stock.

Isabella Bay in Niginganiq National Wildlife Area is the first wildlife sanctuary in the world to be designed specially for bowhead whales. However, moultings have not been recorded in this area due to environmental factors.[https://vimeo.com/90248199 Polar Bears and Glaciers of Baffin Island Webinar] on Vimeo. Arctic Kingdom. 2014. retrieved on 9 June 2014

In 1978 the International Whaling Commission (IWC) introduced a hunting strike quota for the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Sea (BCB) bowhead. The quota has remained at 67 strikes per year since 1998 and represents about 0.5 percent of BCB population. The population of bowheads in West Greenland and Canada is estimated to be 6,000 and rising, and hunts in this are minimal (<0.001 percent). Both stocks are rising, and the indigenous hunts seem to be self-sustaining. Orca are also known predators.Philo, L. M., E. B. Shotts, and J. C. George (1993). "Morbidity and Mortality." In Burns et al. There is no consensus on the number of deaths by orca. Bowheads seek the ice and shallow waters' safety when threatened by orca. The Inuit have a traditional word for this behavior to give historical context that this is not a new phenomenon. Global warming is increasing the frequency that orca are observed in the far north. A once-rare event, orca are now seen more frequently.{{Cite book|title=The Bowhead Whale Balaena mysticetus: Biology and Human Interactions|year=2020|isbn=9780128189696|ref=Hans|last1=George|first1=J. C.|last2=Thewissen|first2=J. G. M.|publisher=Elsevier Science }}

There are no reports of attacks on bowheads by sharks.

File:18th century arctic whaling.jpg|alt=Two whaleboats beached in foreground, five rowed and four sailing whaleboats chasing/attacking five whales, two larger whaling ships nearby, and sun peeking around snow-covered mountain in background]]

The bowhead whale has been hunted for blubber, meat, oil, bones, and baleen. Like the right whale, it swims slowly, and floats after death, making it ideal for whaling.{{cite web |title=Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus) |url=http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/cetaceans/bowheadwhale.htm |work=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date=23 November 2015}} Before commercial whaling, they were estimated to number 50,000.Woodby, D. A. and D. B. Botkin (1993). "Stock Sizes Prior to Commercial Whaling". In Burns et al. Paleo-Eskimo sites indicate bowhead whales were eaten in sites from perhaps 4000 BC. Inuit people near the Pacific developed specific hunting tools, with the whales providing food and fuel.{{cite web |url=https://www.resilience.org/stories/2021-07-14/giants-of-the-deep-a-prehistory-of-whaling/ |title=Giants of the Deep: A Prehistory of Whaling |work=resilience |date=14 July 2021 |access-date=15 July 2023}}

Commercial bowhead whaling began in the 16th century when the Basques killed them as they migrated south through the Strait of Belle Isle in the fall and early winter. In 1611, the first whaling expedition sailed to Spitsbergen. The whaling settlement Smeerenburg was founded on Spitsbergen in 1619. By midcentury, the population(s) there had practically been wiped out, forcing whalers to voyage into the "West Ice"—the pack ice off Greenland's east coast. By 1719, they had reached the Davis Strait, and by the first quarter of the 19th century, Baffin Bay.Ross, W. G. (1993). "Commercial Whaling in the North Atlantic Sector". In Burns et al.

File:The Chase of the Bowhead Whale.jpg]]

In the North Pacific, the first bowheads were taken off the eastern coast of Kamchatka by the Danish whaleship Neptun, Captain Thomas Sodring, in 1845.Bockstoce, J. R., and J. J. Burns (1993). "Commercial Whaling in the North Pacific Sector". In Burns et al. In 1847, the first bowheads were caught in the Sea of Okhotsk, and the following year, Captain Thomas Welcome Roys, in the bark Superior, of Sag Harbor, caught the first bowheads in the Bering Strait region. By 1849, 50 ships were hunting bowheads in each area; in the Bering Strait, 500 whales were killed that year, and that number jumped to more than 2000 in 1850.{{Cite book|last=Demuth|first=Bathsheba|title=Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|year=2019|isbn=9780393358322|pages=40}} By 1852, 220 ships were cruising around the Bering Strait region, which killed over 2,600 whales. Between 1854 and 1857, the fleet shifted to the Sea of Okhotsk, where 100–160 ships cruised annually. During 1858–1860, the ships shifted back to the Bering Strait region, where the majority of the fleet cruised during the summer until the early 20th century.{{cite book |last=Bockstoce |first=John |title=Whales, Ice, & Men: The History of Whaling in the Western Arctic |url=https://archive.org/details/whalesicemenhist0000bock |url-access=registration |year=1986 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=978-0-295-97447-7 }} An estimated 18,600 bowheads were killed in the Bering Strait region between 1848 and 1914, with 60% of the total being reached within the first two decades. An estimated 18,000 bowheads were killed in the Sea of Okhotsk during 1847–1867, 80% in the first decade.Vaughan, R. (1984). "Historical survey of the European whaling industry". In Arctic Whaling: Proceedings of the International Symposium, pp. 121–145. University of Groningen.

