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Home , Bowhead whale, Right whale

The Bowhead , mysticetus ~~

HOWARD W. BRAHAM

Introduction corded by astute whalers (Scoresby, land- and ! 1820; Scammon, 1874; Gray, 1894; stock(s) in the eastern The , Ba/aena mys­ Cook, 1926; Bodfish, 1936; Brower, and western North Atlantic, respec­ ticetus (Linnaeus 1758), also called 1942), early scientists (Eschricht and tively; the western stock in the the , is the only Reinhardt, 1866; Gray, 1886; Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas; whale which spends its life in Southwell, 1898; Allen, 1908; Gray, and the stock. A and around Arctic waters. It is also I929a, b), and others (e.g., Zor­ putative fifth stock may occur in one of the rarest of all cetaceans. drager, 1720; Lubbock, 1937). Inten­ Hudson Bay; however, the evidence is Heavily exploited for its whalebone sive research on the bowhead did not not definitive (Reeves et al., 1983), (baleen) and oil-producing , begin until the mid-1970's, but has and it will be considered separately the became seriously depleted developed so rapidly that much of the for this review. throughout its range before the 20th information published as recently as The current hypothesis is that century. As a result, the species was 1980 already is now either outdated or populations within and between the almost eliminated before quantitative greatly refined. Much recent work is North Pacific and North Atlantic biological data could be collected. still unpublished or based on such Oceans are geographically and thus Some descriptive information on small sample sizes that it is difficult to reproductively isolated from each the bowhead's natural history was re- assess the status of most bowhead other. Some historical evidence sug­ stocks. gests interchange may have occurred during periods of exceptionally Howard W. Braham is Director, National favorable ice conditions in the North­ Marine Laboratory, Northwest and Distribution and Migration west Passage of and Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 7600 Sand Point Way Four or five stocks of bowhead across the eastern Arctic of Europe N.E., Bin CI5700, Seattle, WA 98115. are recognized: East Green- and Asia.

Eskimos l1ense a large bowhead whale hauled out on the ice at Point Hope, Alaska. Photo by W. Marquette.

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~ ~, ""~ ~ ~, ~ ::>::i iii'"" ~ North Atlantic East Green/and-Spitsbergen Stock Bowhead whales in the eastern North Atlantic apparently wintered in the area between East Greenland, , and Spitsbergen Island (Fig. I). (Spitsbergen is one of several islands collectively called .) Their northeasterly movements in spring were correlated with the reces­ A bowhead whale rests at the surface in June, late in spring migration. Graying sion of the ice front, with some patches of skin along the head, back, and edges of fluke are thought to be areas whales arriving at Spitsbergen in April of molting. Photo by B. Krogman. (Scoresby, 1820; for a review see de Jong, 1983). In summer, most of the population was found from east North Atlantic range from southern "Davis Strait Stock" and the "Hudson Greenland and Novaya Zemlya to Davis Strait and , Bay Stock." However, as Reeves et al. north of lat. 80 0 N (Eschricht and Canada, to Godhavn, West Green­ (1983) pointed out, "The separate Reinhardt, 1866; Vibe, 1967). land, in winter, and north to the identity of these two putative stocks Jonsgiird (1981) reported that only Canadian High Arctic and northern needs confirmation through direct 23 individual bowheads (including Hudson Bay (including ), evidence." two dead) were seen in this area from in summer (Fig. I). Reeves et al. 1945 to 1980. In 1980 and 1982, July (1983) report that the bowhead's North Pacific to September, no bowheads were ob­ distribution and migration today is served during continuous 24-hour-a­ probably the same as it was prior to Western Arctic Stock day observations from an ice rein­ commercial . Summering forced vessel surveying the Barents areas and migration routes include Bowhead whales in the western Sea (between Svalbard and Franz Hudson Strait (Jat. 62°N, long. Arctic of North America during the Josef Land) and the ice front to lat. nOW) into northwest Hudson Bay, 19th century ranged from the 83 oN (LarsenI). Haug (1980) reported Repulse Bay (Jat. 66°N, long. 85°W) southwestern into the that one bowhead was seen by and Foxe Basin, , Smith Chukchi and Beaufort Seas (Town­ Norwegian whalers on 21 and 25 May Sound, Lancaster Sound, Price send, 1935; Bockstoce and Botkin, 1980 at about lat. 7I°OO'N, long. Regent Inlet (Jat. 73°N, long. 90 0 W) 1983) (Fig. I). Their range today is 28°51'E along the coast of Finnmark, and Admiralty Inlet (69°N, long. virtually the same, although they are north . A. Yablokov 2 101°W), and waters between the probably absent from the reported that in May 1981 , 11 islands of the Canadian High Arctic southeastern Bering Sea except during bowheads were seen in one group west to Barrow Strait. Sightings dur­ of very heavy ice (Braham et aI., about 100-150 km northwest of Franz ing the spring and autumn migrations 1980b; Dahlheim et al., 1980). Plots Josef Land in a pack ice lead. Tomilin over the past decade have been made of seasonal catches, adapted from (1957) and Vasilchuk and Yablokov primarily along the northeast end of Townsend (1935), replotted by (1981) reported evidence of bowhead (West Baffin Bay) month, and reported in Dahlheim et strandings along Soviet shores during (Davis and Koski, 1980), and a few al. (1980) and Braham et al. (1984), this century, especially from the Kara more recently in spring near suggest that the distribution of Sea and Novaya Zemlya. Godhavn, West Greenland, (Born bowheads during open-water periods and Heide-Jorgensen, 1983). Gray in the mid-19th century was from the Davis Strait and (1886) and Southwell (1898) reported Bering Sea to the eastern Beaufort Hudson Bay Stock(s) that adult males occurred in open Sea. This implies that their summer Bowhead whales in the western water in summer and autumn, while distribution included, essentially, their females and young were associated entire range. with the pack-ice front. Catch data early in the Yankee 'Thor Larsen, Norwegian Polar Research in­ stitute, Oslo, Norway. Pers. commun., 24 On the basis of different catch whaling fishery in the western Bering February 1983. histories, apparent migration pat­ Sea in July show that some compo­ 'Alexey Yablokov, Academy of Sciences of the nent of the population did not U.S.S.R., Moscow. Pers. commun., 27 April terns, and separate areas of seasonal 1983 during a U.S.-U.S.S.R. bilateral meeting abundance, Mitchell and Reeves migrate north of lat. 64 ON. Anecdotal in Santa Cruz, Calif. Subsequently, Randall (1981) and Reeves et al. (1983) sug­ comments by Cook (1926) further Reeves passed to me a letter from Yablokov written to Reeves on I July i981 in which gested that two stocks occur in the suggest that by the end of the 19th Yablokov provides some details. eastern : The century, bowheads were not found in

46(4),1984 47 during the autumn migration (Ljungblad et aI., 1982; In press).

