The Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) is one of four species of marine mammal in the family Balaenidae, part of the order of cetaceans. The bowhead whale is the second largest whale in the world, second only to the blue whale. Bowheads live in icy Arctic seas. To insulate against the cold Arctic waters, bowhead blubber may be 70 centimetres thick and the whales can break through ice of a foot deep to make breathing holes. They were hunted to the brink of extinction during the 1800s, and have been slow to recover. There are likely 20,000 to 40,000 bowheads alive today, living in four or five populations. Amazingly, this whale is known to live to over 100 years of age, a fact established by the discovery of stone harpoon heads (out of use since the late 1800s) in the flesh of specimens. If this high longevity is correct, the bowhead whale may be the longest living mammal.

A smooth back with no dorsal fin, a blowhole placed in a high crown at the top of the head, and a thick layer of blubber for insulation equip them for this icy environment.

Bowheads skim-feed tiny crustaceans. A whale draws a huge amount of water into its mouth, then raises its tongue, which forces the water back out through baleen filters. The tongue then sweeps the trapped food back toward the throat. The diet consists of planktonic crustaceans, which are filtered through the baleen plates. Bowhead whales often skim-feed on the surface of the sea but also gather food from the sea floor.

Bowheads are social animals, and communicate through long-distance vocalizations, some carrying five to ten kilometres. Males become involved in showy bouts of breaching and fluke-slapping, probably because they are competing with one another for access to females. Bowheads are slow breeders, and sexual maturity may not be reached for 20 years. A single calf is born every three or four years after a gestation period of about 13 months.

Bowheads live in icy Arctic seas. A smooth back with no dorsal fin, a blowhole placed in a high crown at the top of the head, and a thick layer of blubber for insulation equip them for this environment. They can smash through ice as thick as 60 cm to create breathing holes. Bowheads skim-feed tiny crustaceans. A whale draws a huge amount of water into its mouth, then raises its tongue, which forces the water back out through baleen filters. The tongue then sweeps the trapped food back toward the throat. Bowheads are social animals, and communicate through long-distance vocalizations, some carrying 5-10 km. Males get involved in showy bouts of breaching and fluke-slapping, probably because they are competing with one another for access to females. There are probably fewer than 10,000 bowheads alive today, living in four or five populations. They were hunted to the brink of extinction during the 1800s, and have been slow to recover.

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The bowhead whale is so-called because of its bow-shaped mouth (7) and is black in colour with a whitish chin patch (6), broken by a 'necklace' of black spots (8). This whale lacks a dorsal fin and is usually visible as two bumps from above water, which correspond to the head and the back (8). The blow (or spout) is produced from the two widely spaced blowholes, and is a bushy V shape reaching seven metres in height (8). The baleen is dark grey to black in colour (6) and is the longest of any whale; sometimes measuring well over three metres in length (3). Females are larger than males, but otherwise the two sexes are generally of similar appearance (7).

Amazingly, this whale is known to live to over 100 years of age, a fact established by the discovery of stone harpoon heads (out of use since the late 1800s) in the flesh of specimens. The diet consists of planktonic crustaceans, which are filtered through the baleen plates (7). Bowhead whales often skim-feed on the surface of the sea but also gather food from the sea floor. To insulate against the cold Arctic waters, bowhead blubber may be 70 centimetres thick and the whales can break through ice of a foot deep to make breathing holes (3). Bowheads are slow breeders and maturity may not be reached for 20 years. A single calf is born every three or four years after a gestation period of about 13 months (3).

Black with white chin patch and white on tail base; No dorsal fin - V-shaped, bushy, high blow; Massive head with large baleen in upper, arching jaw

Bowhead Whale: A slow swimming plankton-feeder with the longest baleen of all whales

Sea of Okhotsk from Shantarskiye Zaliv east to Zaliv Shelikova, Gizhiginskaya Guba and Penzhinskaya Guba (Moore and Reeves 1993, Rice 1998). The absence of bowhead sightings on any of the Japanese-Russian systematic surveys of cetaceans in the Okhotsk Sea conducted in 1989, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2003 (Miyashita and Dorosehnko 1990; Miyahsita and Berzin 1991; Miyashita et al. 2000, 2001; Miyashita 1999, 2004) tends to confirm that animals from this subpopulation are rarely found outside those four known areas of concentration.

