Bowheads are typically found only in the Arctic, and they are the bigger, beefier cousins of right whales. They can reach 60 ft in length, their blubber is nearly 2 ft thick (to protect them from the icy waters of the Arctic), and they use their massive heads (a third of their body length)  to break through the ice. Their baleen is similar to that of right whales except twice as long, reaching up to 14ft!!  But one of the most amazing things about bowheads is that there is evidence that they live to be well over 100 years old!

Bowheads (left) and right whales (right) are closely related and have similar features, such as rotund bodies, strongly arched jaws, paddle-shaped flippers and smooth, broad flukes. Illustration: Rox Corbett  (Used with permission)

As unusual as this recent sighting is, it's actually not the first time this particular bowhead whale has visited Cape Cod Bay. Based on some unique scarring, CCS has confirmed that this is the same individual photographed by their aerial survey team back in March 2012. Later that year, the Aquarium's Right Whale Team sighted the same bowhead up in the Bay of Fundy! No one reported seeing it in 2013, so where it went in the interim is anyone's guess.

Bowhead whales (top) are larger, Arctic relatives of right whales (bottom).  Their heads are more strongly arched and they lack the distinctive callosities of right whales. Bowhead photo:Meagan Moeyaert/NEAQ; Right whale photo: NEAQ

There has been much speculation as to whether this lonely, wandering bowhead  is from the Eastern Arctic population, or whether it could have traversed the Northwest Passage and be from the Western Arctic. At this point we don’t know anything about its origin except that it’s a long way from home.

Marilyn

Learn more! Here are some noteworthy sightings by the research team that weren't right whales:

• Here's the post about the bowhead whale sighting
• A handy post about the differences between bowhead and right whales
• Researchers have spotted sperm whales in the Bay of Fundy before
• See video of a sperm whale in the Bay of Fundy
• The prize for most unusual sighting goes for an alligator at sea 

Our colleagues at the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) in Provincetown, MA, have been very busy in the last few weeks as their annual spring right whale surveys continue in and around Cape Cod Bay. In recent days CCS has reported seeing as many as 100 right whales in the Bay! Most of the whales are feeding at or just below the surface on the high concentrations of zooplankton. If you live in the area you might want to get out to one of the Cape or south shore beaches with a pair of binoculars and start looking--you might be lucky enough to see one of the rarest whales in the world!

Two right whales skim feed near Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown. Photo: Marilyn Marx/NEAq

In among those many whales CCS confirmed the first northern sighting of a 2014 mother/calf pair: Couplet (Catalog #2123) and calf!! They successfully made the long and perilous journey up the busy east coast from the calving ground off Florida and Georgia. Couplet was born in 1991 to Sonnet (Catalog #1123) and has had four previous calves. We hope the pair are soon joined in Cape Cod Bay by the rest of this year's mothers and calves--we always breathe a little easier when they've all returned to the feeding grounds!

Couplet  in the waters off Florida in 2003 with her second calf.   Photo: Monica Zani/NEAq

Learn more about right whales!

• Get an update on the babies born this year
• See how the whales are feeding in Cape Cod Bay
• Learn about threats facing right whales in the wild
• Check out this video of disentanglement efforts

Want to help this critically endangered species? Sponsor a right whale today! Your support goes directly to the Aquarium's research and conservation efforts.

-Marilyn