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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bowhead

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

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 ● Dec. 27, 2024

Twenty-five years ago, scientists working with Indigenous whale hunters in the Arctic showed that bowhead whales could live up to and even over 200 years.

From Salon ● Dec. 27, 2024

Shipping in the western Chukchi Sea has increased about 13% since 2009; however, there hasn't yet been an increase in bowhead ship-strikes "that we know of," she emphasized.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 21, 2024

Two of these, the bowhead or Greenland whale, and its more widely distributed close relative the right whale, are baleen whales.

From Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises of the Western North Atlantic A Guide to Their Identification by David Caldwell

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