Bowhead whales are found only in Arctic and subarctic regions. They spend much of their lives in and near the pack ice, migrating to the high Arctic in summer, and retreating southward in winter with the advancing ice edge (Moore and Reeves 1993).

The International Whaling Commission recognises five stocks: Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas (US (Alaska), Canada, and Russian Federation); Hudson Bay-Foxe Basin (Canada); Davis Strait-Baffin Bay (Denmark (Greenland) and Canada); Svalbard-Barents Sea (Spitsbergen) (Denmark (Greenland), Norway, and Russian Federation); and the Okhotsk Sea (Russian Federation and Japan) (Rugh et al. 2003).

The Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas stock occurs from Chaunskaya Guba (Russian Federation) in the western Chukchi Sea east to Amundsen Gulf (Canada), and the northern Bering Sea south to Karaginskiy Zaliv (Russian Federation), St. Matthew Island, and Norton Sound (US (Alaska)) (Rice 1998).

Recent evidence of movements of tagged whales indicating overlapping ranges, and inconclusive analyses of genetic differences, have called into doubt the traditional distinction between the Hudson Bay-Foxe Basin and the Davis Strait-Baffin Bay stocks (Heide-Jørgensen et al. 2006, IWC 2007).

The range of the Hudson Bay-Foxe Basin stock was traditionally taken to include northern Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Foxe Channel and Foxe Basin. Tracking of satellite-tagged whales in 2002 and 2003 confirm movement from Foxe Basin through Fury and Hecla Strait into the Gulf of Boothia and Prince Regent Inlet (Cosens 2004).

The Baffin Bay-Davis Strait stock is centred in summer in the eastern Canadian High Arctic archipelago and along eastern Baffin Island. The whales move out of the summering areas as ice forms in autumn to wintering areas in polynyas (Holst and Stirling 1999), unconsolidated pack ice, and open water near the ice edge off West Greenland (Reeves and Heide-Jørgensen 1996) and eastern Baffin Island. The summering grounds include Cumberland Sound, the well-studied late summer and autumn feeding ground in Isabella Bay (Finley 1990), Lancaster Sound, Admiralty Inlet, and Eclipse Sound.

Animals satellite-tagged in Cumberland Sound in southeast Baffin Island in 2004 and 2005 moved into Prince Regent Inlet and the Gulf of Boothia and also into Foxe Basin and the Hudson Strait (Dueck et al. 2006). Animals tagged in West Greenland also moved to Prince Regent Inlet and Hudson Strait. There is thus no clear geographical division between the two putative stocks. The genetic evidence is inconclusive, and the IWC Scientific Committee currently regards the stock identity question as open (IWC 2007).

The Svalbard-Barents Sea (Spitsbergen) stock (see separate listing) occurs from the east coast of Greenland across the Greenland Sea, the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea as far as Severnaya Zemlya (Russian Federation), and as far south as the ice front, exceptionally reaching Iceland and the coast of Finnmark (Norway).

The Okhotsk Sea stock (see separate listing) occurs in the Sea of Okhotsk from Shantarskiye Zaliv east to Zaliv Shelikova, Gizhiginskaya Guba and Penzhinskaya Guba (Moore and Reeves 1993, Rice 1998).

East coast of Greenland (Denmark) across the Greenland Sea, the Barents Sea, and the Kara Sea to Severnaya Zemlya (Russian Federation), and south at least occasionally to northern Iceland and the coast of Finnmark (Norway) and Jan Mayen (Norway) (Rice 1998).

