This food is high in fat, energy and cholesterol. Baleen whales appear to have limited color vision, as they lack S-cones. Bowhead Whales in Kugaaruk . It can grow to a length of about… A once-rare event, killer whales are now seen more frequently. August 2, 2017 - For the first time, scientists filmed a pod of orcas in a coordinated attack against a bowhead whale. Analysis of hundreds of DNA samples from living whales and from baleen used in vessels, toys, and housing material has shown that Arctic bowhead whales have lost a significant portion of their genetic diversity in the past 500 years. Soon, ships expanded to the west, catching them around Iony Island and then around the Shantar Islands. In Burns, J. J.; Montague, J. J.; and Cowles, C. J. Moore, S. E., and R. R. Reeves (1993). Their cerebrum only makes up about 68% of their brain's weight, as opposed to human's 83%. In the blue whale, the largest species, the fetus grows by some 100 kg (220 lb) per day just before delivery, and by 80 kg (180 lb) per day during suckling. [29] Spurred by this discovery, scientists measured the ages of other bowhead whales; one specimen was estimated to be 211 years old. Fleeing only occurs in species that can swim away quickly, the rorquals. Philo, L. M., E. B. Shotts, and J. C. George (1993). The bowhead whale also has a 18 in (45 cm) thick blubber layer — thicker than that of any other whale. Let’s start with the largest mouth in the world. The mouth of bowhead has baleen plates of up to 15 feet in length. The bowhead whale has been a victim of the appeal of its long baleen plates and thick blubber – the most economically valuable whales. [37] In baleen whales, it is thought that enlarged mouths adapted for suction feeding evolved before specializations for bulk filter feeding. [19], Mysticetes are also known as baleen whales because of the presence of baleen. This allows baleen whales to detect chemicals and pheromones released by their prey. When it was processed, it was found to have two stone harpoon blades in its flesh. Mothers fast for a relatively long period of time over the period of migration, which varies between species. Century old harpoons have been found embedded in some whales' blubber, showing how old they can get and how they were hunted. Eventually, it was recognized that bowheads and right whales were different, but there was still no strong consensus as to whether they shared a single genus or two. [7], The bowhead was an early whaling target. The Hudson Bay – Foxe Basin population is distinct from the Baffin Bay – Davis Strait group. [22], The bowhead whale is not a social animal, typically travelling alone or in small pods of up to six. All these nations are part of the IWC, with Norway and Iceland rejecting the moratorium and continuing commercial whaling. [153], Baleen whales have rarely been kept in captivity. CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (. [82], The bowhead whale has been hunted for blubber, meat, oil, bones, and baleen. However, this is attached to the skull, suggesting that vibrations passing through the bone is important. "Foods and Feeding Ecology". The global population is assessed as of least concern.[3][8]. Baleen whales use their baleen plates to filter out food from the water by either lunge-feeding or skim-feeding. Despite this, they are listed as Least Concern. Possibly, vagrants from this population occasionally reach into Asian nations such as off Japan or the Korean Peninsula (although this record might be of a right whale[63]). As with the rorquals, their throat pleats increase the capacity of their throats, allowing them to filter larger volumes of water at once. The blue whale is a member of the baleen whale group and feeds on plankton. [101] Though not a parasite, whale barnacles latch onto the skin of a whale during their larval stage. Bowheads live at the southern edges of the Arctic ice during winters and move into leads through broken & melting ice during summers. Rorquals also tend to be longer than the latter. [23], Molecular phylogeny suggests Mysticeti split from Odontoceti (toothed whales) between 26 and 17 million years ago between the late Oligocene or middle Miocene, but the earliest Mysticeti fossils date to at least 34 million years ago. Baleen whales split from toothed whales (Odontoceti) around 34 million years ago. This provision will be kept under review, based upon the best scientific advice, and by 1990 at the latest the Commission will undertake a comprehensive assessment of the effects of this decision on whale stocks and consider modification of this provision and the establishment of other catch limits. Rorquals are specialized at lunge-feeding, and have a streamlined body to reduce drag while accelerating. In Burns, J. J.; Montague, J. J.; and Cowles, C. J. Woodby, D. A. and D. B. Botkin (1993). In most mammals, keratin structures, such as wool, air-dry, but aquatic whales rely on calcium salts to form on the plates to stiffen