By Paul Bryers, September 4, 2025

• SIGHTING BOWHEAD WHALE!!, Northern Territories, Canada, Cruising Towards Nome.

We caught a brief glimpse of a bowhead whale, also known as the Greenland right whale, Arctic whale, and polar whale.

It is a species of baleen whale belonging to the family Balaenidae and is the only living representative of the genus Balaena. It is the only baleen whale endemic to the Arctic and subarctic waters, and is named after its characteristic massive triangular skull (which can be seen in the first photo along with its two flaring nostrils), which it uses to break through Arctic ice.

Bowheads have the largest mouth of any animal representing almost one-third of the length of the body (as can be seen in the borrowed photo), the longest baleen plates with a maximum length of 4 m (13 ft), and may be the longest-lived mammals, with the ability to reach an age of more than 200 years. Fabulous!

Hopefully this is a sign of more whales to come!