Bowheads were first taken along the pack ice in the northeastern Sea of Okhotsk, then in Tausk Bay and Northeast Gulf (Shelikhov Gulf). Soon, ships expanded to the west, catching them around Iony Island and then around the Shantar Islands. In the Western Arctic, they mainly caught them in the Anadyr Gulf, the Bering Strait, and around St. Lawrence Island. They later spread to the western Beaufort Sea (1854) and the Mackenzie River delta (1889).

File:Bowhead Whale 2002-08-10.jpg

Commercial whaling, the principal cause of the population decline, is over. Bowhead whales are now hunted on a subsistence level by native peoples of North America.{{cite web |title=Bowhead Whale |url=http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/cetaceans/about/right_whales/bowhead_whale/ |work=WWF |access-date=1 December 2015}}

In 2024, the Inuit hunters of Aklavik, Northwest Territories were permitted to hunt and kill one bowhead whale to distribute the whale meat, an important part of Inuit cuisine, to Inuvialuit and Gwich'in communities in the region.[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/for-the-first-time-in-nearly-30-years-aklavik-n-w-t-hunters-can-harvest-a-bowhead-whale-1.7228943 CBC News: For the first time in nearly 30 years, Aklavik, N.W.T., hunters can harvest a bowhead whale]

The bowhead is listed in Appendix I by CITES. While the global population is thought to be secure, thus assigned "least concern" status, some populations are listed by the National Marine Fisheries Service as "endangered" under the auspices of the United States' Endangered Species Act. The IUCN Red List data are:

• Svalbard population – critically endangered
• Sea of Okhotsk subpopulation – endangered
• Baffin Bay-Davis Strait stock – endangered
• Hudson Bay-Foxe Basin stock – vulnerable (estimated to be 1,026 individuals in 2005 by DFO)[https://vimeo.com/17855319 Bowhead Whale, Walrus and Polar Bears of Foxe Basin] on Vimeo. Arctic Kingdom. 2011. retrieved on 9 June 2014
• Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort stock – lower risk – conservation dependent

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the USA government list the bowhead whale as federally endangered.[http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=specialstatus.fedsummary&species=bowheadwhale Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus)]. Alaskan Department of Fish and Game

The bowhead whale is listed in Appendix I"[https://web.archive.org/web/20110611112003/http://www.cms.int/documents/appendix/Appendices_COP9_E.pdf Appendix I]" of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). As amended by the Conference of the Parties in 1985, 1988, 1991, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2005, and 2008. Effective: 5 March 2009. of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), as this species has been categorized as being in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant proportion of its range. CMS Parties strive towards strictly protecting these animals, conserving or restoring the places where they live, mitigating obstacles to migration, and controlling other factors that might endanger them.

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• {{cite book|ref=Burns|editor1=Burns, J. J.|editor2= Montague, J. J.|editor3=Cowles, C. J. |title=The Bowhead Whale. Special Publication No. 2|year=1993 |publisher=The Society for Marine Mammalogy|place=Lawrence, Kansas|isbn=0-935868-62-3}}

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{{Wikispecies|Balaena mysticetus}}

• {{cite web |title=Bowhead whale: 200 year old whales |publisher=BBC Ocean Giants |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Bowhead_whale#p00jp811 |date=October 2013 |access-date=9 April 2013 |archive-date=14 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114021230/http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Bowhead_whale#p00jp811 |url-status=dead}}
• {{cite web | title = The Bowhead Whale | publisher = Voices in the Sea, University of California San Diego | url = http://cetus.ucsd.edu/voicesinthesea_org/species/baleenWhales/bowhead.html | date = October 2013 | access-date = 3 April 2013 | archive-date = 21 September 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053941/http://cetus.ucsd.edu/voicesinthesea_org/species/baleenWhales/bowhead.html | url-status = dead }}
• {{cite web

| title = Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus) | publisher = Office of Protected Resources, NOAA Fisheries

| url = http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/cetaceans/bowheadwhale.htm | date = October 2013}}

• {{cite web | title = Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) | publisher = ARKive | url = http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Balaena_mysticetus/ | date = October 2013 | access-date = 29 March 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060422075145/http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Balaena_mysticetus/ | archive-date = 22 April 2006 | url-status = dead | df = dmy-all }}
• {{cite web | title = Harpoon may prove whale was at least 115 years old | publisher = World History Blog | url = http://www.worldhistoryblog.com/2007/06/harpoon-may-prove-whale-was-at-least.html | date = October 2013 | access-date = 23 June 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081203191936/http://www.worldhistoryblog.com/2007/06/harpoon-may-prove-whale-was-at-least.html | archive-date = 3 December 2008 | url-status = dead }}
• {{cite web

| title = In Search of the Bowhead Whale | publisher = NFB.ca

| url = http://www.nfb.ca/film/In_Search_of_the_Bowhead_Whale/ | date = October 2013}} A documentary by Bill Mason from 1974 following an expedition that searches out and meets the bowhead and beluga.

• {{cite web | title = Balaena mysticetus | publisher = The TerraMar Project | url = http://theterramarproject.org/species/78/Bowhead+Whale | date = March 2016 | access-date = 29 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161005090018/http://theterramarproject.org/species/78/Bowhead+Whale | archive-date = 5 October 2016 | url-status = dead }}

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