Sea of Okhotsk Stock Bowheads were formerly found in the northern and western Sea of Okhotsk during spring and summer, occurring as as Penzhin­ skaya Inlet (northern Sea of Okhotsk) and as far southwest as Shantar Bay (also spelled Tchantar Bay) (Fig. 1). Today their seasonal movements are unknown. Three vessel and aerial surveys of the Sea of Okhotsk Adult bowhead whale resting at the surface among spring ice floes. The light coloration of the inner surface of the flukes is caused by natural markings, resulted in sightings of 54 (June-July while the small white marks on the 's back and rostrum are perhaps 1967), 35 (August 1974), and 55 healed wounds in the skin (from unknown causes) inflicted throughout the ani­ (August 1979) bowheads in and adja­ mal's life. cent to Academy Bay (Jat. 54°N, long. 138°E) northwest of Island (Berzin and Doroshenko, summer and autumn (July-August) in they occur principally from Amund­ 1981). On 23 June 1969, a 6.3 m the Bering Sea. Rather, they were en­ sen Gulf to Demarcation Bay (Jat. bowhead was taken by Japanese countered there only near the ice front 69°4O'N, long. 141°20'W), Alaska fishermen in Osaka Bay, Japan in spring and early summer. Today (Mansfield, 1971; Fraker et aI., 1978; (Nishiwaki and Kasuya, 1970). This bowhead whales are found in abun­ Fraker and Bockstoce, 1980; Davis et was a very rare event, since central dance in summer (July-August) only al. 3). Japan is almost a thousand miles in the . I conclude from The autumn migration westward south of the bowheads' historical this that the current southern limit of through the western Beaufort Sea range in the Sea of Okhotsk. their summer distribution is several begins in August and September, and hundred miles further north than it occasionally a few whales are seen as Life History and Ecology was in the 19th century. late as early November. Most autumn Currently, bowhead whales in the sightings (September and October) in Feeding western Arctic spend the winter U.S. waters have been of whales near Euphausiids (Thysanoessa raschil) months from December to March in the 20-100 m depth contour between and (Calanus sp.) are the and near the pack ice of the western Demarcation Bay and principal prey of bowhead whales, at Bering Sea from St. Lawrence Island (Braham et al" 1977, 1984; Ljungblad least in the western Arctic (Lowry et south to St. Matthew Island and west et aI., 1980, 1982; Ljungblad, 1981). al., 1978; Lowry and Burns, 1980). to the U.S.S.R. coast (Braham et al" From Point Barrow, the Bowheads feed while in the eastern 1980a, b; Bogoslovskaya et al., 1982; move west across the Chukchi Sea Beaufort Sea during the summer and Brueggeman, 1982). The spring toward Herald and Wrangel Islands autumn (about June to October), but northward migration usually occurs (Cook, 1926) and then south and east the percent of time spent feeding, from April through June in the along the north coast of the Chukchi especially at other times of the , is western Bering and eastern Chukchi Peninsula to their winter grounds in unknown. Frost and Lowry4 (sum­ Seas, and offshore in the Beaufort the Bering Sea (Johnson et al., 1981; marized in Marquette et al., 1982) Sea (Braham et aI., 1980a). The Bogoslovskaya et aI., 1982; Mar­ estimated that bowheads consume whales follow cracks in the pack ice, quette et aI., 1982). A few recent about 3 percent of their body weight called "leads," which are openings in sightings have been made along the per day. The predominant prey taken the fracture zone of ice formed when northwest coast of Alaska in the are, by volume, euphausiids (65 per­ the pack ice moves away from shore cent), copepods (30 percent), hyperiid during spring breakup as a result of 'Davis, R., W. Koski, and G. Miller. 1983. wind, currents, and melting ice. The Preliminary assessment of the length- distribution and gross annual reproductive rate 4 Frost, K., and L. Lowry. 1981. Feeding and eastern or Canadian Beaufort Sea of the Western Arctic bowhead whale as deter­ trophic relationship of bowhead whales and serves as the bowheads' primary mined with low-level aerial photography, with other vertebrate consumers in the Beaufort Sea. feeding ground from June to comments on life history. Final rep., 91 p. LGL Final report, 106 p. Alaska Dep. Fish Game, Ltd., 44 Eglinton Ave. W., Toronto, Ontario, 1300 College Road, Fairbanks, AK 99701. September (Cook, 1926; Fraker and M4R IAI, Can. (prep. for Nat!. Mar. Mammal (prep. for Nat!. Mar. Mammal Lab., NMFS, Bockstoce, 1980). During this period, Lab., NMFS, NOAA, Seattle, WA 98115. NOAA, Seattle, WA 98115.)