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 )

Subarctic area

occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

Canada

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) Arctic and subarctic waters between 55 and 80 degrees N. Fi ve apparently discrete populations. 1. Western arctic group winters along pack ice in Bering Sea, summers in Beaufort Sea, mainly east of Barrow to Amundsen Gulf (IUCN 1991). 2. Davis Strait population: summer along the east and north coasts of Baffin Island, in Baffin Bay, and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago; winter in the Daviis Strait (Moore and Reeves 1993, Finley 2000). 3. Hudson Bay population: summer in northwestern Hudson Bay, northern Foxe Basin; winter in Hudson Strait and Davis Strait (Finley 2000). 4. Spitsbergen population (Svalbard-Barents Sea): east coast of Greenland, Iceland, and Jan Mayen area in winter; mostly between Greenland, Spitsbergen, and the Barents Sea, north to 80 degrees N in summer). 5. Sea of Okhotsk.

Historic Range:
Oceanic (north latitudes only)

Davis Strait and Hudson Bay

Arctic Ocean, European waters (ERMS scope), Greenlandic Exclusive Economic Zone, North West Atlantic

This species was once found throughout the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere seas (7). Only a few populations remain today, in Arctic seas following the retreat and advance of the pack ice (3).

Balaena mysticetus is the second largest whale in the world, second only to the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) . The name "bowhead" comes from their bow-shaped mouth. The lower jaw makes a U-shape around the upper jaw. This lower jaw is usually marked with white spots, contrasting with the rest of the whale's black body (Nowak 1999). Baleen in the bowhead whale's mouth is the largest of any cetacean with 300 baleen plates measuring 300-450 centimeters in vertical length. The skull makes up almost one-third of the total body length, is curved and asymetric (Lanier 1998). Bowhead whales, on average, are sixty feet in length and weigh around 100 tons. Contributing to the whale's mass is a two foot thick layer of insulating blubber (Nicklen 2000). Balaena mysticetus also has a small pectoral fin for its size, less than 200 centimeters in length (Nowak 1999). Bowhead whale females measure between 16 and 18 meters in length, males measure between 14 and 17 meters in length. Bowhead whales weigh from 75,000 to 100,000 kg.

Range mass: 75000 to 100000 kg.

Range length: 14 to 18 m.

Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry

Sexual Dimorphism: female larger

Length: 2000 cm

Weight: 1.0E8 grams

Length:
Range: 14-17 m males; 16-18 m females

Weight:
Range: 7,500-10,000 kg

in pack ice regions

Habitat and Ecology

Systems

• Marine

Habitat and Ecology

Systems

• Marine

Habitat and Ecology

Systems

• Marine

Systems

• Marine

Balaena mysticetus lives in the colder waters of the northern hemisphere. Of the current total population, approximately 700 are found in the north Atlantic while 7,000 are located in the north Pacific. Balaena mysticetus usually follow the receding ice drifts (Shelden and Rugh 1995). During summer they can be found in bays, straits, and estuaries (Nowak 1999).

Average depth: 100 m.

Habitat Regions: polar ; saltwater or marine

Aquatic Biomes: coastal

Habitat Type: Marine

Comments: Favors close packs and patches of ice; not often observed in extensive areas of open water (Ellis 1985). Adept at finding and using open crevices (leads) in ice, even if these are far from usual migration routes (IUCN 1991).

Arctic to subarctic shelves, often near sea ice; Circumpolar but discontinuous distribution

The bowhead whale is often found close to the edge of the Arctic ice shelf (6).

Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

Migrates between northern summer range and southern winter range. Moves north as ice cover breaks up, south just before ice forms in fall (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983).

Western Arctic (summarized in DeMaster et al. 2000): From April through June, Bowheads migrate north and east, following leads in the sea ice in the eastern Chukchi Sea until they pass Point Barrow where they travel east toward the southeastern Beaufort Sea. During early fall (early September to mid-October), bowheads migrate west out of the Beaufort Sea. From mid-September to mid-October they are seen in the northeast Chukchi Sea, some as far north as latitude 72|N; when they reach the Siberian coast, they follow it southeast to the Bering Strait. They begin passing Cape Netten on the Chukchi Peninsula in mid-October to mid-November. By late October and November they arrive in the Bering Sea, where they overwinter.

