© naturepl.com / Martha Holmes / WWF
Bowhead whale
© ALEKSANDR MAZUROV / Adobe Stock / Stocksy
Bowhead whale facts
Scientific name
Balaena mysticetus
Other names
Greenland right whale
Weight
60-80 tonnes
Length
On average, 15 metres long
IUCN Red List status
Endangered
Threats to bowhead Whales
Industrial development
Bowheads are well known to be very sensitive to acoustic disturbance in the silent depths of the Arctic ocean in which they have evolved. Increased commercial shipping, military activities, and hydrocarbon exploration and development (including seismic projects offshore) present a cocktail of threats.
Climate change
As the rapidly warming Arctic sees thinner and less sea-ice, with longer open water periods in summer, a number of new threats have quickly emerged – more killer whales, and more oil and gas exploration and development, more commercial shipping plans, and more commercial fishing activity.
Past overhunting
Hunted by commercial whalers until the last century for oil, meat, and baleen, bowhead whales are today listed as endangered species in many countries. Some populations are faring better as a result. Native Alaskans and Canadian Inuit are allowed a limited subsistence hunt for bowhead whales from stable populations.
