Bowhead Whale

A digital rendering of a Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus) surfacing off a rocky, snow-covered coast. Abundant ice from a nearby glacier floats in the water. The Bowhead is also known as the Greenland Right Whale or Arctic Whale. Adult Bowheads are entirely black except a spotted white patch at the front part of the prominently upturned lower jaw. Unlike other whales which migrate to southerly waters to feed and reproduce, it spends its entire life in the Arctic. Bowheads, have no dorsal fins and, with their massive triangular heads, can grow to the length of 60 feet (18 metres) and weigh in at 100 tons. Bowheads have been reported to have broken through ice two feet thick. The bowhead has the largest mouth of any animal. Whalers severely reduced the numbers of Bowheads until a moratorium was instituted in 1966. Since that time they have recovered.