THE BOWHEAD WHALE

The bowhead whale is a baleen whale. It feeds especially on the fat copepods in the Disko Bay and the Icefjord.

In winter it swims around under the ice. It uses its solid head to break through the ice when coming up for air.

It handles the cold with the world’s thickest layer of blubber.

Bowhead whales can become more than 200 years old.

• The bowhead whale has baleens. What are they used for?

• The bowhead whale lives in the water, but is not a fish. What is the difference between fish and mammals?

• A bowhead whale can grow more than 200 years old. Which fish can reach morethan 250 years? 

The humpback whale breeds in winter in the Caribbean. The abundant food in Greenlandic waters make it take a trip of 6,000 km.

It can become up to 18 m long and weigh 25-30 tonnes.

The humpback is known for its complex song. The song normally consists of six verses in a specific order.

The song is presumed to be part of the mating game.

Learn more about the humpback whale.

• Why does the humpback whale swim 6,000 km every year?

• What does the humpback eat?

• How does the humpback’s song sound? Search on youtube: song of the humpback whale.

The narwhal has the longest tusk in the animal kingdom. It can become 2-3 m long and weigh up to 10 kg. It is usually only seen in males.

In the summer it stays in the open water free of ice near the coast.

In winter it swims out where the water is at least 200 m deep.

• Which mythical creature looks like the narwhal?

• What does the narwhal eat ?

• Which land living mammal has tusks?

The bowhead whale is a baleen whale. It feeds especially on the fat copepods in the Disko Bay and the Icefjord.

In winter it swims around under the ice. It uses its solid head to break through the ice when coming up for air.

It handles the cold with the world’s thickest layer of blubber.

Bowhead whales can become more than 200 years old.

• The bowhead whale has baleens. What does that mean?

• The bowhead whale lives in the water but is not a fish. What is the difference between fish and mammals?

• A bowhead whale can grow more than 200 years old. Which fish can reach 250 years? 

The humpback whale breeds in winter in the Caribbean. The abundant food in Greenlandic waters make it take a trip of 6,000 km.

It can become up to 18 m long and weigh 25-30 tonnes.

The humpback is known for its complex song. The song normally consists of six verses in a specific order.

The song is presumed to be part of the mating game.

Learn more about the humpback whale.

• What does the humpback whale eat, and how much can it consume at a time?

• Is it possible to tell individual humpback whales apart?

• What does it mean that the song of the humpback whale is complex? 

The narwhal has the longest tusk in the animal kingdom. It can become 2-3 m long and weigh up to 10 kg. It is usually only seen in males.

In the summer it stays in the open water free of ice near the coast.

In winter it swims out where the water is at least 200 m deep.

Learn more about the narwhal.

• What functions does the tusk have?

• What is the preferred food of the narwhal and how deep will it dive for it?

• The narwhal’s tooth has been very coveted. It has been used for jewellery and tupilaks. What is a tupilak?

The bowhead whale is a baleen whale; there are around 6.000 bowhead whales in the world.

It can weigh up to 100 tonnes. The young one is called a calf.

The bowhead whale has the thickest layer of blubber of all animals and a head useful as a ram to break the ice.

It spends its entire life in the arctic seas. 

• What does it mean that the bowhead whale is a baleen whale?

• How did the bowhead whale adapt to life in extreme cold, surrounded by ice?

• What does the bowhead whale eat?

The humpback whale goes to Greenland to find food; it travels from the Caribbean where it breeds in the winter.

The humpback swims with a speed of up to 27 km/h.

The humpback whale is easy to recognize with its bumpy look and is furthermore special by its complex song.

The song remains a mystery to researchers, but they do know that males in the same area sing the same song.

• The trip from the Caribbean to Greenland is around 6.000 km. How long does that take for the humpback whale?

• Why does the humpback whale swim all the long way to Greenland?

• When does the humpback whale sing its song?

The narwhal is markedly different from other animals by having a tusk 2-3 metres long. This tusk is very sensitive as it has 10 million nerve fibres.

The narwhal can dive deep in search for halibut.

In winter it goes over the continental shelf and into the deep sea. It can dive to more than 1.000 metres.

It gives birth to a young one every third year, after having been pregnant for 14 months.

• What is the continental shelf?

• Which other animals have tusks too?

• Is the narwhal a mammal?

The bowhead whale is a baleen whale; there are around 6.000 bowhead whales in the world.

It can weigh up to 100 tonnes. The young one is called a calf.

The bowhead whale has the thickest layer of blubber of all animals and a head useful as a ram to break the ice.

The warmer climate means that the bowhead whale can migrate through the Northwest Passage.

• What is a baleen whale, and what other kinds of whales are there?

• How did the baleen whale adapt to life in extreme cold, surrounded by ice?

• How does the warmer climate affect the food sources of the bowhead whale?

The humpback whale goes to Greenland to find food; it travels from the Caribbean where it breeds in the winter.

The humpback swims with a speed of up to 27 km/h.  

The humpback whale is a baleen whale with a knotty skin. It is renowned for its complex song.

The song remains a mystery to researchers, but they do know that males in the same area sing the same song.

• Assume that the journey from the Caribbean to Greenland took around 232 hours. How many kilometres did the humpback whale swim?

• Why does the humpback whale swim all the long way to Greenland?

• Might the song of the humpback whale have some evolutionary function? What could that be?

The 2-3 m long tusk of the narwhal is very sensitive as it has 10 million nerve fibres.

This tusk was the inspiration for the myth about the unicorn.

In winter it goes over the continental shelf and into the deep sea, looking for food. It can dive to more than 1.000 metres.

It can weigh up to 1.8 tonnes and become 4-5 m long. It can grow 115 years old.

• What is the continental shelf?

• What are nerve fibres?

• What does the narwhal use its tusk for?