48 Marine Fisheries Review amphipods (1 percent), and other species (4 percent). Based on a I-year study of predator interactions in the eastern U.S. Beaufort Sea, Frost and Lowry (foot­ note 4) concluded that competition for food among predators such as Arctic cod, Boreogadus saida; ringed seals, Phoca hispida; and seabirds during summer and autumn might adversely affect the feeding and population growth of bowheads in some years if food is limited. Further calculations by Lowry and Frost (1984) suggest that prey density in the Beaufort Sea supplies sufficient energy needs for bowheads during an estimated l30-day feeding season. Reproduction Estimates of vital rates and other Group mating behavior of bowhead whales among the spring ice near Barrow, life history information on bowhead Alaska. Photo by B. Krogman. whales come mainly from the western Arctic (Nerini et aI., 1984). Concep­ tion is believed to occur primarily in March, although mating behavior has al., 1984; Davis et aI., footnote 3). Exploitation and Population Size After reviewing all estimates, Nerini been observed from March to History of Exploitation August. Gestation lasts for perhaps 13 et al. (1984) concluded that the prob­ months. Calves are apparently born able value is less than 11.6 percent, Commercial whaling on the East from March into luly, but the peak of but certainly more than 3.6 percent. Greenland-Spitsbergen stock began parturition is during the spring migra­ Braham (In press) and Chapman (In near Spitsbergen in about 1610, and tion, from April to 1une, with most press) suggest that the estimate lies by the late 1600's the Arctic coastal calves thought to be born in May. between 5 and 10 percent. The fishery had been exhausted Gray (1894) (from de long, 1983) also bowheads' closest living northern (Zorgdrager, 1720; de long, 1978, reported seeing "very young" animals relative, the right whale, Baleana (or 1983). This was the first bowhead (presumably calves) from early May Eubalaena) glacialis, is reported to fishery, dominated initially by land­ to luly in Davis Strait. Biological data have an estimated gross reproductive based European whalers, such as the from whales landed by Alaskan rate of 4.4-6.9 percent (IWC, 1984), British, Dutch, , and Ger­ Eskimos suggest that the pregnancy but this is based upon a small sample. mans, and later by pelagic whalers rate is from 0.15 to 0.33 and that from other nations as well. The early adult females produce a calf once fishery was the "east-ice" fishery from each 3-6 years. Age at sexual maturity Natural Mortality Spitsbergen to the , and and other age-related parameters can­ then from 1642 to 1688 the "west-ice" not be estimated at present because The rate of natural mortality has pelagic fishery was active off eastern methods of ageing bowheads have not not been estimated for bowhead Greenland. Pelagic whaling allowed been successful (Nerini, 1983). Length whales. The Alaskan Eskimo harvest the whalers to follow the bowheads estimates at various stages of growth of about 20 per year is the only mor­ farther from land, into northern are 4-4.5 m at , 8-8.5 m at one tality factor that can be directly waters, and later in the year. year, 13.5-14 m at (female) sexual measured. Predation by killer whales, Although bowheads were taken into maturity, and 18-20 m maximum Orcinus orca, could, along with the early 20th century, the fishery length. Eskimo hunting and ice entrapment, probably reached a low point during Estimates of the gross annual be mortality factors (Mitchell and the early 18th century (Reeves, 1980; reproductive rate (i.e., the number of Reeves, 1982). Mass mortality as a de long, 1983). calves in proportion to all other result of ice entrapment does occur, Soon after the turn of the 18th cen­ animals counted) ranged from 3.6 to although with unknown frequency tury, European whalers sailed into 12.4 percent (Cubbage and Rugh, (Tomilin, 1957; Mitchell and Reeves, Davis Strait and found bowheads to 1982; Marquette et aI., 1982; Nerini et 1982; Nerini et aI., 1984). be abundant. Between 1729 and 1738,

