After a successful morning landing, we continued cruising northeast. All of a sudden, a double spray was spotted. “Whale !!” And with a double “heart-shaped” spray. That can only mean one thing. It is bowhead whale. Bowheads are an extremely rare sighting around Svalbard where they are considered critically endangered.
All days in the Arctic are special but some are just a bit more special. Even for the guides. June 24 was one of those days. With a lot of very bird interested persons on the trip we went to Lagøya with the hope to see a Sabine’s Gull. A bird very high on the wish list. Not long after our landing a Sabine’s gull was spotted. And, as if the bird knew that we all wanted to see it, it flew around to make sure everyone got to see it and that everyone was able to get good photos. It was already a great day.
After the successful morning landing, we continued cruising northeast. All of a sudden, a double spray was spotted. “Whale !!” And with a double “heart-shaped” spray. That can only mean one thing. It is a bowhead whale. Bowheads are an extremely rare sighting around Svalbard where they are considered critically endangered.
Therese, one of the most experienced PolarQuest guides, began working in the Arctic in 2010 and had never seen a bowhead whale in Svalbard waters before. Not strange considering that between 1960 and 2020 there have only been 40 registered Bowhead whale encounters around Svalbard.
The bowhead whale is also known as the right whale since it was considered the right whale to hunt, since being a slow swimmer with a very thick blubber layer. It can be as thick as 50 cm, the thickest of any animal. Therefore, after being killed the whale not only gave the hunters lots of valuable blubber, it also stayed afloat. Hence, it was the right whale to hunt. It is the sole animal that can live for over 200 years. That was determined when an over 200-year-old harpoon point was found in the skin of a bowhead whale. It has the largest mouth of any animal. Its mouth makes up 35-40% of the total length which can be up to 19 meters long.
The bowhead can weigh up to 100 tons and feed mostly on zooplankton, which includes krill, copepods, mysids, amphipods, and many other crustaceans. It eats about 2 tons per day by swimming with a wide-open mouth towards the prey. When the mouth is full it pushes the water through its baleens with its tongue leaving the prey inside to swallow.
Since the whale sighting was during our lunch many passengers decided to observe the whale feeding by eating on deck.
Please note: Depending on the lens used for a photo or video shot an animal may appear to be closer than it is. We always follow strict wildlife guidelines to ensure that we do not cause any disturbance.