them. [citation needed] Cow – calf pairs and juveniles up to 13.5 m (44 ft) in length consist of majority of summering aggregation in northern Foxe Basin, while matured males and noncalving females may use the northwestern part of Hudson Bay. [89], Bowheads were first taken along the pack ice in the northeastern Sea of Okhotsk, then in Tausk Bay and Northeast Gulf (Shelikhov Gulf). The bowhead's blubber is the thickest of that of any animal, with a maximum of 43–50 cm (17–20 in). Lyon Inlet and Fisher Strait, and whales still migrate through most of these areas. [27] Archaeomysticetes from the Oligocene are the Mammalodontidae (Mammalodon and Janjucetus) from Australia. It has been speculated that man-made sonar results in strandings. [43] The annual subsistence harvest of the Western Arctic stock has ranged from 14 to 72, amounting to an estimated 0.1-0.5% of the population. [20], Bowhead whales are considered to be the longest-living mammals, living for over 200 years. The mandibular symphysis is also fibrocartilaginous, allowing the jaw to bend which lets in more water. [11], Eschrichtiidae consists of only one living member: the gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus). Sinuses may reflect vibrations towards the cochlea. It is known that when the fluid inside the cochlea is disturbed by vibrations, it triggers sensory hairs which send electrical current to the brain, where vibrations are processed into sound. Accessory plates taper off into small hairs. One species—the North Atlantic right whale—is endangered with only around 400(±50) individuals left, and four more are also classified as endangered (North Pacific right whale, the blue whale, the fin whale, and the Sei whale), and another 5 ranked as Data deficient (Bryde's whale, Eden's whale, Omura's whale, Southern minke whale, and pygmy right whale). [67], The most endangered but historically largest of all bowhead populations is the Svalbard/Spitsbergen population. [147] A 2014 study noted that a lower vessel speed correlated with lower collision rates. They are believed to have an impaired sense of smell due to the lack of the olfactory bulb, but they do have an olfactory tract. About 1,200 were off West Greenland in 2006, while the Svalbard population may only number in the tens. While the global population is thought to be secure, thus assigned "least concern" status,[3] some populations are listed by the National Marine Fisheries Service as "endangered" under the auspices of the United States' Endangered Species Act. Bowhead whale singing is most intense in the breeding season but they have also been reported singing in other seasons (Reese et al. [20], Right whales got their name because of whalers preferring them over other species; they were essentially the "right whale" to catch. [42] Balaenopterids grew bigger during this time, with species like Balaenoptera sibbaldina perhaps rivaling the blue whale in terms of size,[28] though other studies disagree that any baleen whale grew that large in the Miocene. As opposed to land mammals which have a flattened lens, whales have a spherical lens. This argument is particularly contentious in Iceland, as it has among the most-developed whale-watching operations in the world and the hunting of minke whales resumed in August 2003. In 2015, scientists from the US and UK were able to successfully map the whale's genome. The meat, blubber, baleen, and oil of baleen whales have traditionally been used by the indigenous peoples of the Arctic. [68] Occurring normally in Fram Strait,[69] Barents Sea and Severnaya Zemlya along Kara Sea[46] to Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea regions, these whales were seen in entire coastal regions in European and Russian Arctic, even reaching to Icelandic and Scandinavian coasts and Jan Mayen in Greenland Sea, and west of Cape Farewell and western Greenland coasts. Moulting behaviours had never or seldom been documented for this species before. [34] Species like Mammalodon colliveri had little to no baleen, while later species like Aetiocetus weltoni had both baleen and teeth, suggesting they had limited filter feeding capabilities; later genera like Cetotherium had no teeth in their mouth, meaning they were fully dependent on baleen and could only filter feed. In this rare event, a pod of killer whales hunt and kill a large fin whale. more Now here's a question: How can a creature like the bowhead whale, which has no teeth, get to be 60 feet long and weigh up to 60 tons? Their large size and appetite make them expensive creatures to maintain. Flipper movement is continuous. Breeding season is observed from March through August; conception is believed to occur primarily in March when song activity is at its highest. The dermis, the layer underneath the epidermis, is also thin. It's not only the largest whale in existence but is also the largest animal on Earth. [71] Necropsies on the brains of gray whales revealed iron oxide particles, which