46(4),1984 49 Harvest 1500 Wrangel I 1200 6 -::: c:::- w ,. I \ >- 70' N ,\" 5 Ci 900 ',-... Effort I\ E I 4 ~ '",-- , I 600 , 3 1 I , i U.s.S.R , ALASKA I 2 t: 300 , I 1 W"' : CANADA I 1848 57 67 77 87 97 1907 ~, Yea r '-...... '\

Figure 2-Most bowhead whales in " \ the western Arctic stock were re­ ./}J- moved between 1850 and 1870, al­ "0 .r-,y-A-' though whaling effort remained high into the 20th century (Braham 160' E 180' 160' W 140' et al., 1977). Figure 3. - Commercial bowhead whaling principally occurred in the Sea of Okhotsk from 1845 to 1874, and in the Bering Sea from 1848 to 1917. Within 20 years of the start of the fishery, the stocks were depleted, and no bowheads were taken south of the dashed lines after the dates indicated. Data from 4,000 were taken (Ross, 1979). By the Townsend (1935) and Bockstoce and Botkin (1983). mid-1700's, bowheads in Davis Strait were thought to be depleted, but large catches continued farther north in Baffin Bay into the 20th century (Reeves et al., 1983; Ross and (Bockstoce and Botkin, 1983). By Popu lation dec! ine McIver5). For 8 years (1765-72), the 1852, apparently so few bowheads Hudson's Bay Company conducted were found in open water south of the 100 \ bowhead whaling in Hudson Bay, but and weather conditions \ c 80 \ commercial whaling did not begin were so poor that the whalers return­ .~ \ there until 1860 when about 1,000 ed to the northern Sea of Okhotsk :l \ animals were taken over a 40-year where they intensively pursued g- 60 \ Q. \ period (Ross, 1974; Mitchell and bowheads until 1857 (Kugler and a 40 \ Reeves, 1982). Important reviews of Henderson, In press). In 1858, ~ \ whaling in the western North Atlantic Yankee whalers in the Sea of Okhotsk c ~ have been published by Ross (1974, once again sailed back through the 0.. 20., •\ ,------1979), Mitchell and Reeves (1982), Bering Strait and intensified the '-L.-4---L---J.--J.---I.---I.----' 1848 66 84 1902 20 38 56 74 Reeves et al. (1983), and Ross and fishery in the Chukchi Sea and Arctic Yea r McIver (footnote 5). Ocean. Although the Sea of Okhotsk Figure 4. - The population In the North Pacific, commercial fishery continued into the early 20th decline and possible increase whaling for bowhead whales first century, it had essentially failed by of the western Arctic stock began in the Sea of Okhotsk in 1845 1874 (Kugler and Henderson, In since the end of commercial and in the Bering Sea (western Arctic press). whaling is the author's ap­ stock) in 1848 (Scammon, 1874). The Within the first two decades of the proximated projection using information from Townsend Sea of Okhotsk fishery shifted prin­ fishery in the Bering, Chukchi, and (1935), Eberhardt and cipally to the Bering Sea between 1849 Beaufort seas (1850-70), over 60 per­ Breiwick (1980), Breiwick et and 1852 after Captain Roys "dis­ cent of the stock was removed (Fig. al. (1981, 1984), and Bock­ covered" bowheads in the Bering 2), and over the 65- to 70-year history stoce and Botkin (1983). Strait region in 1848. In 1849, Yankee of this fishery, some 18,650 bowheads crews from 154 ships killed over 1,500 were killed (Bockstoce and Botkin, bowheads in the Bering Sea 1983). By 1900, pelagic whalers had great difficulty finding bowheads south of Bering Strait from June to Bockstoce, 1980). The low point of October (Fig. 3). A shore-based 'Ross, W. G., and A. McIver. 1982. Distribu­ the bowhead population probably oc­ tion of the kills of bowhead whales and other fishery operated from several U.S. curred near the end of the pelagic sea by Davis Strait whalers, and Soviet Eskimo villages on the fishery (about 1914), but the recovery 1829-1910. Unpubl. manuscr., 75 p. Arct. Pilot Proj., Petro Can., 55D-6th Ave., S.W. Calgary, Bering and Chukchi Seas from the rate during this century is unknown Alberta, TIP-I44, Can. 1880's to about 1909 (Marquette and (Fig. 4). Breiwick et al. (1984), in