Eastern Arctic (Summarized in Finley 2000): Spring: Appear at the Cumberland Sound floe edge in April and May, reaching northern Baffin Bay and the Northwest Passage/Lancaster Sound in May and June. Historically, individuals migrating to Hudson Bay arrived off southwest Southampton Island in May and June, then moved north through Roes Welcome Sound and into Foxe Basin. They may also move directly from Hudson Strait into Foxe Basin, arriving at the Igloolik floe edge by late June. Autumn: Migration from north of 70 degrees N is a more casual affair, beginning in late August/September, and lasting two to three months. Migration past northeast Baffin Island peaks in late September/early October; they eventually reach Cumberland Sound (southeast Baffin Island) in late October/November. At Cape Hopes Advance in Hudson Strait, peak movement occurs in late November. In winter, they are generally found within the margin of pack ice fields and polynyas between 60 and 70 degrees N.

Balaena mysticetus is a baleen whale, which means that they filter water through baleen plates, feeding on the organisms caught in the plates and pushing the rest of the water out. Balaena mysticetus can sometimes feed opportunistically during the spring migration, but mostly feed during the winter months on their feeding grounds. They eat crustacean zooplankton, epibenthic organisms, and some benthic organisms. Crustacean zooplankton, such as copepods, are not important food sources for young B. mysticetus, but increase in importance with age (Shelden and Rugh 1995). Copepods are small crustaceans, which a bowhead whale can filter at approximately 50,000 per minute (Stover 2001). Balaena mysticetus sometimes form groups of up to fourteen individuals, in which they make a V-shape formation. In this formation they travel at the same speed and filter feed together (Nowak 1999).

Foods commonly eaten include: euphausiids, copepods, mysids, gammarid amphipods, other benthic organisms

Animal Foods: aquatic crustaceans; zooplankton

Foraging Behavior: filter-feeding

Primary Diet: carnivore (Eats non-insect arthropods); planktivore

Comments: Feeds primarily on swarms of small to medium zooplankton (euphausiids, amphipods, copepods, mysids, pteropods). Feeds by skimming at surface; also forages in water column and near or at bottom, at least in shallows. (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983).

Pelagic and near-bottom filter-feeder; Swims through zooplankton with mouth agape targetting copepods, euphausids, and amphipods; Near bottom foraging sometimes results in mud on head and back

Barnacles use B. mysticetus as both a mode of transportation and a way to encounter fresh food supplies (Lanier 1998). Bowhead whales play an important role as predators of plankton in the arctic ocean.

Commensal/Parasitic Species:

• barnacle species

Bowhead whales are protected from predators by their large size. They are also known to take shelter under ice drifts. As the oceanic waters of the polar regions become frozen, bowhead whales will swim beneath the extending polar ice cap. In order to survive under the ice cap, B. mysticetus can break through the ice in order to breathe without making themselves accessible to other marine predators (Stover 2001). In a study in 1995, it was found that one-third of the animals of the Davis Strait stock showed scars from killer whale attacks (Shelden and Rugh 1995).

Known Predators:

• killer whales (Orcinus orca)
• humans (Homo sapiens)

Balaena mysticetus is prey of:
Homo sapiens
Orcinus orca

This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.

Balaena mysticetus preys on:
non-insect arthropods
zooplankton
Crustacea

This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.

Note: For many non-migratory species, occurrences are roughly equivalent to populations.

Estimated Number of Occurrences: 1 - 5

Comments: Only five discrete populations exist: the largest is that in the western Arctic (Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas); others are in the Davis Strait, Hudson Bay, Spitsbergen region (Svalbard-Barents Sea), and Sea of Okhotsk (DeMaster et al. 2000). There has been doubt that the Davis Strait and Hudson Bay stocks were actually separate populations, but genetic evidence shows that they are not only separate, but that the Hudson Bay stock is actually more closely related to the western Arctic population (Maiers et al. 1999). The small population in the Sea of Okhotsk may be separable into two groups: those that summer in the northeastern Okhotsk Sea and those that are found in the Shantarskiye region (DeMaster et al. 2000).