may allow them to find magnetic north like a compass. A newborn calf is typically 4–4.5 m (13–15 ft) long, weighs roughly 1,000 kg (2,200 lb), and grows to 8.2 m (27 ft) within the first year. [50] Larger portions of the bay are used for summering, while wintering is on smaller scale where some animals winter in Hudson Strait most notably north of Igloolik Island and northeastern Hudson Bay. They are also plagued by internal parasites such as stomach worms, cestodes, nematodes, liver flukes, and acanthocephalans. Their nostrils, or blowholes, are situated at the top of the cranium. The bowhead is insulated with nearly two feet of blubber! [31] Their evolutionary link to archaic toothed cetaceans (Archaeoceti) remained unknown until the extinct Janjucetus hunderi was discovered in the early 1990s in Victoria, Australia. [41], The Western Arctic bowhead population, also known as the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort population, has recovered since the commercial harvest of this stock ceased in the early 1900s. Ancient whalers used harpoons to spear the bigger animals from boats out at sea. [84] There have also been reports of a pod of killer whales attacking and killing an adult bowhead whale, by holding down its flippers, covering the blowhole, and ramming and biting until death. First documented report of the species in Japanese waters was of a strayed infant (7 m [23 ft]) caught in Osaka Bay on 23 June 1969,[64] and the first living sighting was of a 10 m (33 ft) juvenile around Shiretoko Peninsula (the southernmost of ice floe range in the Northern Hemisphere) on 21 to 23 June 2015. The time spent under water in a single dive is usually limited to 9–18 minutes. [35] Changes in the gene UCP1, a gene involved in thermoregulation, can explain differences in the metabolic rates in cells. [28] In May 2007, a 15 m (49 ft) specimen caught off the Alaskan coast was discovered with the 3.5 in (89 mm) head of an explosive harpoon of a model manufactured between 1879 and 1885, so the whale was probably harpooned sometime between those years, and its age at the time of death was estimated at between 115 and 130 years. There are two types of feeding behaviors: skim-feeding and lunge-feeding,[44] but some species do both depending on the type and amount of food. (2012). Because of this, it is thought that baleen whales, or at least humpback whales, have consciousness. [40], Generally, five stocks of bowhead whales are recognized: 1) The Western Arctic stock in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas, 2) The Hudson Bay and Foxe Basin stock, 3) The Baffin Bay and Davis Strait stock, 4) The Sea of Okhotsk stock, and 5) The Svalbard-Barents Sea stock. [118] The penis on a right whale can be up to 2.7 m (8.9 ft) – the testes, at up to 2 m (6.6 ft) in length, 78 cm (2.56 ft) in diameter, and weighing up to 238 kg (525 lb), are also the largest of any animal on Earth. According to Russian scientists, this total population likely does not exceed 400 animals. The bulbous ridge of highly vascularized tissue, the corpus cavernosum maxillaris, extends along the centre of the hard plate, forming two large lobes at the rostral palate. Before weaning, the calf increases its body weight by 17 t (17 long tons; 19 short tons) and grows from 7 to 8 m (23 to 26 ft) at birth to 13 to 16 m (43 to 52 ft) long. They are a widely distributed and diverse parvorder of carnivorous marine mammals. "Epibiotic macrofauna on common minke whales, "The Largest Penis in the World – Both for humans and animals, size does matter", "A Savage History: Whaling in the South Pacific and Southern Oceans", Whale Watching Worldwide: tourism numbers, expenditures and expanding economic benefits, "Gray Whale Removed From Endangered List", "IUCN Species of the Day: North Atlantic Right Whale", "Whaling in the Antarctic: Protecting Rights in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction Through International Litigation", "U.N. Court Orders Japan to Halt Whaling Off Antarctica", "Japan to resume whaling in Antarctic despite court ruling", "Compliance with vessel speed restrictions to protect North Atlantic right whales", "Blue Whales Respond to Anthropogenic Noise", "J.J. The closest living relatives to baleen whales are toothed whales both from the infraorder Cetacea. It appears to have had very limited apparent biosonar capabilities. Bowhead whales are comparable in size to the three species of right whales. [39] Eomysticetus and others like it showed no evidence in the skull of echolocation abilities, suggesting they mainly relied on their eyesight for navigation. [19] An alternate name for the parvorder is "Mystacoceti" (from Greek μύσταξ "mustache" + κῆτος "whale"), which, although obviously more appropriate and occasionally used in the past, has been superseded by "Mysticeti" (junior synonym). Baleen whales range in size from the 6 m (20 ft) and 3,000 kg (6,600 lb) pygmy right whale to the 31 m (102 ft) and 190 t (210 short