Bowhead Whale | Cetacean Fact Sheet
Bowhead Whale | Cetacean Fact Sheet
American Cetacean Society
The bowhead whale, formerly known by Yankee whalers as the Greenland right whale, is a taxonomic relative of the right whale. It received its name from the high, arched upper jaw that somewhat resembles the shape of an archer's bow. Bowheads live at the southern edges of the Arctic ice during winters and move into leads through broken & melting ice during summers. Bowhead whales have been an important subsistence item for arctic native hunters for centuries, with the blubber (muktuk in Alaskan Inuit), muscle, & certain internal organs as valuable energy-rich food; the baleen used to make implements, baskets (from the hairy fringes), & works of art; and the bone used for housing construction, handles of tools, etc.
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