Bowhead whale: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the bowhead whale lives – recorded in 5 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Balaena mysticetus
Group	Whales & dolphins
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	5 countries
Continents	Europe, North America
Diet (main food)	zooplankton
Class	Mammal
Order	Artiodactyla
Family	Balaenidae

Where does the bowhead whale live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the bowhead whale in 5 countries and territories across Europe and North America.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What does a bowhead whale eat?

Wikidata lists the main food source of the bowhead whale as: zooplankton.

Is the bowhead whale endangered?

The bowhead whale’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the bowhead whale?

The bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) is a mammal in the order Artiodactyla and the family Balaenidae, genus Balaena. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the bowhead whale

The bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus), sometimes known as the Greenland right whale, Arctic whale, and polar whale, is a species of baleen whale belonging to the family Balaenidae and is the only living representative of the genus Balaena. It is the only baleen whale endemic to the Arctic and subarctic waters, and is named after its characteristic massive triangular skull, which it uses to break through Arctic ice.

Bowheads have the largest mouth of any animal, representing almost one-third of the length of the body. They also have the longest baleen plates among whales, with a maximum length of 2.97 to 5.2 metres (9.7 to 17.1 ft). They may be the longest-lived of all mammals, with the ability to reach an age of more than 200 years.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Bowhead whale (revision 1377277650), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q174652 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).