Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) once inhabited oceans throughout the northern hemisphere. Over the last hundred years the population of bowhead whales has been greatly reduced into five geographically secluded stocks. These stocks are: the Spitsbergen stock, which inhabit the north Atlantic; the Davis Strait and Hudson Bay stocks, which both inhabit the west-northern Atlantic; the Okhotsk stock, which are found in the Okhotsk Sea; and Bering Sea stock, found in the area of the Bering Sea (Shelden and Rugh 1995). Bowhead whales inhabit the Arctic Ocean and associated seas. They are rarely found below 45 degrees north latitude (Nowak 1999).

Biogeographic Regions: arctic ocean (Native ); atlantic ocean (Native ); pacific ocean (Native )