bowhead

American  

[boh-hed] / ˈboʊˌhɛd /

noun

1. a baleen whale, Balaena mysticetus, of northern seas, having an enormous head and mouth: an endangered species.

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bowhead British  

/ ˈbəʊˌhɛd /

noun

1. a large-mouthed arctic whale, Balaena mysticetus , that has become rare through overfishing but is now a protected species

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Etymology

Origin of bowhead

First recorded in 1885–90; bow ² + head

Example Sentences

Other whale species include North Pacific gray whales, the North Atlantic right whale, minke, sperm, fin and bowhead whales.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 25, 2025

In the years following that report, scientists tried to figure out what was unique about bowhead whales that allowed them to live so long.

From Salon • Dec. 27, 2024

Like right whales, before that analysis, researchers thought bowhead whales lived to about 80 years, and that humans were the mammals that lived the longest.

From Salon • Dec. 27, 2024

They used hydrophones to monitor bowhead whales in the western Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Plateau from 2008 to 2022.

From Science Daily • Feb. 21, 2024

At last the tremendous and incessant blows, dealt by the most active member of the trio, seemed actually to have exhausted the immense vitality of the great bowhead, for he lay supine upon the surface.

From The Cruise of the Cachalot Round the World After Sperm Whales by Bullen, Frank T.