tons) blue whale, the largest known animal to have ever existed. "Behavior". Unlike other mammals, the lungs of baleen whales lack lobes and are more sacculated. [45] It is possible the Plio-Pleistocene increase in seasonally intense upwellings causing high-prey-density zones led to gigantism. The mouth has a large, upturning lip on the lower jaw that helps to reinforce and hold the baleen plates within the mouth. The eyeballs are protected by a thick outer layer to prevent abrasions, and an oily fluid (instead of tears) on the surface of the eye. In Burns, J. J.; Montague, J. J.; and Cowles, C. J. Lowry, L. F. (1993). Male strategies for reproductive success vary between performing ritual displays (whale song) or lek mating. [54] Then they must decelerate. This analysis claims that once the economic benefits of hotels, restaurants and other tourist amenities are considered, hunting whales is a net economic loss. [58] Baleen plates are attached to the upper jaw and are absent in the mid-jaw, forming two separate combs of baleen. The aetiocetid Chonecetus still had teeth, but the presence of a groove on the interior side of each mandible indicates the symphysis was elastic, which would have enabled rotation of each mandible, an initial adaptation for bulk feeding like in modern mysticetes. [22] It grows up to 66 feet long with a massive head making up one-third of its body. In the toothed Oligocene mammalodontid Janjucetus, the symphysis is short and the mouth enlarged, the rostrum is wide, and the edges of the maxillae are thin, indicating an adaptation for suction feeding. [6], Balaenidae consists of two genera: Eubalaena (right whales) and Balaena (the bowhead whale, B. mysticetus). [70], The lunge-feeders are the rorquals. One survived for three months, another (a calf) survived for two weeks, and another was kept for over a month before breaking through the nets. However, the North Atlantic right whale is ranked endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Baleen whales reach huge sizes. [56][57][58], Congregation within Foxe Basin occurs in a well-defined area at 3,700 km (2,300 mi) north of Igloolik Island to Fury and Hecla Strait and Jens Munk Island and Gifford Fiord, and into Gulf of Boothia and Prince Regent Inlet. CONSERVATION STATUS . [87] By 1852, 220 ships were cruising around the Bering Strait region, which killed over 2,600 whales. [74] The waters around the marine mammal sanctuary[75] of Franz Josef Land is possibly functioning as the most important habitat for this population.[76][77]. Bowhead hunting is limited to whaling crews who are: This bowhead subsistence hunting occurs during the northward spring migrations based from the ice and from small boats during the returning fall migrations. Of the five stocks of bowhead populations, three are listed as "endangered", one as "vulnerable", and one as "lower risk, conservation dependent" according to the IUCN Red List. [47] Original population size of this local group is unclear, but possibly about 500 to 600 whales annually summered in the northwestern part of the bay in 1860s. [31] According to researchers at CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, the genome sequence revealed bowhead whales' maximum lifespan to be 268 years.[32]. CMS Parties strive towards strictly protecting these animals, conserving or restoring the places where they live, mitigating obstacles to migration, and controlling other factors that might endanger them. A greater number of cells present in an organism was once believed to result in greater chances of mutations that cause age-related diseases and cancer. [38], Historical range could have been broader and more southern than that of currently regarded as bowheads had been abundant among Labrador and Newfoundland (Strait of Belle Isle), and northern Gulf of St. Lawrence at least until 16th and 17th centuries, although whether or not this was due to colder climate of those periods is unclear. [52] The mandible is connected to the skull by dense fibers and cartilage (fibrocartilage), allowing the jaw to swing open at almost a 90° angle. glacialis). Whaling rorquals was not effective until the harpoon cannon was invented in the late 1860s. [82] The quota has remained at 67 strikes per year since 1998 and represents about 0.5 percent of BCB population. It is thought that 'tasting' the water is important for finding prey and tracking down other whales. To feed, skim-feeders swim with an open mouth, filling it with water and prey. [123] The Basques started whaling as early as the 11th century, sailing as far as Newfoundland in the 16th century in search of right whales. "Commercial Whaling in the North Pacific Sector". However, recent evidence suggests that the Hudson Bay and Foxe Basin stock and the Baffin Bay and Davis Strait stock should be considered one stock based on genetics and movements of tagged whales. [60][61] Several companies provide whale-watching services, which are mostly land-based. This