2500 - 100,000 individuals

Comments: Total population now on the order of 11,000-12,000, including nonbreeding individuals. In 2001, the western Arctic (Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort) population was estimated at about 10,000 (95% C.L. 7700-12,600) (George et al. 2002), and the other populations were estimated to be only in the tens or hundreds of individuals (DeMaster et al. 2000).

In the mid-1990s, total population size was 6000-9000 (D. DeMaster, pers. comm., 1995). The number of mature individuals would have been considerably fewer, probably 3000-6000. Earlier in the 1990s, the total population was estimated at 7,800 and increasing (Science 263:26, IUCN 1991).

Individual stock numbers: 1. Western Arctic: about 10,000 (see above). 2. Hudson Bay: unknown, but certainly under 1000 (IUCN 2000) and most likely in the 'low hundreds (Finley 2000); surveys in mid-1990s estimated about 250-280 in the northern Foxe Basin (Cosens et al. 1997) and about 75 and northwestern Hudson Bay (Cosens and Innes 2000), but these conclusions are disputed (Finley 2000). 3. Davis Strait: fewer than 250 breeding individuals (IUCN 2000); in the 'low hundreds (Finley 2000). 4. Spitsbergen: fewer than 100, probably fewer than 50 mature individuals (IUCN 2000). 5. Sea of Okhotsk: Berzin et al. (1990) estimated this population to be at least 250-300 animals., and Vladimirov (1994) estimated 300-400. However, both these estimates are not backed up by quantitative data (Berzin et al. 1995; Brownell et al. 1997).

Not strongly gregarious; usually travels alone or in groups of 6 or less, though larger aggregations may occur on feeding grounds or when ice restricts movements (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983).

Length at birth 3-4.5m (10-15 feet); Sexual maturity at 12-20 years; Females have calves every 3-7 years; Longevity over 200 years; Behavior; Swims slowly; Capable of breaking through 60 cm (2 feet) of ice; Usually single or in small groups, sometimes in aggregations during

Balaena mysticetus has a remarkable lifespan. The average age of animals captured during whaling is estimated at 60 to 70 years old, based on examination of changes in the nucleus of the eye over time. However, several individuals have been discovered with ancient ivory and stone harpoon heads in their flesh and examination of their eye nucleus has resulted in estimated lifespans up to 200 years (George et al. 1999), making bowhead whales the longest lived mammalian species. There is little knowlege of diseases in B. mysticetus that would effect the average lifespan (Stover 2001).

Range lifespan

Status: wild: 200 (high) years.

Typical lifespan

Status: wild: 0.01 to 0.02 years.

Maximum longevity: 211 years (wild) Observations: These animals exhibit slow growth and high survival. Growth may be faster in females than in males, and it slows down markedly at around 40-50 years of age. Sexual maturity is probably reached at age 20-25. Using an indirect method for age estimation based on aspartic acid racemization, the bowhead whale has been recorded as the longest-lived mammal thanks to one male estimated to be 211 years-old. The same study found three other male specimens estimated to be over 100 years of age. Very few obvious signs of pathology were found in old bowheads. The 211 year-old specimen was reported to appear old with though meat and blubber. One of the centenarian males exhibited a spondylitic lesion on the vertebra. Reproductive senescence has not been reported, though detailed studies are lacking (George et al. 1999).

Males attract female B. mysticetus through songs. It is unknown how long these pair bonds last or how many matings male bowhead whales take part in during mating season.

Mating in Balaena mysticetus usually occurs during late winter and early spring. Spring migration takes place soon after this and the female gives birth between April and June, with most births occurring in May. It takes twenty years for a Bowhead whale calf to reach sexual maturity. At this time, they can be between 12.3 and 14.2 m in length (Shelden and Rugh 1995). Females usually reach sexual maturity before males and are also 1 to 2 meters larger than males at this time (George et al. 1999). In some cases pseudohermaphroditism can occur, leaving a whale to appear female, but also having male sex organs (Shelden and Rugh 1995).

Breeding interval: Typical calving intervals are every 3 to 4 years in bowhead whales.

Breeding season: Breeding occurs in late winter to early spring.

Average number of offspring: 1.

