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

Scientists currently assume they live about 80 or 90 years, but that’s what we believed about bowhead and right whales until data proved they can live much longer.

From Salon

The population of bowhead whales that migrates between the Bering and Beaufort Seas each year is a conservation success story, with today's population nearing -- if not exceeding -- pre-commercial whaling numbers.

From Science Daily

This feeding style would match that used by modern bowhead and right whales, which swim with their mouth open near the ocean surface to strain small prey from the seawater.

From Reuters

With bowhead whales, they seem to have much better DNA repair.

From Scientific American