means that the whale had to be over one hundred years old when it was killed. Intense calls for communication and navigation are produced especially during migration season. It is thought that annual whale migration occurs to protect the calves from the killer whales. [75], The mysticete ear is adapted for hearing underwater, where it can hear sound frequencies as low as 7 Hz and as high as 22 kHz. minke whales) also prey on schools of fish. [44] Despite their carnivorous diet, a 2015 study revealed they house gut flora similar to that of terrestrial herbivores. The bowhead whale is one of the longest living animals on the planet; some of them can live up to 200 years. The whaling settlement Smeerenburg was founded on Spitsbergen in 1619. Like in most mammals, heat is lost in their extremities, so, in baleen whales, warm blood in the arteries is surrounded by veins to prevent heat loss during transport. The group migrates northward in the spring, following openings in the ice, into the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. The scars on male whales suggest they fight for the right to mate with females during breeding season, somewhat similar to lek mating. The first compartment is known as the fore-stomach; this is where food gets ground up into an acidic liquid, which is then squirted into the main stomach. [130] Whaling was controlled in 1982 when the International Whaling Commission (IWC) placed a moratorium setting catch limits to protect species from dying out from over-exploitation, and eventually banned it:[131], Notwithstanding the other provisions of paragraph 10, catch limits for the killing for commercial purposes of whales from all stocks for the 1986 coastal and the 1985/86 pelagic seasons and thereafter shall be zero. Its jaw contained teeth, with incisors and canines built for stabbing and molars and premolars built for tearing. [56] Right whales have the thickest hypodermis of any cetacean, averaging 51 centimeters (20 in), though, as in all whales, it is thinner around openings (such as the blowhole) and limbs. [23] Because of their great size, right whales are not flexible or agile like dolphins, and none can move their neck because of the fused cervical vertebrae; this sacrifices speed for stability in the water. [92], The bowhead is listed in Appendix I by CITES. [36] The Alaskan population spends the winter months in the southwestern Bering Sea. [96] Generally, a mother and calf pair, when faced with the threat of a killer whale pod, will either fight or flee. [69], When sieved from the water, food is swallowed and travels through the esophagus where it enters a three-chambered-stomach. [84], Migratory movements may also reflect seasonally shifting patterns of productivity. Reilly, S.B., Bannister, J.L., Best, P.B., Brown, M., Brownell Jr., R.L., Butterworth, D.S., Clapham, P.J., Cooke, J., Donovan, G., Urbán, J. [136], Commercial whaling was historically important for the world economy. [142] Animal-rights activist groups, such as the Greenpeace,[143] object to Japan's scientific whaling, with some calling it a substitute for commercial whaling. Prey must occur in sufficient numbers to trigger the whale's interest, be within a certain size range so that the baleen plates can filter it, and be slow enough so that it cannot escape. 1:07. [48] Some species leap out of the water, which may allow them to travel faster. Blue whales produce the loudest sustained sounds of any animals: their low-frequency (about 20 Hz) moans can last for half a minute, reach almost 190 decibels, and be heard hundreds of kilometers away. ... and bowhead whale because they were close to the main whaling ports, like New Bedford. [33] The discovery of Janjucetus and others like it suggests that baleen evolution went through several transitional phases. [127] By the early 1790s, whalers, namely the British (Australian) and Americans, started to focus efforts in the South Pacific; in the mid 1900s, over 50,000 humpback whale were taken from the South Pacific. Typically, all humpback males in a population sing the same song over a breeding season, but the songs change slightly between seasons, and males in one population have been observed adapting the song from males of a neighboring population over a few breeding seasons. The bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) is a species of baleen whale belonging to the family Balaenidae and the only living representative of the genus Balaena. PCNA is also important in DNA repair. Baleen whales have fused neck vertebrae, and are unable to turn their head at all. Bowhead whale. American whalemen called them the steeple-top, polar whale,[4] or Russia or Russian whale. [86], In the North Pacific, the first bowheads were taken off the eastern coast of Kamchatka by the Danish whaleship Neptun, Captain Thomas Sodring, in 1845. Other common names of the species are the Greenland right whale or Arctic whale. Distribution patterns of whales in this regions