Range gestation period: 12 to 16 months.

Average gestation period: 13-14 months.

Range weaning age: 9 to 15 months.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 20 years.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 20 years.

Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); viviparous

Average birth mass: 900000 g.

Average number of offspring: 1.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

Sex: male: 9125 days.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

Sex: female: 9125 days.

When a calf is born, its average length is 4.25 to 5.25 m. Calves grow approximately 1.5 cm a day. The calf is fed with its mother's milk until it is weaned, which occurs between nine and fifteen months after birth. After weaning, growth rate decreases. After births occur, whales segregate into groups in order to migrate. Calves and mothers are in the front group. Perhaps this is to allow them to be the first to feed on food aggregations that are encountered. For the most part it seems that females take care of the young, although there have been some cases of Balaena mysticetus travelling in groups of three: a mature male, a mature female, and a calf (Shelden and Rugh 1995).

Parental Investment: precocial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-independence (Protecting: Female)

Gestation apparently lasts between one and two years. Most births (single calf) reportedly occur in spring or early summer (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983), with peak in May near Alaska; typical calving interval probably is 3-4 years (Rugh et al., 1992, J. Mamm. 73:487-490).

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.


There are 8 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank.  Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.  See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.


Download FASTA File

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 8
Specimens with Barcodes: 8
Species With Barcodes: 1

Year Assessed

Assessor/s

Reviewer/s

Contributor/s

Year Assessed

Assessor/s

Reviewer/s

Contributor/s

Primary conservation efforts for Balaena mysticetus involve reducing or ending the hunting of this species. Agencies who are playing parts in the conservation of the species are the Alaskan Eskimo Whaling Commission (AEWC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (Shelden and Rugh 1995). Native people have been allowed to take only one whale every two years (Nicklen 2000). Whale populations plummeted as a result of a huge expansion in the whaling industry from the 1600s to the early 1900s (Shelden and Rugh 1995).

US Migratory Bird Act: no special status

US Federal List: endangered

CITES: appendix i

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: N1 - Critically Imperiled

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N2 - Imperiled

Rounded Global Status Rank: G3 - Vulnerable

Reasons: Reduced more than 80 percent by commercial whaling in 18th and 19th centuries. Now numbers about 10,000-12,000 individuals in only five discrete populations. Western arctic population, the largest group, has has been increasing 1-3 percent annually in recent years; other populations much smaller and show no evidence of increase. Harvest regulations in place. Potentially threatened by global warming and loss of Arctic ice, and by marine pollution.

Intrinsic Vulnerability: Highly vulnerable

Comments: Species is slow to mature and has low fecundity, but can survive to a very old age.

Environmental Specificity: Unknown

Current Listing Status Summary

Status: Endangered
Date Listed: 06/02/1970
Lead Region:   National Marine Fisheries Service (Region 11) 
Where Listed:


Population detail:

Population location: entire
Listing status: E

For most current information and documents related to the conservation status and management of Balaena mysticetus , see its USFWS Species Profile

#The Spitsbergen population is Critically Endangered; the Baffin Bay and Okhotsk Sea populations are Endangered; and the group in Hudson Bay-Foxe Basin is Vulnerable.

Classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List (1). Listed on Appendix I of CITES (4), and Appendix I of the Convention on Migratory Species (5).

Population

Population Trend

Population

Population Trend

Population

Population Trend

Global Short Term Trend: Relatively stable to increase of 25%

Comments: Western arctic (Bering/Chukchi/Beaufort sea) population was increasing at 3.3 percent per year, 1978-2001 (IWC 1997, Shelden et al. 2003). Other, much smaller populations show no sign of increase (IUCN 2000, Finley 2000), although it is difficult to assess trend because of the paucity of sightings. Some populations may not be viable. A nursery aggregation observed in the Foxe Basin (Cosens and Blouw 1999) "is the most promising evidence that the Hudson Bay population is recovering" (Finley 2000).

