Bowhead Whale

Balaena mysticetus

One of the first resources exploited by European whalers because of its slow swimming speed, the bowhead or Greenland whale can attain a length of 20 meters (65 feet). The color is mainly blue-black and the blubber can be as thick as 45 cm (18 inches). Bowhead whales are gregarious, feeding in small groups of 3 to 4, although they gather in large gams of several hundred during migration. Bowheads eat crustacean krill, feeding near the surface. Confined to the arctic and subarctic regions, Bowhead whales have been protected from commercial whaling since 1937, and are slowly recovering from the brink of extinction.