Western Arctic bowhead whales are distributed in ice-covered waters of the Arctic and near-Arctic, generally north of 60*N and south of 75*N in the western Arctic Basin. The largest population is in the Bering Sea. The majority of the Bering Sea bowheads migrate from wintering areas in the northern Bering Sea (November to March), through the Chukchi Sea in the spring (March through June), to the Beaufort Sea where they spend much of the summer (mid-May through September) before returning to the Bering Sea in the fall (September through November) to overwinter. Most of the year, bowhead whales are closely associated with sea ice. The bowhead spring migration follows fractures in the sea ice around the coast of Alaska, generally in the shear zone between the shorefast ice and the mobile pack ice. However, during the summer, most of the population is in relatively ice-free waters in the southern Beaufort Sea. All bowheads were commercially exploited for oil and baleen in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, reducing the population significantly. Today, only subsistence hunting by a few Alaska natives occurs. Bowhead whales can reach lengths of 19.8 m and weigh up to 100 metric tons.
- Aerial Surveys of Arctic Marine Mammals (ASAMM), years 2008 through 2017
- Bowhead Whale Feeding Ecology Study (BOWFEST) Annual Reports
- Spatio-temporal Distribution of Bowhead Whales off Barrow, Alaska 2007-2012
- CHAOZ-X: Chukchi Sea Acoustics, Oceanography, and Zooplankton Extention Study Annual Reports
- CHAOZ: Chukchi Sea Acoustics, Oceanography, and Zooplankton Annual Reports
- Current Research Projects by the Cetacean Assessment & Ecology Program
- Publications: search AFSC database for Bowhead Whales
- Posters: search AFSC database for Bowhead Whales
- Quarterly Reports
- ELLISON, W. T., R. RACCA, C. W. CLARK, B. STREEVER, A. S. FRANKEL, E. FLEISHMAN, R. ANGLISS, J. BERGER, D. KETTEN, M. GUERRA, M. LEU, M. MCKENNA, T. SFORMO, B. SOUTHALL, R. SUYDAM, and L. THOMAS.
2016. Modeling the aggregated exposure and responses of bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus to multiple sources of anthropogenic underwater sound. Endang. Spec. Res. 30:95-108: http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/esr00727 Online.
- CLARK, C. W., C. L. BERCHOK, S. B. BLACKWELL, D. E. HANNAY, J. JONES, D. PONIRAKIS, and K. M. STAFFORD.
2015. A year in the acoustic world of bowhead whales in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. Prog. Oceanogr. 136:223-240.
- CHRISTMAN, C. L., J. J. CITTA, L. T. QUAKENBUSH, J. T. CLARKE, B. K. RONE, R. A. SHEA, M. C. FERGUSON, and M. P. HEIDE-JØRGENSEN.
2013. Presence and behavior of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea in July 2011. Polar Biol. 36:1851–1856.
- FERGUSON, M. C., and J. T. CLARKE.
2013. Estimates of detection probability for BWASP bowhead whale, gray whale, and beluga sightings collected from Twin Otter and Aero Commander aircraft,1989 to 2007 and 2008 to 2011. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-AFSC-261, 52 p. (.pdf, 906 KB). Online.
- Search the AFSC database for additional Bowhead Whale publications
- Observations of Bowhead Whale Foraging Near Barrow, Alaska, in 2015 Support the Krill Trap Model
3.46 MB Online.
- Spatio-temporal Distribution of Bowhead Whales off Barrow, AK 2007-2012
4.46 MB Online.
- Modeling Western Arctic Bowhead Whale High-use Areas in the Western Beaufort Sea, 2000-2013
2.56 MB Online.
- Search the AFSC database for additional Bowhead Whale posters