Balaena mysticetus Linnaeus 1758

Balaena mysticetus Linnaeus 1758, Syst. Nat., 10th ed., Vol. 1: 75.

Type Locality: "Habitat in Oceano Groenlandico" (= Greenland Sea).

Vernacular Names: Bowhead.

Distribution: Northern hemisphere: arctic waters. Strays have occured in Japan, Gulf of St. Lawrence, and Massachusetts.

Conservation: CITES – Appendix I; U.S. ESA – Endangered; IUCN – Critically Endangered (Spitzbergen population), Endangered (Okhotsk Sea subpopulation and Baffin Bay-Davis Strait stock), Vulnerable (Hudson Bay-Foxe Basin stock), Lower Risk (cd) (Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Sea stock), otherwise listed as Lower Risk (cd) for B. mysticetus .