Global Long Term Trend: Decline of 30-70%

Comments: Bowhead numbers were severely reduced by commercial whaling prior to the 20th century, probably on the order of 80 percent. Woodby and Botkin (1993) estimated a minimum total population prior to whaling of about 50,000; this subsequently declined to perhaps 5000 individuals. Western arctic population formerly 10,400-23,000 (Woodby and Botkin 1993), now about 10,000; Hudson Bay population formerly 580 (Woodby and Botkin 1993), now unknown size, but smaller than this (Finley 2000); Davis Strait population >11,700, now "almost certainly less than 5 %" of this number; Spitsbergen population about 24,000, now numbering only in the tens (Woodby and Botkin 1993); Sea of Okhotsk population 3000-6500, now probably in the low hundreds (Mitchell 1977, Ross 1993). Total population thus declined to fewer than 8,000 from roughly 50,000 initially.

Major Threats

Major Threats

Major Threats

Degree of Threat: B : Moderately threatened throughout its range, communities provide natural resources that when exploited alter the composition and structure of the community over the long-term, but are apparently recoverable

Comments: All populations were seriously depleted by commerical whaling. Limited harvest by native peoples currently is not a significant threat to western Arctic population, but activities and possible oil spills associated with industrial/resource development are a concern (IUCN 1991). Potential loss of Arctic ice and other oceanographic changes through global warming may be a serious future threat.

The main threat to this species has been hunting, particularly following the expansion of the whaling industry after the 1600s (7). Other current threats include entanglement in fishing nets and collisions with ships (8). Pollution, climate change and disturbance by tourists are also likely to be having a detrimental effect on this whale (3).

Conservation Actions

Conservation Actions

Conservation Actions

Global Protection: Unknown whether any occurrences are appropriately protected and managed

Comments: See IUCN (1991) for a brief discussion of international and national protection measures.

Needs: Ensure that subsistence harvest does not interfere with recovery. Maintain high quality marine ecosystem.

In 1986 the worldwide moratorium on whaling came into effect, although small-scale hunting of this whale by the Inuit of Alaska continues under the guidance of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) (9). The population of bowhead whales appears able to absorb this low-level pressure however, and numbers are increasing in some areas (2).

The only way in which Balaena mysticetus may interfere with humans is in marine fishing. The large bowhead whale has been known to collide with sailing vessels on rare occassions as well as get caught in nets fishing for other oceanic life (Shelden and Rugh 1995).

Balaena mysticetus is a benefit to the whaling industry. Because of their large size, one whale can bring a large bounty of whale meat, massive baleen, and the blubber for which it is primarily hunted. In fact, B. mysticetus is the most economically valuable of all cetaceans (Nowak 1999). Many native people such as Eskimos also depend on these resources for the survival of their communities economically by using baleen for tools, blubber for fuel, and whale meat for food and trade (Nicklen 1995).

Positive Impacts: food ; body parts are source of valuable material; ecotourism ; research and education

Comments: A traditional source of food for native arctic peoples; this use still allowed (though restricted, and for maintenance of cultural continuity) in Alaska by U.S. marine mammal laws; IWC set an annual aboriginal catch limit of 41 landed or 44 struck for the years 1989-1991 (IUCN 1991). Evidently a few are killed each year by Inuit in Canada and Asia (IUCN 1991).

subpopulation Okhotsk Sea bowhead whale : Endangered (EN)

Least Concern (LC)

subpopulation Svaalbard-Barents Sea bowhead whale : Critically Endangered (CR)

subpopulation Bering-Beaufort-Chukchi Sea bowhead whale : Lower Risk/conservation dependent (LR/cd)

Comments: Bowhead whales and right whales often have been included in the same genus (Balaena) (e.g., Rice 1998), but most recent classifications recognize them as distinct genera (Balaena for bowhead whale, Eubalaena for right whales) (e.g., Baker et al. 2003; Mead and Brownell, in Wilson and Reeder 2005). MtDNA data are consistent with recognition of Balaena and Eubalaena as distinct genera (Rosenbaum et al. 2000).

Five stocks currently recognized worldwide: Spitsbergen, Davis Strait, Hudson Bay, Okhotsk and Western Arctic, or Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas (IWC 1992 in Rugh et al. 2003).