Federal endangered species Description Bowhead whales are the only baleen whales that spend their entire lives in and around Arctic waters. The baleen plates of bowhead whales, which are used to strain prey from the water, are the longest of any baleen whale, exceeding 9.5 feet. Habitats and Habits Four or five separate stocks of bowhead whales inhabit Arctic waters. The bowhead whales found off Alaska spend the winter months in the southwestern Bering Sea. Their primary prey are krill and zooplankton.
Bowheads are slow swimmers and usually travel alone or in small herds of up to six animals.
Although they may stay below the water surface for as long as forty minutes in a single dive, they are not thought to be deep divers. Scientists believe females produce a calf once every 3 to 6 years. Causes of Decline Commercial whaling of bowhead populations began in the 1600s near Greenland. During this time, whalers wiped out entire herds of whales in one area and then moved on to others. In the North Pacific, the commercial fishery did not begin until the mid-1800s, but within two decades over 60 percent of the bowhead whale population had been killed.