{"id":19947,"date":"2022-09-06T08:18:17","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T06:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/?p=5731"},"modified":"2022-09-06T11:37:08","modified_gmt":"2022-09-06T09:37:08","slug":"why-do-bowhead-whales-have-such-large-heads","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/why-do-bowhead-whales-have-such-large-heads\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do bowhead whales have such large heads?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Stuart Blackman\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 06 September 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Did you know an adult bowhead\u2019s head accounts for approximately two fifths of its body length? These Arctic giants specialise in particularly small crustacean prey, so they need a large amount of baleen to filter sufficient quantities from the water.<\/p>\n

How big is a bowhead whale\u2019s head?<\/h2>\n

About 640 baleen plates hang from its upper jaw and, at 4m in length, they are the longest of any whale\u2019s \u2013 hence the need for a super-sized head. The head of this whale comprises one-third of its body length of up to 25m; its mouth is the size of a garage.<\/p>\n

Calves don\u2019t develop these front-heavy proportions until they have been weaned. Their bodies virtually stop growing for a few years as they channel resources into their front ends. The youngsters even dismantle bone tissue laid down in their ribs while they were suckling and redistribute it to the skull and baleen areas to accelerate growth.<\/p>\n

The bowhead uses its blowholes as an icebreaker, leaning its bulk against the ice and blowing to clear an airway to the surface.<\/p>\n

How long do bowhead whales live for?<\/h2>\n

The bowhead may live for 150 years or more \u2013 making\u00a0it one of the longest-lived mammals in the world.<\/p>\n

Where do bowhead whales live?<\/h2>\n

Unlike other whales, bowhead whales live all year-round in Arctic waters off Greenland, Canada and Alaska.<\/p>\n

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By Stuart Blackman Published: Tuesday, 06 September 2022 at 12:00 am Did you know an adult bowhead\u2019s head accounts for approximately two fifths of its body length? These Arctic giants specialise in particularly small crustacean prey, so they need a large amount of baleen to filter sufficient quantities from the water. How big is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":19948,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/09\/why-do-bowhead-whales-have-such-large-heads.jpg",623,415,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/09\/why-do-bowhead-whales-have-such-large-heads-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/09\/why-do-bowhead-whales-have-such-large-heads-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/09\/why-do-bowhead-whales-have-such-large-heads.jpg",623,415,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/09\/why-do-bowhead-whales-have-such-large-heads.jpg",623,415,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/09\/why-do-bowhead-whales-have-such-large-heads.jpg",623,415,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/09\/why-do-bowhead-whales-have-such-large-heads.jpg",623,415,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Stuart Blackman Published: Tuesday, 06 September 2022 at 12:00 am Did you know an adult bowhead\u2019s head accounts for approximately two fifths of its body length? These Arctic giants specialise in particularly small crustacean prey, so they need a large amount of baleen to filter sufficient quantities from the water. How big is a…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/19947"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}