It is the only large whale living exclusively in the Arctic. In profile, adult Bowheads have a broad triangular head, a deep depression behind the blowhole and a rounded back.
Younger animals have a rounder back and show a single rounded shape from the snout to the flukes.
The Bowhead has a smooth back with no dorsal fin, hump or ridge. Some individuals have a light grey band on the underside of the tail stock around its thinnest part. This whale has the longest baleen plates of any cetacean species. The baleen plates are dark grey or black, may have a whitish edge, and appear iridescent green. As with the Right whales there are no baleen plates at the front of the mouth and no throat groves.