The Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus) is also named the Arctic Whale or Greenland Right Whale. Unlike other whales, the bowhead spends all its life in the Arctic waters. In history they were an ideal target for whale hunters, they are slow swimming and float after death. Their predators are orcas and humans. Depending on the location of the whales, they are classified as 'critically endangered' (Spitsbergen) to 'Lower risk - conservation dependent' (Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort). Some facts:
- With their gigantic bony skulls they can break through 60 centimeter thick ice to breathe.
- The layer of blubber fat on their body can be as thick as 50 centimeters.
- Bowhead whales can stay as long as 40 minutes.
- Bowhead whales do not have dorsal fins and have the longest baleen plates of more then three meters.
The Bowhead whale, bowhead, greenland right whale is listed as Conservation Dependent (LR/cd), the focus of a continuing taxon-specific or habitat-specific conservation programme targeted towards the taxon in question, the cessation of which would result in the taxon qualifying for one of the threatened categories below within a period of five years, on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Some facts about the
Bowhead
Adult weight : 100000 kg (220000 lbs)
Maximum longevity : 211 years
Female maturity :8212 days
Male maturity : 8212 days
Gestation : 396 days
Weaning : 365 days
Litter size : 1
Weight at birth : 900 kg (1980 lbs)
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