The bowhead whale, scientifically known as Balaena mysticetus, is currently of least concern with its conservation status. The current population is around 24,900 and is steady, not going up or down in large increments. It was estimated there were around 50,000 before they became a large whaling target before it was banned in 1966. Bowhead whales are closely related to right whales and there is only one species of bowhead. The main difference physically between the bowhead and the right is a slight size difference in the mouth, the bowhead having a slightly bigger, and the bowhead has a white spot on the end of its nose. Bowhead whales grow to be around fifty to sixty feet in length but the longest ever recorded was at sixty-seven feet. The bowhead whale has a extremely thick layer of blubber that can get to be about twenty to twenty-five …show more content…
They also lack the throat grooves that other species of whales have. The throat grooves on other whales help researchers to differentiate different whales apart from each other like a fingerprint.The flippers on a bowhead whale are extremely short and narrow. The flukes on the end of the tail can reach out to lengths of about twenty-seven feet wide. The knot on the top of the bowhead whales` head, where it got it also has gotten its name, is used for breaking through arctic ice that is up to around two feet so they can breach and take a breath. There is not very much known about the echolocation that the bowheads use. It is believed that it is used to communicate with other whales. It is speculated that it could also be used to determine how thick ice is on the surface of the ocean to determine how hard they have to hit the ice to break it so they can get a breath. While in a resting state, the bowhead whale needs to take in only one to two breaths or spouts per minute. Before and after a dive the number of breaths rises to about four to six spouts per