50 Marine Fisheries Review modelling the population life history Table 1.-Estimates of abundance for the world's stocks of bowhead whales. was at least 10,000 when commercial parameters, predicted that recovery whaling began (about 1845). An has been very slow, if at all, in the Population size estimates estimate of 6,500 in the IWC face of a continued small harvest by Early whaling period Current literature (IWC, 1983) cannot be Alaskan Eskimos. Stocks Year Estimate Year Estimate verified. None of these estimates seem to be based on comprehensive North Atlantic analayses of available data, such as Pre-exploitation and E. Greenland· Current Stock Sizes Spitsbergen 1679 '25,000 1980 Nearing from whaler's logbooks, journals, or extinction1 Davis Strait 1825 '11,000 1983 UnknownJ notes, and there is conjecture as to A summary of estimates of abun­ Hudson Bay 1859 '680 1983 UnknownJ whether right whales and bowheads dance for bowhead whales is provided North Pacific were separated in the catch data used W. Arctic 1848 '18.000 1983 '3.871 to make the estimates (lWC, 1983). in Table I. The East Greenland-Spits­ Sea of bergen stock is thought to have been Okhotsk 1845 UnknownS 1981 Unknown 1 No estimate of current abundance has the largest of all the stocks, perhaps 'international Whaling Commission (1978), Jong (1978), been made; Soviet scientists at IWC and Mitchell (text footnote siX). Scientific Committee meetings have numbering 25,000 in 1679, about 70 'Jonsgard (1981) believes they are nearing extinction, years after the beginning of the whereas International Whaling Commission (1978) and stated since 1981 that there are at least 6 Reeves (1980) believe it to be "at a very low level." a few hundred. They base this on the fishery (lWC, 1978; Mitche1l ). The 'Mitchell and Reeves (1981) and Reeves et al. (1983) report current population size is unknown, these estimates based upon a literature survey and some three surveys (discussed earlier) in the whalers logbooks and records for the two putative stocks: southwestern Sea of Okhotsk (Berzin but probably is very small, as fewer "Davis Strait Stock" and "Hudson Bay Stock"; the current population size for the eastern North American Arctic may and Doroshenko, 1981). than 20 live individuals have been seen be a few hundred, although this is not based upon quanti· since World War II. Jonsglird (1981) tative census studies. stated his belief that this stock is near­ 4The precommercial Whaling population size has been variously estimated at no lower than 8,000 (Breiwick et ai, Management ing extinction. 1981) to a high of 40,000 (Bockstoce and Botkin, 1983). Mitchell and Reeves (1981) esti­ Further assessment of the problem resulted in a "best estimate" of 18,000 (International Whaling Commission, Two highly visible problems facing mated that there were at least 11,000 1983). 'International Whaling Commission (1983), based upon an management are the American bowheads in the Davis Strait stock in evaluation of spring census counts made since 1978 con­ 1825, and 680 in the putative Hudson sidered this a minimum estimate with a standard er~or of Eskimo subsistence hunt and oil and 254. gas development activities in the Arc­ Bay stock in 1859. Although several 'Two estimates have been reported: 6,500 by Be'lin and field surveys and literature review Doroshenko (1981), who cite "(UK, 1979)" but do not list tic. The Alaskan Eskimo harvest of this reference within the literature cited, and about 10,000 about 20-25 whales per year is cur­ studies have been conducted since by Ivashin (text footnote 7). But no data and no methods of estimation were provided; hence, these estimates can­ rently under IWC quota: The 1984-85 1971, there is no quantitative estimate not be considered acceptable. David Henderson (New of the current stock size in the western Bedford Whaling Museum, New Bedford, MA 02740, duro quota is 43 strikes, with no more than ing a conversation at the IWC special meeting on right 27 strikes allowed for 1984. It remains North Atlantic. Reeves et al. (1983) whales, 13 June 