page_title: Bowhead whale
section_title: Hudson Bay and Foxe Basin
hierarchical_section_title: Bowhead whale / Ecology / Population / Hudson Bay and Foxe Basin
caption_attribution_description: English: Title: The Canadian field-naturalist Identifier: canadianfieldn1111997ott (find matches) Year: 1919 (1910s) Authors: Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club Subjects: Natural history Publisher: Ottawa, Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: 1997 Cosens, Qamukaq, Parker, Dueck and Anardjuak: Bowhead Whales 387 Text Appearing After Image: Figure 5. Boat-based sightings of Bowhead Whales made by local hunters and the authors. The Bowhead on the west side of Fury and Hecla Strait, at 69°52'N 83°18'W, was seen by a helicopter crew en route to Igloolik. seen. Information on the age structure of this stock should be collected to determine whether all compo- nents of the stock are present in northern Foxe Basin during the summer. Bowheads were also present in northern Hudson Bay at the time of our surveys in Foxe Basin (Robert Luke, personal communication), thus our estimate did not include all animals present in northern Hudson Bay and Foxe Basin. Although northern Hudson Bay and Foxe Basin Bowheads are consid- ered to be one stock, (see Reeves and Mitchell 1990), additional research is required to clarify stock relationships so that census results can be properly interpreted and management units identified. Acknowledgments This study was supported by Tungavik Federation of Nunavut Implementation Funds and by the Community Resource Management Program. Polar Continental Shelf Project supplied aircraft support. The Science Institute of the Northwest Territories provided accommodations and laboratory space that was greatly appreciated. We thank the pilots of Bradley Air for their patience and help during the sur- veys. We also thank the hunters of Igloolik and Hall Beach for their sighting records and discussions about migration routes that were instrumental in directing survey efforts. The project was conducted under Scientific Research Licence Number 12690N from the Science Institute of the Northwest Territories. Stu Innes and Keith Hay provided valuable comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. The manuscript was greatly improved thanks to the comments made by three anonymous reviewers. Documents Cited Anonymous. 1995. Nunavut bowhead traditional knowl- edge study: Preliminary report based on interviews conducted during 1995. Report presented at the meet- ing of the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, Rankin Inlet. 37 pages. McLaren, P. L., and R. A. Davis. 1982. Winter distribu- tion of arctic marine mammals in ice-covered waters of eastern North America. Unpublished report by LGL for Petro-Canada, Calgary. Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: The bowhead whale is a species of baleen whale belonging to the family Balaenidae and the only living representative of the genus Balaena. It is the only baleen whale endemic to the Arctic and subarctic waters. Bowheads are named after their characteristic massive triangular skull, which is used to break through Arctic ice. Other common names of the species are the Greenland right whale or Arctic whale. American whalemen called them the steeple-top, polar whale, or Russia or Russian whale.
  Bowheads have the largest mouth of any animal representing almost one-third of the length of the body, the longest baleen plates with a maximum length of 4 m and may be the longest-lived mammals, with the ability to reach an age of more than 200 years.
  The bowhead was an early whaling target. The population was severely reduced before a 1966 moratorium was passed to protect the species. Of the five stocks of bowhead populations, three are listed as "endangered", one as "vulnerable", and one as "lower risk, conservation dependent" according to the IUCN Red List. The global population is assessed as of least concern.
context_section_description: The Hudson Bay – Foxe Basin population is distinct from the Baffin Bay – Davis Strait group. Original population size of this local group is unclear, but possibly about 500 to 600 whales annually summered in the northwestern part of the bay in 1860s. More likely, the number of whales that actually inhabit Hudson Bay is much smaller than the total population size of this group, and despite current population size is rather unclear, reports from local indigenous people indicate this population is at least increasing over decades. Larger portions of the bay are used for summering, while wintering is on smaller scale where some animals winter in Hudson Strait most notably north of Igloolik Island and northeastern Hudson Bay. Distribution patterns of whales in this regions are largely affected by presences of killer whales, and bowheads can disappear from normal ranges due to recent changes in killer whales' occurrences within the bay possibly because of changes in movements of ice floes by climate change. Whaling grounds in 19th century covered from Marble Island to Roes Welcome Sound and to
  Lyon Inlet and Fisher Strait, and whales still migrate through most of these areas.
  Mostly, distribution within Hudson Bay is restricted in northwestern part along with Wager Bay, Repulse Bay, Southampton Island (one of two main know summering areas), Frozen Strait, northern Foxe
  Basin, and north of Igloolik in summer, and satellite tracking indicates that some portions of the group within the bay do not venture further south than such as Whale Cove and areas south of Coasts and Mansel Islands. Cow – calf pairs and juveniles up to 13.5 m (44 ft) in length consist of majority of summering aggregation in northern Foxe Basin, while matured males and noncalving females may use the northwestern part of Hudson Bay. Fewer whales also migrate to the west coast of Hudson Bay and Mansel and Ottawa Islands. Bowhead ranges within Hudson Bay are usually considered not to cover southern parts, but at least some whales migrate into further south such as at Sanikiluaq and Churchill river mouth.
  Congregation within Foxe Basin occurs in a well-defined area at 3,700 km (2,300 mi) north of Igloolik Island to Fury and Hecla Strait and Jens Munk Island and Gifford Fiord, and into Gulf of Boothia and Prince Regent Inlet. Northward migrating along western Foxe Basin to eastern side of the basin also occurs in spring.
caption: Sighting locations by researchers and hunters
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