We were wondering what this Bowhead was doing arching its back...

Bowhead Whales in the Arctic OceanI have written before about...

Bowhead Whales in the Arctic Ocean

I have written before about the mystery and romance of the Arctic and the Bowhead’s place in that in a previous post.

A few days ago I finally had an opportunity to see them in the Arctic archipelago of Franz Josef Land. The Barents Sea population, of which these individuals are a part, is estimated at tens to hundreds so we felt doubly blessed to see more than a dozen of them.

While we saw some mature adults from a distance, all of those that swam close to the ship when we slowed down appeared to be young, lacking the white lower jaw.

I feel genuinely privileged to have seen these animals. To me they are an emblem of the Arctic, being the most ice-adapted of any any whale and playing such a large part in human survival and history.