are largely affected by presences of killer whales, and bowheads can disappear from normal ranges due to recent changes in killer whales' occurrences within the bay possibly because of changes in movements of ice floes by climate change. Like in humans, the left lung is smaller than the right to make room for the heart. The first descriptions date back to the 1840s of bones and baleen plates resembling a smaller version of the right whale, and was named Balaena marginata. The longest reliably measured were a male of 16.2 m (53 ft) and a female of 18 m (59 ft), both landed in Alaska. [24] About 2 short tons (1.8 long tons; 1.8 t) of food are consumed each day. Bowhead Whale Can Live 200 Years, Is Cancer Resistant", "Genetic 'clock' predicts lifespan in animals", "Researchers hope this whale's genes will help reverse human aging", "Scientists map bowhead whale's genome; discover genes responsible for long life", "The bowhead whale lives over 200 years. [80] Floating skins and rubbing behaviours at sea bottom indicated possible moulting had taken place. [87] Skim-feeders, like bowhead whales, feed upon primarily smaller plankton such as copepods. [88], Commercial whaling, the principal cause of the population decline, is over. [149][150] Blue whales stop producing foraging D calls once a mid-frequency sonar is activated, even though the sonar frequency range (1–8 kHz) far exceeds their sound production range (25–100 Hz). Within 30 minutes of birth, bowhead calves are able to swim on their own. [66] When diving, their heart rate will drop to 4 to 15 bpm to conserve oxygen. Rorquals generally have streamlined physiques to reduce drag in the water while doing this. [51] While feeding, the rorqual jaw expands to a volume that can be bigger than the whale itself;[52] to do this, the mouth inflates. [88] They feed alone or in small groups. [15][16][17][18], The taxonomic name "Mysticeti" (/ˌmɪstɪˈsiːtaɪ/) apparently derives from a translation error in early copies of Aristotle's Historia Animalium (in Ancient Greek), in which "ὁ μῦς τὸ κῆτος" (ho mus to kētos, "the mouse, the whale so called") was mistakenly translated as "ὁ μυστικῆτος" (ho mustikētos, "the Mysticetus"), which D. W. Rice (of the Society for Marine Mammalogy) in his 1998 work assumed was an ironic reference to the animals' great size. The scale of whale harvesting decreased substantially through the 1960s as all whale stocks had been depleted, and practically stopped in 1988 after the International Whaling Commission placed a moratorium which banned whaling for commercial use. During breeding season, bowheads make long, complex, variable songs for mating calls. Inuit hunters have reported bowheads surfacing through 60 cm (24 in) of ice. [95][85], Baleen whales, primarily juveniles and calves, are preyed on by killer whales. The only whale species larger than the bowhead whale is the blue whale. Based on later DNA analysis, those fossil bones claimed to be from Swedenborg whales were confirmed to be from bowhead whales. Flippers are small and rounded, and the bowhead has no dorsal fin. [115], Baleen whales have fibroelastic (connective tissue) penises, similar to those of artiodactyls. [15] It has hundreds of overlapping baleen plates consisting of keratin hanging from each side of the upper jaw. However, in doing so it does not harm nor benefit the whale, so their relationship is often labeled as an example of commensalism. The first gray whale, which was captured in Scammon's Lagoon, Baja California Sur, in 1965, was named Gigi and died two months later from an infection. In right whales, the calving interval is usually three years. In Burns, J. J.; Montague, J. J.; and Cowles, C. J. It has a layer of blubber up to 42cm thick and the longest baleen of any whale with plates reaching 5m in length. In 1995, a bowhead whale was killed in Alaska. As well as this, heat inevitably given off by the arteries warms blood in the surrounding veins as it travels back into the core. The term "baleen" (Middle English baleyn, ballayne, ballien, bellane, etc.) Right whales skim-feed, meaning they use their enlarged head to effectively take in a large amount of water and sieve the slow-moving prey. Because the juvenile bowhead is up to three times heavier than the orcas, the predators work as a team to take it down. These protections have allowed their numbers to recover. The whale kidney is adapted to excreting excess salt; however, while producing urine more concentrated than seawater, it wastes a lot of water which must be replaced. Can begin when a shiver of dusky sharks attacked a humpback whale enclosed inside body... Displayed through whale song, notably the songs of the respiratory tract to hold gas while diving years... Reported singing in other seasons ( Reese et al 20 ] on average, female bowheads one. Do retain salt-receptor taste-buds suggesting that vibrations passing through them as the Greenland whale! 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