1983, Boston, Mass.) reported working on stated that the population probably the 19th century Yankee logbooks and whaling records for unclear if this level of removal will en­ the Sea of Okhotsk, and I expect a reliable estimate of ini· sure growth in the population but "numbers only a few hundred." tial abundance is forthcoming (e.g., Kugler and Hender· The size of the western Arctic stock son, In press). projections using life history and 'On the basis of three vessel and aerial surveys in 1967, harvest data (including struck and lost in 1848 is thought to have been about 1974, and 1979, Be'lin and Vladimirov (1981) and ivashin (text footnote 7) concluded that the popUlation was mortality estimates) suggest that it 18,000 (lWC, 1983), although other perhaps a few hundred. estimates range from 8,000 to 40,000 may (Breiwick et al., 1984). An (Breiwick et aI., 1981; Bockstoce and Alaskan Eskimo take of bowheads is Botkin, 1983; Breiwick and Mitchell, permitted by exemptions in the 1983; Tillman et aI., 1983). The Protection Act of 1972, Act of minimum estimate of current abun­ are about 20 percent of the popula­ dance, based on visual census studies 1973, and by the current IWC tion s!ze prior to the beginning of schedule on aboriginal/subsistence conducted since 1978 near Point Bar­ commfrcial whaling in 1848, row, Alaska, is 3,871 with a standard whaling. If the number of bowheads No ,satisfactory estimate of abun­ in the other stocks is as low as error of 254 (lWC, 1984). These dance ~s available for any period for estimates of current population size suspected, then certainly no harvest is bowheads in the Sea of Okhotsk. warranted. vashi~7 I estimated that the population Oil and gas development activities II have been underway in the Canadian Beaufort Sea since the early 1970's, "Mitchell, E. D. 1977. Initial population size of and is beginning in Alaskan waters bowhead whale (Ba/aena mysticetus) stocks: 'Ivashin, M. 1982. Russian hunting for right Cumulative catch estimates. Unpubi. manuscr. whales in the Sea of Okhotsk (18th-19th cen­ throughout much of the bowhead's Arc. BioI. Sta., 555 St. Pierre Blvd., Ste. Anne turies). Unpubl. manuscr. All-Union Sci. Res. range. Those areas of particular con­ de Bellevue, Quebec, H9X 3L6, Can. (Submit­ Inst. Mar. Fish. Oceanogr. (VNIRO), Moscow. ted to IWC Sci. Comm., Canberra, Aust., June (Submitted to IWC Sci. Comm., Cambridge, cern are I) the southern Beaufort Sea, 1977, as SCI29/Doc. 33.) Engl., June 1982, as SC/34/PS21.) which serves as the major feeding

46(4),1984 51 Literature Cited Allen, J. A. 1908. The North Atlantic right whale and its near allies. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 24:277-329. Berzin, A. A., and N. V. Doroshenko. 1981. Right whales of the Okhotsk Sea. Rep. Int. \ ). ... Whaling Comm. 31:451-455. -=c:---' and V. Vladimirov. 1981. Changes in the abundance of whalebone r whales in the Pacific and Antarctic since the cessation of their exploitation. Rep. Int. Whaling Comm. 31:495-499. Bockstoce, J. R., and D. B. Botkin. 1983. The historical status and reduction of the western arctic bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) population by the pelagic whaling industry, 1848-1914. Rep. Int. Whaling Alaskan Arctic spring ice conditions; a bowhead whale surfaces in the near Comm., Spec. Issue 5:107-141. Bodfish, H. H. 1936. Chasing the bowhead. shore lead. Only a small part of the animal's back is visible to the Eskimo Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, Mass., 281 whalers. Photo by G. Carroll. p. Bogoslovskaya, L. S., L. M. Votrogov, and 1. I. Krupnik. 1982. The bowhead whale off Chukotka: Migrations and aboriginal whaling. Rep. Int. Whaling Comm. 32:391-399. Born, E. W., and M.-P. Heide-JS1lrgensen. 