page_title: Bowhead whale
section_title: Behaviour
hierarchical_section_title: Bowhead whale / Behaviour
caption_attribution_description: bowhead-1 Kate Stafford edit
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.
caption: Breaching off Alaskan coast
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