Common names from other countries
Classification / Names / Names
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Pelagic. Polar; 90°N - 0°S, 180°W - 180°E
Pacific Ocean, Northern Atlantic and the Arctic. [Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Sea population: LR/cd; Okhotsk Sea population: EN, D; Svalbard-Barents Sea (Spitsbergen) population: CR, D: IUCN 2010 (Ref. 84930)].
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 1,400.0, range 125 - 140 cm Max length : 1,800 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1394); 2000 cm TL (female); max. published weight: 100.0 t (Ref. 1394)
Lives among the pack ice, migrating to the high arctic summer, but retreating southward in winter with the advancing ice edge. Feeds on small to medium-sized invertebrates, especially krill and copepods. Bowhead whales were heavily hunted for several centuries. Today they are partially protected by the IWC. The current world population is still threatened by small-scale hunting by Alaskan, Canadian, and Russian natives. In addition, there are various forms of habitat degradation, including disturbance from oil and gas exploration and development activities (Ref. 1394).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Females calve once every 3 to 5 years, i.e., very low reproductive capacity (Ref. 118436).
Jefferson, T.A., S. Leatherwood and M.A. Webber. 1993. (Ref. 1394)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
CITES status (Ref. 108899)
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings, species profile | FishSource | Sea Around Us
Tools
Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature
(Ref.
115969): -1.7 - 1.5, mean -0.9 (based on 4244 cells).
Resilience
Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (K=0.03; tm=20).
Vulnerability
Very high vulnerability (88 of 100).
Price category
Unknown.