1983. Observations of the bowhead whale ground for summering bowheads, in was probably not less than 1,000 (Balaena mysticetus) in central west particular from southern Amundsen animals (Eberhardt and Breiwick, Greenland in March-May, 1982. Rep. Int. Whaling Comm. 33:545-547. Gulf, Canada, to Point Barrow, 1980) and, given the current popula­ Braham, H. W., In press. Estimating gross Alaska; 2) the northwest Bering Sea tion size estimate of about 4,000, it annual reproductive rate in bowhead whales and eastern Chukchi Sea, where seems reasonable that it was larger using biological data. Rep. Int. Whaling Comm. bowheads spend the months of March than 1,000 in 1917 (Breiwick et aI., ____, B. D. Krogman, and C. H. to June migrating, calving, and 1984). However, because of the Fiscus. 1977. Bowhead (Balaena uncertainties in the 1917 population mysticetus) and beluga (Delphinapterus mating and, September to December, leucas) whales in the Bering, Chukchi and migrating and perhaps feeding; 3) the size, and the difficulty of estimating Beaufort Seas. In Environmental assessment Bering Strait, an important constric­ or measuring certain life history para­ of the Alaskan . Annu. Rep. 1:134-160. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA, En­ tion in their spring and autumn meters (e.g., natural mortality), the viron. Res. Lab., Boulder, Colo. migration; and 4) the central Bering rate of recovery cannot be precisely ____, M. A. Fraker, and B. D. Krog­ Sea, where bowheads winter and determined. man. 1980a. Spring migration of the Western Arctic population of bowhead perhaps mate (March). To provide Reliable estimates of the current whales. Mar. Fish. Rev. 42(9-10):36-46. meaningful management advice, population sizes for the other three or ____, B. D. Krogman, J. H. Johnson, W. M. Marquette, D. Rugh, M. K. Nerini, greater information is needed on four stocks of bowheads are not R. M. Sonntag, T. W. Bray, J. Brueggeman, specific migration patterns, behavior available, but they probably number M. E. Dahlheim, S. Savage, and C. Goebel. (e.g., habitat use), and population no more than a few hundred in­ 1980b. Population studies of the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus): Results of the production, particularly for the dividuals each. Ifso, then all stocks of 1979 spring research season. Rep. Int. Whal­ eastern North American Arctic bowheads, with the exception of those ing Comm. 30:391-404. stock(s), as less work has been in the western North American Arc­ ____, , and G. M. Car- roll. 1984. Bowhead whale (Balaena conducted there in relation to future tic, are no greater than 5 percent of mysticetus): Migration, distribution and exploratory activities than in the their initial population size. abundance in the Bering, Chukchi and western North American Arctic. Because of their low population Beaufort Seas, 1975-1978, with notes on the distribution and life history of white whales numbers, their habit of frequenting (Delphinapterus leucas). U.S. Dep. coastal waters during vulnerable Commer., NOAA Tech. Rep. NMFS Conclusions SSRF-778, 39 p. periods of their annual cycle (i.e., Breiwick, J. M., and E. D. Mitchell. 1983. All stocks of bowhead whales were calving and feeding), and apparent Estimated initial population size of the Bering severely depleted during the commer­ low reproductive rate, bowheads may Sea stock of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) from logbook and other catch cial whaling era prior to the 20th cen­ be particularly vulnerable to the data. Rep. Int. Whaling Comm., Spec. Issue tury. The western Arctic stock is the development activities of humans. 5:147-151. least depleted of all stocks, with about With some stocks, removal of a few ____, , and D. G. Chap- man.1981. Estimated initial population size 20 percent of the 1848 population re­ individuals could be significant. A of the Bering Sea stock of bowhead whale, maining today. When commercial rigorous policy of habitat conserva­ Balaena mysticetus: an iterative method. Fish. Bull., U.S. 78:843-853. whaling came to a halt between 1911 tion and research is needed ___ , L. L. Eberhardt, and H. W. and 1917, the western Arctic stock throughout the Arctic. Braham. 1984. Population dynamics of

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